Darwin climbed out of the truck along with the other guys, thrilled to be finished with the conversation about Katrina and Upton.His buddies had given him a lot to think about, both good and bad.But right now, he needed to focus on this next phase of the Genesis Project test.
They spent a few minutes getting their radios and other tactical gear ready.It took longer to make sure the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System equipment was properly mounted on their rifles.MILES was the military’s version of laser tag, used for training scenarios when live ammo would be too dangerous.In this case, the Genesis drone would be equipped with sensors that would register a strike if the laser emitters on the SEAL’s weapons hit them directly.
Even though the Genesis itself would only be using paintball marking ammunition, he and the other guys would be wearing tactical vests, helmets, and eye protection to protect them from the paintball rounds.
“Alpha Team.”Seth’s voice suddenly crackled through Darwin’s earbud.“The test begins now.Move to the extraction point by any route you chose.Stealth or speed.Your call.”
“Let’s move,” Lennox called out, motioning toward the closest section of trees.“Darwin stays in the center as we move.We’ll take a circuitous route that will put us on a southern approach to Jackson Hill.Verbal communication only after contact.”
Then they were moving, Lennox and the other guys focusing their attention outward as they slipped through the trees at a rapid pace.Darwin stayed in the middle, even as he chaffed at the idea that they were “risking” their lives to protect him.
As they moved silently through the darkness, Darwin kept his eyes peeled behind his NVGs and his ears open for any unusual sounds, knowing his Teammates were doing the same.They made good time, eating up the distance between them and the extraction point, even though they were being hunted.
Yet for all their alertness, none of them had a clue that danger was lurking until Darwin felt a stinging impact in the middle of his back and heard the thud of the paintball.
“Behind us!”he called out, spinning to look for the drone.
He couldn’t believe the thing had been able to slip under the tree canopy without them seeing or hearing anything.There was no other explanation, though.
But when Darwin spun around, the butt of his M4 carbine snug against his shoulder as he clicked off the safety, there was nothing to engage.The drone should have been right in one of the few openings available under this section of trees, but it wasn’t.
“Where the hell is it?”Dean asked, looking left, right, and then upward.“How did it get into the trees with us?There are too many low-hanging branches for a pilot to be able to get in here, no matter how good they are.”
“I didn’t hear a damn thing,” Simon muttered.
“It doesn’t matter,” Lennox said.“We don’t know how they were able to engage us under the trees, but they did.They know we’re here, so stealth is out.We need to move.Speed is the only thing that will help now.”
“Actually, there’s one other thing,” Darwin said.“But for it to work, Simon, I’m going to need you to take off your clothes.”
Simon glanced sideways at him.“Is this your way of getting back at me for that crack I made earlier?”
“No, but it is a simple way to trick whoever is controlling that drone,” Darwin replied, moving under the heavy trees as he took off his vest and jacket.“If you wear my clothes and I wear yours, the drone operator should assume you’re me, and we get through this test without me being hit anymore.”
“Yeah, great for you,” Simon muttered as he pulled off his helmet and tactical vest.“You get away free and clear, while I get treated like a paint-splattered piñata.You sure this isn’t about the crack I made earlier?”
“Less talking, more stripping,” Darwin called out, dropping his dress pants.“The longer it takes us to get moving, the more likely it is they’ll figure out what we’re trying to do.”
Sixty seconds later, they’d changed clothes and reshuffled their formation, putting Simon in the middle as they darted toward the Jackson Hill extraction point.
They were still in the trees, running fast, when there was a flutter in the air off to the left, immediately followed by a stinging thud against Darwin’s left shoulder.The splash of paint told him everything he needed to know about how well their little clothing trick had worked.
“What the hell?”he muttered, even as another paint round slammed into his left hip.He glanced at Simon to see that he hadn’t been targeted at all.Nor had any of his other Teammates.“How could they know we changed clothes?They’re not targeting Simon at all.”
“Probably because I’m better looking than you, regardless of what we’re wearing,” Simon said.
Darwin would have responded with something snarky, but was too busy focusing on running to come up with anything.
“Anybody see anything?”Lennox asked.“Anything at all?”
“Nothing,” Trace and Dean both said.
“We’ll be out in the open soon,” Simon said.“Maybe we’ll be able to see it then.”
As Simon had predicted, they left the cover of the trees a few minutes later to find the ground sloping upward as they closed on Jackson Hill.
The next ten minutes were a nightmare as Darwin was pelted over and over by paintball rounds.The damn things seemingly came out of nowhere, too.He thought he heard a soft humming a few times, and even caught sight of a pitch-black silhouette of nothingness outlined against the star-filled sky, but no matter how many times they fired at the drone, there was no indication they ever hit it.They tried different protective formations, tried to stop moving and wait for the drone to come at them, tried putting some of the guys out wide to flank the drone in hopes to see it coming.
Nothing worked.
