''Scout One here.''
''Yes,'' Kris whispered. Scout one was ahead of her, and closest to the ambush.
''I got two very chummy bad guys headed my way. Make that bad guy and bad girl.''
''Get down,'' Kris said, probably unnecessarily.
''That's what he just did to her.''
Kris signaled everyone down, then went to ground herself behind a too damn thin tree trunk. She checked her Spy Eye, found her scout, found two more rapidly beating hearts, and took a sight in that direction. Movement drew her eye.
Yep, there was the couple. That was the problem with an orchard. Little underbrush. At this level, all that impeded the eye was a few tree trunks. And rain. Lots of rain.
Kris hunched down where she was, trying to make herself invisible. Behind her, the column did the same, as much as city-raised kids could. Kris concentrated on the pair ahead of her. She'd read in some women's magazine the percent of men that kept their eyes open versus the ones that shut them at moments like these. She forgot which type was supposed to be the better lover. She just hoped this guy was one of the eyes-shut types.
Then the wind died down, and someone behind Kris sneezed.
With the rain and wet, colds were epidemic on Olympia. And about the time they got the right vaccination for one flavor of virus, Olympia sprouted another. The corpsmen were going crazy generating new vaccines. Everyone had to put up with a cold for a couple of days each month. Kris hoped that bad boy up ahead figured it was one of his own.
Bad boy did lose interest, but his first glance was back at the ambush. The girl said something. He shushed her. Still mounted, he picked up his gun, and this time his scan was in Kris's direction. Kris thumbed the safety off her rifle but didn't dare move it. She waited.
The man shouted something, rolled off the girl, and fired two rounds in a direction Kris had no troops. ''Keep it cool, crew,'' Kris whispered on net. ''He's firing at ghosts. Let's not give him something real to shoot at.''
The girl didn't get up, seemed to be encouraging him to finish what he started. But the man was on his feet now, pants down around his boots, gun out. He advanced a few short paces toward Kris, eyes roving the woods. When his head quit moving, his eyes were locked on her. His rifle was half up; now he brought it to his shoulder, aiming at Kris.
For a second, they stared at each other as Kris brought her rifle up. She knew he'd beat her, but she had to try.
Then his head vanished as a scout took him down in a blaze of darts.
That brought the girl up on her knees, one hand grabbing for her pants, the other stuffed in her mouth to stifle a scream. She whirled in place and started half running, half crawling back to the ambush.
Kris flipped her rifle to sleepy darts and sent a shower at the girl. Wind blew them all to hell, but three of them ended up sticking out of the girl's bare rump. She collapsed into the mud and slid into a tree.
''Flank group, advance with me, in waves. Fire Team B, prepare to provide cover fire from this tree line on my command. Fire Team A, advance with me. Now!'' Kris was up and running as she finished the last word. Her team was a bit slower, but they were up by the time she was down.
''Hold your fire, you damn idiots,'' a voice bellowed against the wind. ''The trucks aren't here yet. Who's shooting?''
''I think it's Kars. He and a squeeze headed back of the line a minute ago,'' another voice shouted.
''Well, tell him to get his ass back up here.'' Kris took advantage of the confusion to advance Fire Team B to the tree row ahead and was taking A Team on a double jump before a startled bandit loomed in front of her.
She shot him.
''Weapons free. I repeat, this is Ensign Longknife. Shoot ‘em if you got ‘em.'' Unfortunately, there weren't many targets. She was still a dozen rows to the rear of the ambush, more than 300 meters. Too far in this visibility. Sporadic fire came from beside her and ahead of her, but the only thing taking hits were the trees. Waving Fire Team B forward, Kris contributed a few rounds, more to keep heads down than hit any target.
''They're behind us, you idiots,'' the first voice was shouting off to Kris's right. ''Turn around. Shoot.''
''Scouts, whoever is doing the shouting is close on your front. Drop him if you can.''
Five trees to Kris's right, two uniformed figures glided forward, bodies low, guns level. ''We're looking for him, ma'am.''
Now it was Kris's turn to advance her line. She waved them forward. ''Spens, watch our left for encirclement.''
''Been looking for that, ma' am, stretched us out that way. We're kind of thin.'' Kris's left flank, and her connection to Tom's center, reported.
Kris went to earth beside a trunk maybe eight rows back, from the ambush. On her front, people were moving toward her. She scanned along the line, sending a burst into a tree here, the ground there. People anywhere near her hits were dropping to the ground as splinters showered them, mud sprayed them. One man, behind the rest, shouted at them, waved his gun. Kris drew a solid sight picture on him. He went over backward as three rounds took him full in the chest.
Five people took one look at him and ran. More hugged the ground, tried to burrow into the mud. Kris sent a long burst into the trees above them, and a half dozen took to their heels. Kris ignored them and checked to her right. More movement.
''Fire Team B, join us. Let's hold this row of trees.''
She waved the second half of her command forward, signaling the two closest to her to go to her right. Her troops were spread too damn thin. Kris pulled up her reader to check the Sky Eye view. The hostiles seemed disorganized in front of her, some moving forward, others back. She shifted the view to check things out in front of Tom.
The screen went blank.
''Colonel,'' she squeaked.
''We're rebooting.''
''It'll be over by then,'' Kris snarled, shoving her reader back in her pocket. .
''I have a lot of fire and movement on my front,'' Courtney hollered on net. ''Lots of people shooting and moving my way. I think they're trying to go around me.''
''Discourage them,'' Kris ordered.
''I saw a couple try to run. One of their own shot ‘em. I got him, but there's a lot of them, and I'm not sure I can hold.'' Courtney's words were punctuated by fire.
''Damn, why can't a plan ever hold together?'' Kris snapped. She glanced to her right. The two marine scouts were holding there, supported by two navy types. Yep, one of them was her hero wanna-be. ''Navy and Marines to my right, you will hold this flank as we advance. Understood?''
She got four yeses. No shakes in the voices now.
''Fire Teams A and B, we've got to herd these bastards a bit faster than planned. We will advance by fire and movement to the road. Team A, prepare to advance. On my order, A Team advance. Now.''
Kris was up, shouting, firing at anything that moved. Behind her, half her team fired as well. Ahead of her, the advancing hostiles stopped in place, apparently startled by the sudden appearance of so many—or so few—shooters on their front. Kris went to ground well away from a tree trunk; she wanted a clear field of fire.
''B Team, prepare to advance. Advance. Now!''
They came out of their positions, shouting, shooting. Kris swept her sights over her front. A short burst sent four running, rifles tossed. A man turned to gun them down. Kris got him first. Another man was shouting, waving his hands as others fled by him. Kris drew a bead on him, but he went down as someone else beat her to the trigger. Kris kept searching.
Two people huddled on either side of a tree trunk. Both were shooting as fast as they could pull the trigger. Kris sent a burst into the trunk, shattering bark and splinters over them. They ducked. One was on his feet in a second, running, his rifle left behind. The other one shouted something, then went back to shooting. Kris put a burst between his eyes as her magazine ran dry. Reloaded, Kris shouted, ''A Team,'' as she got to her knees, ''prepare to advance.'' The next tree row would put them damn close to the hostiles. ''Advance. Now!''