Secret Assignment

"Sgt. Aldine," Commander Foreman says as I pass, "I need to talk to you."

That is never a good sign.

I go to him blindly as I've been trained, but my guard is up. It's weird not having a say in yourself, not being allowed to be the person you've always been. I know I'm in there somewhere.

"I have a mission for you," He begins as soon as we are away from prying ears.

As a covert operative, you never know what's coming. I didn't join for this; I joined for structure, camaraderie, protecting those I love- it all ended up so different. Where I am now, things are tight-lipped and closer to the action than I thought I'd be. Now, I don't even know the start of the man who dreamed of finding a secure life direction.

Commander Foreman begins to describe a clandestine operation. It takes place on the uppermost peak of a snowcapped mountain. An enemy base sits there like a cherry on top of a frozen Sunday. The base holds enemy intelligence that can change the course of the war; the safety of our nation and those within it.

I cut in, "Who is overseeing the mission."

He gives me an outright stare before reacting, "We don't have permission."

And that's the real kicker.

I leer and roll my head off to the side. How could he expect me to be okay with another off of the book run? I feel like a pawn. Suppressing my emotions will never be my strong suit, no matter how many times I've been taught. The mission is one of those things I don't have a say in, one of the reasons I immediately put my guard up.

He continues, "It needs to be quiet. We have you set for drop-off a few clicks east. The base will be heavily guarded; however, we do not believe they are expecting infiltration at this time."

"You don't believe?" Then, I impulsively reply, "Is my life a joke?"

Offense overtakes his expression.

I continue, "And what about my team?"

Commander Foreman presses his lips together, "This is a solo mission."

"You can't expect me to do something like this on my own." I snap.

He rolls his eyes, "Fine, one other operative...."

"Who?" I demand.

"It'll be Grange."

"Who?" I question with perplexity. I know everyone we work with, and I've never heard this name.

"He's new, but his tests are remarkable."

I squint, "How many times has he been boots on ground?"

The Commander waits, "None."

I am appalled, "He can't be cut out for this."

"I'm giving you someone expendable on purpose." He barks.

I gasp. The Commander's comment is cold and harsh, just like the environment we are disembarking.

"Yeah?" I remark, "And am I just as 'expendable'?"

He simpers as he shakes his head, "No," He pauses, "We need someone who knows what they're doing to come back with the hard drive."

I know I am just a mark who can get the job done. Foreman knows I would risk my life for the importance of this mission. The Commander trusts I'm here for the greater good and that nothing would get in the way of getting the job done. I hate to admit it, but- He's right.

"When do we leave?" I ask.

"Tomorrow morning."

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Pvt. Grange faces me in the chopper. Our gear covers us from head to toe in layers to protect us from the bitterness of the cold.

"Warm enough?" I ask to get acquainted.

He lets out a forced smile, "Snow isn't really in my element."

"Me neither," I answer as the conversation fades.

He clears his throat then asks, "Are the rest of us already waiting at the base?"

I watch him dumbfounded. He doesn't know the first two bits of what's going on. Grange still has a charm, believing that this isn't what it is like I once did.

A few seconds pass before I answer, "Naw, it's just going to be me and you this time."

"Oh," He replies as the words fade off into an emotionless pit. I can tell my answer concerns him. Grange's lack of knowledge is bothering him. Just like me, Grange is a ragdoll…. Just like me, he thought that enlisting should have turned out differently. The only difference between him and me is that if I radioed back alone, I'd have a pickup, and if he did, he wouldn't.

I break the quietness again, "It's a stealth operation. We are here to grab some information and go. No firefight, sneak in and sneak out."

It's the first time he's heard this.

"Are you up for that?" I ask.

"Yeah." He sounds more confident than he should.

Our piolet motions for us to get out of the chopper. I drop a rope out of the helicopter, loop my boots safely around the tether, and slid down to an icy peak. Grange joins me.

I signal to the top of the cliff that towers above us. Then, with a deep breath, I equip my ice picks and begin scaling the massif. With each poke, I propel myself forwards, turning back to spy Grange following in my wake.

A loose chunk of ice separates from the cliff sending it hurling below. I can feel the weight of Grange's tether pull on my core as a snow chunk makes an impact just beside him. His total weight pulls at me as he struggles to find his way back to the mountain. I hang on for dear life, clenching and slipping with the added weight.

Grange swings himself to the cliff again, narrowly grabbing hold. I feel the weight lift off of my abs as he is back connected to the side and climbing once more.

I am first to the top, and Grange is close to follow. When he reaches the top, he rests his hand on my shoulder, "I owe you one."

"That was a close call." I am earnest as I pull out a pair of binoculars to spy on the rival base.

Just over a vast frozen lake sits the enemy hideout. Unfortunately, the lake itself is exposed with no way to conceal ourselves, so we go around the long way through the surrounding trees to mask our movement.

Foes scatter through the tree lines as we work together to make out way to the building. With silencers on our handguns and combat knives extended, we take down opponents and continue moving forward.

I sneak up behind an enemy and grab him by the throat just as another pops out from behind a tree screaming. Grange is quick to sneak behind him and cover his mouth, and we take the pair out together.

We work seamlessly.

Things are tenser the closer we get to the hideout. I signal for Grange to take sides at the building door. He is quick to listen. Then, on the signal of three, I bust open the door to an empty room. We slide in back-to-back, checking our corners before taking cover to address the room beside us.

A computer sits on a desk with a guy sleeping on the job near. It's the marked location. The hard drive is sitting right beside the guard. Together, we sneak into the room. Grange takes cover as I approach the desk to take out the guard.

"This is it," I whisper, "I'm going to extract the intel, then we are home free."

He nods quietly.

I kneel beside the computer, working to retrieve the information as Grange watches in wait. The computer screen illuminates my anxious expression as I type in codes. Finally, the computer screen flashes, and my download is complete. Then, I disconnect the hard drive.

Just then, the room lights up dramatically. Enemy forces, a lot of them, rush into the room with their assault rifles drawn. As I raise to my feet with my hands up, I knock the hard drive to the floor.

I glace to Grange, who is unseen and nervously waiting for an order; I don't have one ready. He watches my eyes as the enemy screams words I barely understand. Just beside him is an opened window, an escape. I look to it and watch as he realizes what I'm asking him to do. I focus for just a second on the hard drive then look back to the window.

"Get on the ground!" One of them screams.

I loop my fingertips around the back of my head and start to kneel again. It gives me just enough room to whisper, "Take it and go. Radio them that you have the drive."

Grange is paying attention, but he's also fiddling with his rifle.

I shake my head and demand, "Just go."

The enemy approaches me slowly as Grange reluctantly slides the hard drive into his pocket. Then, they get close enough to push my body to the floor when suddenly loud pops fill the room.

Grange steps out from cover to take out the foe standing above me. The guns from the other side of the room start to pop. A base alarm starts ringing as I gather my composure to equip my weapon.

Together we charge out of the room while I radio for evacuation.

"Charley 2-4; we have the package," I announce into the radio as we duck, cover, and move our way through the active base.

"Roger that Sgt. Prepare for extraction." The pilot responds.

"The floor is too hot," I respond.

"PREPARE. FOR. EVAC." He answers

Our extraction is just over the frozen lake. I can see our helicopter far in the distance behind the mountain ridge.

"Follow me!" I scream as I choose to run towards our chopper.

The lake is too opened, but there is an entire base at our tail. We don't have time to conceal ourselves between the trees as we did before. So, together, we charge across the frozen pool.

As we charge, bullets wisp by. Grange is a few paces behind me with the intel bouncing in his pocket. Beneath my feet, hairline cracks create a new panic. The thin ice is chipping under our weight, but we have no choice but to continue moving forward to the waiting chopper.

Crack!

The alarming sound takes my attention as I turn swiftly to see Grange halfway sunken into the lake. He struggles to keep himself from dipping farther into the chilly water. Grange thinks fast and peels the intel out of his pocket to slides it across the ice to my feet.

Bullets continue to wiz by as I lean down to scoop up the information.

"Expendable" the words take my concessions as I watch him sink farther into the waiting pool.

There's enough time to get away, to save me, and complete the mission. But I can't. Instead, I turn to Grange and extend a hand. The pops of gunfire are getting closer and more accurate as I peel him out of the water.

Together we are on our feet again, rushing towards the chopper. Then, together, we board the helicopter with the hard drive wrapped in my arms.

"You should have gone when they caught me at the computer," I announce as we catch our breath and evade the corruption of the base below. My statement is halfway out of guilt. I wonder what terrors might be going through his head after sinking into the water, what he's thinking after experiencing such hysteria and danger.

But he smirks, "And you should have gone when I fell through the ice."

Together we nod, understanding that we are two of a kind. Even when life doesn't go as expected, you can't train someone out of genuine camaraderie.