Desmoterion, page 10
A frown crossed Girish’s face.
Mike looked at the rest of the class. “Think of this as a segue into your next assignments. I’ll expect all of you to practice what you’ve learned over the course of the other training. If you need me to help with things you’re still not there on, my room is in the crew quarters on the opposite side. Not to mention, I’m usually here practicing by myself or in the weight rooms.”
The other recruits muttered between themselves while Girish moved forward to stand in front of Mike. “I’ve missed classes because of my injury. I’m not at the level you think I am.”
“That’s true, but you’re having weapons training, anyway. Trust me, you’re more than capable of handling yourself in the field at this point. Hell, you held your own with Petrov early on without the additional training we’ve had. That says a lot.”
“Still, I need more practice before going out there.”
“What makes you think Trent would send you out there to do grunt work?” Mike’s eyebrow rose. “That’s for the rest of the class. You’ll probably be turned into a sharpshooter like Arden is. You are way too quick to anger for stealth work.”
“I haven’t had an outburst since the rib thing.”
Mike smiled at the reaction. “And yet, mentioning Trent’s name still riles you up. You might want to learn something from the one you hate, check your emotions to the side, or just bury them outright like he does.”
“Wasn’t the whole point of this training to channel anger into actions?”
Mike pulled Girish to the side. “It was, and for a while there, you were accomplishing it. The thing is, Trent is a weakness for you that will probably never go away if Trent has his say in it. That’s why weapons training is next, to have you focus on the target and not Trent.”
“I hate that fucker, and personally, I imagine the target is Trent’s chest.”
“At least you have the smarts to imagine something as the target. I don’t mind if it’s me.”
Girish’s hands balled at his sides before he whipped around to confront the sound of the voice. “Give me a weapon right now, and I can make it happen for real.”
Trent pointed at Girish’s hands. “Those are the only weapons you’ll need against me. All others are only for men who don’t want to beat someone one on one.”
“Then let’s go.” Girish got into a martial arts pose.
“I’m sure Mike doesn’t want me to damage you further. You’re still healing.”
“Let’s see if you can get in a punch.”
Drifting closer to Girish, he said, “Just one punch?”
Girish held his ground. “Just one.”
Trent moved into a similar pose with one leg back. “Are you sure about that? I have the control not to injure you further, but I doubt you have the flexibility to anticipate my every move.”
“We’ll see.” Girish grinned.
Trent glanced over at Mike. “Any words of wisdom for your student?”
Mike looked between the two men and laughed. “Kannan, you don’t have a shot in hell of blocking Trent, but I’ll say that if you can keep Trent off balance for just a bit, you might get a shot in.”
“The entire purpose of this is for me to hit him, not the other way around.”
“Well then, Trent rarely gives any tells of where he’s going to attack. It’s usually sudden, without warning, and you won’t see it coming. He knows you’re weak on the left side because of your injury and will put you out of position to exploit that weakness.”
Girish flexed his arms. “I expect that, and I’m prepared.”
A rare smile crossed Trent’s face as he bared his white teeth. “Then let’s begin.”
Girish gaped, caught off guard by any display of emotion from Trent.
Trent, in turn, used that to his advantage and hit Girish in the arm without any resistance.
Girish stared down at his arm, confused at why it was hurting.
“Leave it to you to distract him with a smile.” Mike rolled his eyes with a chuckle.
Trent shrugged, the smile leaving his face, and walked over to Mike. “Didn’t you always tell me to use whatever I could to distract my opponent?”
“Good to know you still remember that after all this time.”
Girish glanced up. “That wasn’t fair.”
Trent turned with a raised eyebrow. “When did anyone say it was going to be fair? You said one punch, and that’s what I did. Well, more like a tap in this case, but still.”
“Yes, but a smile, for fuck’s sake?”
Mike moved over to Girish to stand in front of him. “That’s the whole point, Kannan. The goal of any fight is to get the upper hand, and he did it by doing something out of character for him. It was enough of a distraction for him to get in a punch. Next time, you’ll ignore such things and focus on the fight.”
“I want a rematch.”
“I have work to do.” Trent shrugged. “I’ve done what you asked of me; you’ll have to wait for another time to try again.”
“But I didn’t get a chance to defend myself.”
Trent shuffled over to stand near Girish who saw his own face clearly reflected in Trent’s ever-present tinted glasses. “You wouldn’t have been able to do it, even if I hadn’t used such a cheap trick. I was making sure you didn’t injure yourself more, and it seemed like the easiest move to pull off for that.”
Girish struck at Trent, which Trent grabbed with little effort. He squeezed Girish’s wrist and said, “You’re so predictable, Girish. I knew you were going to launch an attack after something like that. Stop acting like a hurt child and start learning to control these childish emotions. They’ll only lead you to failure. Know this: enemies can and will use that against you.”
Through clenched teeth, Girish spat out, “You know nothing.”
“I know more than you think, and yes, I will use it against you until you learn to control your emotions. I’m not expecting you to magically turn into me, but at the very least, stop lashing out when you’re beat.”
Girish leaned closer, his chest brushing against Trent’s, and said, “You only won because of a cheap ploy. Is that all you know how to do?”
Trent shivered inside, unable to stop his body from getting warm at the closeness of Girish’s body. He let Girish’s wrist go and move back before it overwhelmed him. “Don’t you have training to do? Stop wasting your time with me.”
“You’re the last thing I want to waste my time on.”
Trent took a deep breath before turning to leave.
Mike stood there gaping at what had transpired. Emyr had been right.
* * *
Arden’s eyebrow rose when he spotted Girish storming over to the shooting range. “Are you ok”
“Fine,” said Girish through clenched teeth.
“Doesn’t look like you’re fine. Did you have trouble with Mike?”
“I’m fine!”
Arden blinked.
“Sorry.” Girish ducked his head.
“It’s all right, but calm yourself before we get started. Long-range shooting is a skill only for those with the patience to line up their target and wait for the right opportunity. If you’re tense, you’ll miss the shot.”
Girish took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His mind was still filled with visions of beating Trent to a pulp, so he tried to bury those within until later.
Arden studied Girish’s posture. “A little more in the shoulders. Pretend you’re not in this place, somewhere you feel safe and secure. Maybe a forest or a mountain or something like that. Everyone seems to have a different place they imagine when I teach them this.”
Girish frowned, unable to think of somewhere he felt safe. It wasn’t growing up with his father, nor at school, or even in prison. His life amounted to looking after himself and making sure no one got the better of him.
“What? Can’t you think of a safe place?”
“I’ve never felt safe in my life.” Girish looked into Arden’s brown eyes. “It’s always been a struggle to survive.”
Arden touched Girish’s shoulder and smiled. “It’s that way for most of us, but instead of that, just imagine a place you’d like to be. It can be anything, just as long as it calms you.”
Girish imagined being with someone in bed, a large bed with a warm body beside him, leaning over to kiss their red lips and holding them close. He couldn’t see the face, but their lips tasted like nothing he’d ever had.
“Good, that’s much better. Now let’s try shooting.”
Pushing thoughts of red kissable lips from his mind, Girish moved over to the booth and put the earphones over his head.
Arden handed Girish a medium-sized rifle with one long sight on the top of it.
Girish took the gun, pulled out the bullet clip to inspect it, and then put it back in. He looked down the long hallway for the target, leaning down on the platform in front of him to look down the sight in order to aim. It had been blurry in the distance, a good several hundred feet away, but now it appeared to be right in front of him.
Arden tapped on his arm to signal him to fire.
Girish took a deep breath and fired the rifle. The kickback still jolted him a little, but not as much as the handguns or assault rifles had in the past.
Arden flicked a switch to bring the target to them. He studied the shot, which was right off center. “Hmmm, your aim is still veering to the right. Maybe try to position yourself a little more right on the platform.”
Girish flushed and moved more to the right. He waited for Arden to reload the target with a new one and then fired again when Arden gave him the signal.
The target came whirling towards them, this time even further to the right.
Arden loaded another target and took the rifle out of Girish’s hands to aim for it.
Girish thought Arden was trying to make him look bad until he saw where the shot had gone when the target came over to them. He gaped at the missed shot to the right.
Arden pulled out of the bullet clip. He undid the latch to open the gun up, peering down the barrel.
“Is there something making it do that? I can’t imagine you’d miss a target.”
“I thought there was, but nothing inside the barrel impeded it.” He popped it back together and replaced the clip. With his arm stretched, he looked down the top of the barrel. “Ah, there we go. It’s out of alignment, and rifles can become warped depending on how they’re kept or used. I don’t know the history of this one, but it’s definitely not usable any more. I’ll go take it back to Emyr for another.”
Waiting for Arden to return, Girish wondered how that conversation between him and Emyr would go. Would Emyr get angry with Arden for saying he hadn’t been checking his guns like Trent had before?
A few minutes later, Arden returned. “Apparently, Emyr was trying to prove a point with something Trent said last month. He purposely gave us a bad rifle to see how long it would take us to figure it out.”
“Isn’t that dangerous? What if we used that gun in the field?”
“That would have never happened. Emyr wouldn’t have allowed it out in the first place. He was going to destroy it until he got the idea of replacing it here. Though I gave him a piece of my mind about something like that.”
Girish’s eyebrow rose. “You got mad at him?”
“No, just letting him know my feelings on the matter.”
Girish laughed, taking the new rifle out of Arden’s hands. “Somehow, you don’t strike me as being the type to ever lose your cool. It’s no wonder you’re the top sharpshooter.”
“I don’t see the point of getting mad at every little thing. Though I will state my opinion on something if it’s needed.”
“I kind of envy that. I don’t know what it would be like to go through life that mellow. I’d explode over time if I kept it all in.”
Arden smiled. “Is that what you think I do? For the record, I do let things out. Being here in the shooting range allows me to relax and focus on the task at hand. It’s very calming.”
Girish grinned, leaning over the platform with the rifle. “I’ll take your word for it.”
* * *
After training with Arden, Girish moved out of the shooting range and over to Emyr’s domain for more equipment training. He stopped short when he felt eyes on him and looked up, expecting to see Trent watching him.
Instead, it was a man in a black suit with flaming red hair.
Girish frowned at the man staring at him, unsure who he was or even why he was bothering to watch Girish so closely.
Emyr called out from his area. “Get over here, Kannan. I don’t have time to waste!”
Girish ducked his head, finally taking his eyes off the man above. He scurried over to Emyr and apologized.
Emyr dragged Girish to the back storage room and whispered, “Don’t make the mistake of watching our leader any longer than you have to. Avoid eye contact when you're not his focus of attention. He’s not one to be trifled with.”
“That redhead above is our leader? He doesn’t look like I expected him to be.”
“What did you expect him to be? Big and burly?”
“Maybe,” Girish shrugged. “More intimidating, I guess. He looks like a normal guy with really red hair.”
“Yeah, well, that normal guy holds your life in the balance. Not even Trent can give the order to eliminate you; it has to come from our leader; and when he gives the order, no one can stop it. It’s best to avoid him unless he sends for you.”
* * *
Trent entered their leader’s room. “You sent for me?”
The leader was looking at the computer screen in front of him. “Yes, to ask about Kannan.”
“He’s been progressing along. Arden says he’s getting more accurate at target practice, and Emyr reports he’s learning well.”
The leader glanced up. “Do you think he’s ready for another mission?”
Trent hesitated, unsure of what mission would fit Girish right now.
“It’s a simple question; just answer yes or no.”
“Yes, I believe he is, depending on what mission it might be. More undercover work?”
The leader got up from his desk to stand in front of Trent. “No, he’s going to be taking out an enemy at a distance. Stefan Rourke was spotted possibly visiting family or friends in the area. We rarely get a chance like this, as an army of men usually guard him.”
Trent’s jaw clenched, remembering past missions where he slipped right through their fingers and made fools out of them.
“No doubt you remember him well, as I believe your first mission as a team leader was to take him out.”
Trent winced. “While he made a fool of me in the process. Are we sure it’s a clear shot?”
“No, but we might as well try. He’s close and, therefore, easy to access.”
“Very well. Do you want me to work with Kipper on a mission profile?”
The leader returned to sit behind his desk. “Yes, please do. I have other things to attend to now and will review your progress later.”
Trent turned to leave, uncertainty brewing deep inside.
* * *
Kipper was chatting with his crew when Trent arrived. He glanced up at him. “I assume you’ve heard the good news. Or maybe that’s bad news, since we’ve tried to go after this man several times?”
Trent pushed his emotions aside and responded, “What kind of intel do we have on his visit? Is it with family or friends? Or maybe a business deal?”
The black-haired kid named Delgado nodded. “We’ve scanned the area, and it appears to be a two-story house on the outskirts of Cutty. The registered owner appears to be his daughter.”
Trent let out a trapped breath. “What’s the layout? Trees and high scrubs? Open field?”
“A mix of the two. The front is mostly high shrubs and trees, while the backyard has an open area for looking at the nearby lake.”
Kipper interrupted Delgado to say, “The only problem with the backyard is having a place for our operative to hide and accomplish his task. There’s not enough cover. Likewise, the front area is too tall for us to get a good shot of Rourke.”
Trent pointed at the display. “Show me a map of the house.”
Delgado brought up a 3D map of the house. He changed the angle. “There’s the front with the high scrubs.” He flicked the image, and it turned to the other side. “And there’s the back with a view of the lake.”
Trent peered down at the images. “Hmmm, you’re right; there isn’t much in the way of cover. What does the neighborhood look like? Lots of houses?”
Delgado brought up a street layout by the house. “There are only two houses close enough for us to look out from. Both are occupied by families with children.”
Trent pointed at the closest house to the north. “What does the backyard look like for that one?”
The image turned to show a small backyard with a few kid’s toys on the ground.
“Now configure it to see what kind of sight line we’re looking at from that backyard.”
Kipper smiled when the sight matched a perfect trajectory to the backyard. “There we go. We need to be in the corner of that backyard.”
Trent leaned down to type out something on Delgado’s keyboard. “Actually, we just need to be right there.”
Kipper looked at the large shrub along the outside of the backyard. “That’s even better. It’s an easy escape for our man instead of dealing with those inside while trying to line up their target. Arden will be overjoyed, as he doesn’t have to do much other than wait for the perfect shot.”
“It won’t be Arden this time. Our leader wants Girish to do it.”
Kipper glanced up to stare at Trent. “You can’t be serious? This is the first solid opportunity to take him out we’ve had in years. It’s not something for a new recruit.”
“It’s not my decision to make. Girish has improved with his long-range skills. Plus, we might take Arden along anyway, just in case there’s a problem.”
“I believe Kannan will succeed with this. It’s a true test if he can do as we ask.”
Both turned to face their leader.
The leader motioned to Delgado’s display. “I see we have a plan of attack?”
