Hidden

A week has passed since Archer joined my mission team, and Tara has held us to our one personal truth a day without fail. I thought we would eventually run out of or get tired of sharing things we hate, but it's what stuck. If nothing else, it's created something closer to a bond then we had before. Rick walks in just as we finish up today's round with an envelope in his hand.

Upon seeing him, Marcus slaps his hands together loudly, "We running a simulation today?" Since that first day, Rick has shown up maybe a handful of times, entrusting our training solely to Marcus. I press my hands to my sides to keep them steady. Please, let a simulation be similar to a course maze. I've been itching to run a real one since my trials ended.

My eyes flit to Michael and he gives me a tight nod, the only indication of excitement I'll get with Rick in the room. We've been training together at night when we can to make sure our speeds are as in tandem as we can get them. I think between his improvement and the shaky control of my skill set I'm still grappling to master, we'll be able to look functional enough to move up a potential mission date.

The last thing I want is to be the weak link. Rick looks over each of us before letting out a resigned sigh, "Simulation starts in half an hour." His eyes swing back to Marcus, and he hands him an envelope, "Make sure your team is prepared." With that ominous statement, he leaves the room.

Marcus tears into the envelope and scans the single piece of paper before folding and sliding it into his pants pocket. There's cool determination in his gaze when he barks out, "Fall in."

We line up in mere seconds, ranked by partner pairings and specialities. Tara's at the head as she's Marcus' partner, then Ben and Archer, followed by Oliver and Nuri, and, finally, Michael and me. Minutes ago we were snickering about Ben's distaste for cards. Everything he has listed since we started has been game specific to the point that Nuri declared he must just hate fun in all forms. Now, that relaxed comradery has been replaced with grim resolve.

"There is an object we need to recover in the center of a course maze. We'll be given comms for mission command on site, and the barrier will remain in place." Without seeing them, I can feel the veteran team members and their disdain taints the air. They want to be let off leash in totality, and anything short of that must seem to them like nothing at all.

Marcus continues, "Ben and Archer go in first to clear a path. Michael and Samantha right after to work with mission command and find a route to the object. Wait until Oliver disables as much of the system as he can to secure it. Nuri, get Oliver to the control panel while Tara and I guard our flank. Understood?" We nod in unison, "Good."

The walk to the simulation room takes forever and no time at all. When we enter, it's a room dominated with a course maze and practically nothing else. The walls of the room might as well be part of it. A small, silver table is placed at the entrance and eight ear pieces lay on top of it. Michael hands me mine, and I'm elated when I hear Ryan's voice, "Testing."

He's the best guide I've had, and that makes him the best chance I have at proving myself today. "Confirmed." Michael and I answer together. My other team members echo the word around me.

Archer and Ben stand side by side at the entrance, and the rest of us file in as Marcus planned. I've seen Archer in a rage too many times to count, but this deadly calm on his face looks decidedly more lethal. Ben taps his fingers on the back of Archer's hand. My brother taps back. Then all hell breaks loose.

Michael and I hear the sounds of destruction, but we don't move until we're told. Sweat runs down my back from nerves alone. It's a simulation, but that's still my brother in there. "Proceed." Ryan's voice sends a shiver through me. I don't have to look at Michael to know he got the same order. As a pair, Ryan will be guiding us both.

We follow his directions while picking through the wreckage that Archer and Ben have left behind them. Rounding a corner, Michael throws his arm out to block me from tripping over some machinery. "Focus, Hargrove." Ryan drawls. I hate that he's right. Michael's perception is already saving our asses.

"Take the next right and stop." The scene before us makes my stomach drop. Moving walls of varying height are rotating at high speeds around the heart of the maze while water rushes violently in channels cut out of the floor. Suspended in the air, directly in the center of it all, is a hard drive. "It's up to the pair of you now. You'll be patched into the rest of the team until you have the asset and need navigation to the exit."

There's nothing to do but wait and hope that whatever Oliver does makes the retrieval easier. Archer and Ben's voices sound in my ear. They're flanking the pathway behind us in case the maze holds any other surprises. In the meantime, Michael's eyes never leave the treacherous obstacles in front of us. Every now and then I can see his mouth moving.

Oliver, Nuri, Tara, and Marcus join the channel at almost the same time. They've made it to the control panel. Oliver's gruff voice barks one word, "Report."

Michael describes every detail he can see. Some of the details catch me by surprise even though I'm looking at the same scene. One of them is that some of the walls are jagged and others are smooth. When he says it, I can see what he means, but dim lighting and the roaring of the water make it hard to focus.

He also explains that every time the water slams against the sides of the channels, it sprays high into the air and coats the floor. Again, now that he's pointed it out I faintly see what he's talking about, but I never would have noticed on my own. The positioning of the hard drive keeps it out of reach of the water but just barely. Any slip up will render it useless.

Oliver asks a few questions before he falls silent. Infinitesimally, the lights glow brighter. The extra perils Michael pinpointed are glaringly obvious now. Water streaks and pools across the parts of the floor that aren't carved away.

"He's slowing the walls down." Michael's hushed statement has me straining my eyes to watch the walls. It's true. They haven't stopped, but they aren't at breakneck speed anymore. When he speaks again, it's to the team, "Can you move the hard drive two feet to the left?"

His plan collides with me all at once. The walls are thick enough that someone could feasibly run across the top if one came to it. Of course, that someone would also have to deal with the constant spinning and the jump from one wall to the next after running and climbing a wall in the first place. The part of me that wants to prove herself preens while the part of me with a survival instinct bristles.

My head whips to him, and he barely lifts an eyebrow. You've got this. He mouths the words to me. Easy words to say for the person who will be staying on the ground.

"How about that?" Oliver asks. Looking back at the hard drive, I can see that it now hovers within reach of the tallest wall as it passes by. Of course Oliver is competent. So competent in fact that he's somehow made the raging water soften by a degree or two on top of the other miracles he's already performed. It's all happened too fast for me to counter Michael's insane plan with one of my own.

"It's perfect." Michael tells him as I roll my eyes. "Anything else you can do before Sam runs for it?"

Archer's voice makes me wince, "Like hell is she going to run for it. Sam, stay where you are. Make the walls stop completely Oliver. We have the time."

In a situation like this, it would probably be wiser to wait for Oliver's response, and five seconds ago I would have welcomed it. But halfway through my brother's tirade I take off for the shortest jagged wall. I won't be labeled as a team member who needs protection or special privileges. Michael trusts me to be able to handle this and so should Archer.

"Archer-" Marcus says in warning but is overlapped by my partner.

"Too late." Michael's response sounds like an exasperated parent. No time to dwell on it because icy water crashes into my right side and steals my breath inches from the wall.