Jethro Goes to War (Wandering Engineer Jethro's tale) by Chris Hechtl Read Free Book Online Page B

surprised. It wasn't
like they had a lot to go off of. It was one thing to read about it
in a manual, quite another to see, touch, and experience something
hands on. He'd learned that already.
    “ Delta
platoon, F platoon you’re up!” the gunny said. “On
your marks...”
    “ Wait what
happened to E?” Hurranna asked to the side.
    “ Consolidated
into others. Focus,” Jethro snarled.
    “ You focus
blacky...”
    “ Go!”
The gunny said hitting a gong. The troop sprang into action, running
the rings and then turning a corner to the wall.
    “ Go go!”
DI's screamed. Jethro shouldered his weapon and then grabbed the rope
just before Hurranna. In a flash he was up it.
    “ Up and over,
go go!” the DI at the bottom screamed as he hesitated at the
top. Vertigo played with his senses briefly before he got it under
control. He cat walked along the balance beam instead of dropping
down the other side and then went hand over hand on the monkey bars
to the zip line.
    “ Shake your
tail!” Hurranna growled behind him. He snarled but tried to
pour on speed.
    Other troop members
were taking the easier route, dropping down the wall and then moving
through the muck. He got to the end of the zip line and grabbed the
rope to swing across.
    “ Wait,”
A DI said, hand out. Jethro waited as a trooper ahead of him got out
of the muck. “Go.”
    Hurranna swung just
before he did. He let out a Tarzan yell and landed on the slippery
slope on the other side right after her. He let go of the rope and
wind milled as he tried not to overbalance. The ruck and rifle were
throwing his usually perfect sense of balance off significantly.
    He made it to the
next obstacle just as sound FX of explosions and screaming bombs
began to play. Holograms of fireballs lit the area around them. “Go
go!” a DI screamed, slamming them down onto their bellies.
Hurranna leopard crawled through the muck and then took the side
passage through a second level.
    Jethro tried not to
look up as tracer rounds peppered the air above his head. He made it
to the second stage then a DI kicked him to flip him onto his back.
He felt like a turtle trying to move. He wanted to sit up but the
DI's foot on his stomach prevented it.
    He shucked the ruck
and then pushed it ahead of him. The DI let him go as the next troop
made it to his position. “Go go! Move it you maggots! My
grandmother could move faster than you! And she's in a wheel chair!
Move!”
    Jethro made it
through the crawling portion and paused at the next section. It was a
forest of poles. Occasionally he could hear a scream or explosion. He
looked around and then got an idea.
    Carefully he put the
ruck back on and then grabbed the nearest pole. “What the hell
are you doing Marine?” a DI snarled. He didn't acknowledge the
question, just climbed for all he was worth.
    At the top of the
pole he balanced and looked down. The forest of poles was a simulated
death trap, a jungle of hidden traps, snipers, and pitfalls. He
balanced on the top of the pole and then jumped to the next.
    He kept an eye to
the prize. After this was a sandy clearing then the bell. He jumped
the last three poles and then shimmied down the last one. He looked
around, no one else was there. He started to jog the sandy stretch
and then his eyes narrowed. Something was wrong. It was too easy.
    He dodged, and then
dropped just as a round tore through the air where he had been. He
crawled for all he was worth to the sandy berm off to one side. He
pulled a pocket mirror and glanced around.
    “ Damn,”
he growled. He was pinned. He couldn't move until someone else came.
He waited. Sure enough Hurranna came out just in time to get shot.
She crumpled over her stomach, retching in the sand. Three more
troopers came out.
    With the sniper's
attention on the others Jethro crawled to the next cover spot,
checked for another, and then did the same. He looked back to see
bodies writhing in the sand behind him. A few had taken cover in the
poles;