Clash Of Worlds (7 page)

She was a lively spirit at the best of times; always trying to raise the moral of others when they seemed down. She was also someone who Cody had a huge crush on. He had been obsessed with her for years now. He had endlessly bored James with tales of how he wanted to marry and have kids with her. He truly was besotted was the young Texan. Unfortunately, Cody had never built up the courage to go up and actually talk to her. In fact, Cody had never spoken a single word to her, not even once.

“Hi James,” she said in a strong Irish accent as she sat down next to him. Although they weren’t close friends, she knew who James was, everybody in the training camp did. Cody didn’t say a word. He wanted to introduce himself and built himself up several times to do so, but he didn’t. Thankfully James did the job for him.

“Sophie this is Cody.”

“Hi,” she said to him.

Cody just smiled nervously. Sophie thought he was a little odd and she simply looked back over to the professor. Cody’s eyes, however, remained locked on her.

“Start gathering at the docks, your ships will be departing in exactly one hour. Good luck.” Professor Milton then left the classroom.

The students gathered in their squads and began to make their way to the docks. The training camp was based on the coast and it had it’s own private docking area where ships and planes came in and out of. Walking down one of the corridors that led to the docks were the members of squad A. Squad A was captained by James and consisted of him, Cody, Sophie, a young Italian male called Alberto and a Japanese male by the name of Sato. They were all looking to James for guidance but he didn’t really know what to say. He’d never been good at speeches or motivating people…that was Chad’s job.

“You’ll be alright,” he said not sounding overly convincing.
I know I will be fine, but will they?

Chapter 4: The Exam

Three small military vessels rode the waves of the Caribbean Sea. The sky was dark and the waves crashed against the crafts as they advanced. The military ships easily cut through the waves at speed, gliding along them gracefully. It was around 2 am and the drivers of each of the vessels were assisted by night vision to aid them in the darkness. There was originally meant to be four ships heading to the remote island off the coast of Puerto Rico, but the three trainee dropouts meant the company was only three squads rather than four. The members of Squad A sat in a briefing room inside the vessel. The room was small, with two rows of chairs running parallel to each other in which the squad members were seated. A female captain was trying to keep the squad focused on the task in hand. She gave them words of encouragement and told them to listen to their squad leader James, whom she said was chosen to lead the squad for his leadership skills.

What leadership skills?
James had thought to himself when she said that. He’d never been in charge of anything in his life. His appointment as squad leader was Professor Milton’s doing. He had high hopes for James and wished to see how he performed when other people depended on him. The female captain gave the group some final words of wisdom and then left the briefing room.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room. “So how are we all feeling?” said James trying to break the awkwardness.

“Nervous,” said Alberto, who was fidgeting with his hands.

James stood up and addressed the whole squad. “It’ll be fine. Remember what the professor said. We all wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have what it takes. He has faith in all of you, and so do I.”

Sophie warmed to James’ words. “He’s right. Come on everyone, we can do this!” She noticed Cody was looking particularly worried and gave him a small smile, which cheered him up quite a lot!

“Just stay focused and remember your training.” James continued. “We’ll all watch each other's backs out there!”

James and Sophie went up onto the deck of the vessel. The vessel rode the sea’s waves so smooth and silently it was almost as if they were gliding along the top of clouds. The pair was surrounded by total darkness on the deck. Sophie’s short brown hair blew behind her head as the vessel moved.

“I can’t see a thing,” she said, trying hard to focus her eyes forward in the direction the vessel was heading.

James also struggled for vision out on the deck, but he had in his hand a pair of Infra Red binoculars. He looked through them and could see the island in the distance in front of them. He moved the binoculars from his eyes and the vessel had travelled that much closer that he could now see the outline of the island with his naked eye. James looked at Sophie. “We’re close now, you ready?”

“Are we? I can’t see a thing.” She replied.

“The island's coming up in the distance.”

Sophie looked down at the floor. A sinking feeling began to fill her stomach. She’d never felt this nervous and scared in her entire life.

James put a caring arm on her shoulder. “You’ll be fine out there Sophie. I’ve seen you in action. I wouldn’t want to take you on!”

“I’d beat your arse James!” she teased.

The pair laughed, James' attempt at cheering her up had clearly worked. James and Sophie made their way back down below from the deck, preparing themselves for the imminent battle. The vessels got as close as they could without entering shallow waters and the squad members had to swim from there on in. The water was a bitter ice cold, and despite the enhanced thermal suits the squad members were wearing, they felt it. Upon reaching the beach, the squad placed their thermal suits out of view by some nearby trees. The five members of squad A, waited for squad B to reach the beach. They waited and waited, but they never came. Squad A then started to become restless.

“Where are they?” Cody asked.

“They should be here, this was the rendezvous point” answered James. He took out his Infra Red binoculars to check if the other squad vessels were still around the bay of the island but to his surprise he found that neither of the other vessels were anywhere to be seen. James thought against telling the rest of his squad about this development for the time being as he didn’t wish to panic them any more than needed. Besides, the vessels could have had a very good reason for leaving, although none of them sprung to mind. “Come on let’s head out.”

“What are you talking about? We can’t go in there on our own,” said Sato, with a great deal of fear in his voice.

They’re all afraid.
“Why not?” James replied.

Alberto butted in, “because the other squads aren’t here.”

James, sensing tensions were beginning to rise, tried to take control of the situation. He wished more than anything that Chad was here right now. Chad was more hands on than he was and would have let them know, in no uncertain terms, who was in charge. James thought he’d take a leaf out of Chad’s book and lay down the law. “Look squad B aren’t here. Since they're not here they must have set off without us. So we’re moving out. That is a direct order.”

The others had no choice but to do what he said. James was the captain of the squad. If they wanted to pass this exam they had to follow orders. James could feel the disapproval from the other squad members, except from Cody who was behind his captain.

“C’mon your captain gave you an order!” he said, sounding a little like a cowboy in that Texan accent of his. His words were true enough though and the rest of the squad, albeit somewhat reluctantly, followed James who led the way into a small village just off the coast of the island.

The group had been prepared for combat the second they disembarked the vessel but strangely enough, they had not seen a single person from the moment they had arrived on the island. The five members of squad A, led by James, proceeded in formation through the small village. They were on guard, but there was no one to be seen, not a soul. All the small houses had the front doors opened and the group checked several of them but found nobody. Furniture and other items were scattered here and there. It looked as though the owners of the houses had been in a rush to leave.

They continued on through the village for several hours, eventually arriving at a market area. The market was in a large location in the centre of the village, which stood between three different pathways leading East, West and North. The Northern path seemed to lead deeper into the village, whilst the Eastern path led back to the beach. The Western path however led into a forest in the distance and a huge stone like tower could be seen in the middle of the woodlands. The group walked into the market area from the Southern path they had been traveling along, still remaining in the formation.

Midway through, Cody suddenly broke formation and starting walking normally. “There’s no one here man.”

“Cody don’t break formation,” James ordered, but it was too late, all the squad had come to a standstill.

Cody walked over to a market stall and picked up an apple from the fruit section. The rest of the squad looked on bemused as Cody proceeded to take bites out of it. He noticed the rest of the group staring at him. “What? It’s not as if anyone’s going to miss it out here.” Cody stopped midway through a bite, spotting something in the distance.

The others turned around and spied a group of people dressed in black clothing making their way up the western path that led out of the village and into the forest. The way they covered ground was military like, definitely not how a group of civilians would move. James gave the squad hand signals to follow the group dressed in black and they gave pursuit. James and the others followed in silence from a distance of around one hundred yards. The group dressed in black attire were around nine in number and wore dark masks, similar to that which a ninja might wear. The students followed the group on the western path, which led into the forest. The forest terrain was uphill and the members of squad A found it harder to remain silent whilst standing on twigs and leaves on the forest’s ground.

James, whose hearing was far more advanced than any of the others, (another ability he and Chad shared) overheard the ninja group talk about captives in the tower.
Captives? Is that why we haven’t seen anybody else? Still, there’s no way Chad could have been caught!
He knew that Chad shared the same special gifts of enhanced strength, stamina and resistance to pain that he himself possessed. No one else knew this, of course, not even the professor was aware of the full extent of their skills. James knew there was no way Chad could have been detained, as he, like James, could handle himself.
If he hasn’t been caught, then where is he?

James quickly snapped out of such thoughts and kept his mind focused on the job at hand. The ninja group continued onward through the forest and toward a large stone tower located in the centre of it. James and the others followed in total stealth…or so they thought. Alberto lost his footing on a loose twig sending out a loud crunching sound. The members of squad A froze, nervously awaiting to see if the group they were pursuing had picked up on their presence. The ninja group carried on as normal and they all breathed a sigh of relief. They continued to follow the group when suddenly one of the ninja’s quickly turned around and launched a metal bladed throwing star in the area where Alberto was standing. The object went right into Alberto’s hand, piercing through the flesh and driving it into the trunk of a tree. The Italian couldn’t move, effectively being pinned to the large oak. Alberto screamed out in pain as blood poured from his hand. The group of nine ninja’s quickly advanced on the squad. Cody reached for his gun, but a throwing star quickly knocked it out of his hand. A battle ensued between the ninja’s and the members of squad A, minus Alberto who was stuck to the tree with the throwing star edged through his hand.

The squad were outnumbered, Nine ninja’s versus four of them. The squad had James though, their ace in the hole. James used his unnatural speed to disarm and overpower three ninja’s who tried to rush him. He weaved in and out of several throwing stars the ninjas hurled in his direction. The remaining squad members, Cody, Sophie and Sato were slightly overmatched by the ninja’s although they tried their best to hold their own. Sophie struck one of the ninja’s down by expertly throwing one of her knives over Forty feet, right into the man’s heart. When another ninja engaged her in hand-to-hand combat, however, she was clearly outmatched. Cody noticed her in trouble, but he had problems of his own. Cody had studied the art of Jujitsu and had exceptional talent in the skill. This was why he was recruited as a trainee. However the ninja he faced off with matched his attacks blow to blow. Then his foe launched an attack and began to give him a good beating. Sato faired no better. One ninja had Sato’s arms behind his back whilst another punched him repeatedly in the stomach. James came to Sato’s aid, taking the ninja’s sword, which was attached to his back in a sheath. He sliced the man’s legs from right underneath him, sending the ninja crumbling to the ground in pain. James quickly overpowered the rest of the ninja’s knocking them all out. The fallen squad members picked themselves up from the ground. All were bleeding slightly however the greatest concern was for Alberto; whose hand was still nailed against the tree by the metal throwing star the ninja had thrown.

“Get it off me,” Shouted Alberto, who was clearly in a lot of pain.

James examined the star in his hand and reached out to it.

“Be careful,” said Alberto as James put his hand onto the weapon embedded in his hand.

James yanked the star out of Alberto’s hand quickly without warning.

Alberto cried out in pain. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Stop crying,” James said coldly. He wasn’t pleased with Alberto, for it was he who had given the squads position away. He did sympathise with him a little, though, as he realised the blade cut right through to the bone.

James wrapped up Alberto’s hand, which was now useless. “Stay behind us from now on, you’ll be no good to us in a fight.”

The Italian nodded. Deep down he realised that he had messed up.

The squad continued on west through the forest. They reached a stone path, which led out onto an opening on a cliff. The large stone tower the group had seen in the forest earlier was now clearly visible in its entirety. The tower stood several hundred feet tall and on closer examination had woodlands growth all over it. James spotted the entrance to the structure at the base of the cliff they stood on. He suddenly picked up on a rustling in the trees above his head, almost as if someone was watching him. The squad leader took out his gun, placed his silencer onto it and quickly fired a bullet up towards the tree’s top.