Special Forces 01 by Honor Raconteur Read Free Book Online Page A

discouraged that he hadn’t found anything yet that he was willing to buy.
    When they came out of the bookstore she snapped her fingers, looking like she had a flash of inspiration. “Arystair, do you like sharp shooting?”
    “Yes, I certainly do.”
    “Have you ever heard of paintball?”
    Rys blinked. “I’m sorry, what?”
    “It’s a competitive sport here on Bijordan, that lots of teenagers seem to enjoy. It dates back to Old Earth, I believe. The boys and girls make up teams, and they wear camouflage and body armor. They equip themselves with special pneumatic guns that have small pellets of paint for ammunition. The teams use combat strategies to try to eliminate each other with the paintballs. If you get hit, the ball explodes, marking you with paint, and you are out. The last team on the field without getting hit by a paintball wins.”
    What she was describing was remarkably similar to some of his training — although they hadn’t used paintballs. He listened with growing curiosity and interest. “Now that sounds like something that I could get on board with. Is there a store that sells paintball equipment here on the mall?”
    “Right down there.” Sara beamed, pleased to see him finally interested in something, even if it was related to his combat skills.
    Rys walked into the paintball store, and listened to the pitch by the young salesman, who also happened to be an avid player. The man was well versed in the sport, and frankly discussed the pros and cons of all of the guns and gear available for sale. Rys saw enough to convince him that this sport was very close to the training he had done on Fourth. He and his team could get together for training and games. They could exercise, keep their skills sharp, and have fun at the same time. Perhaps they could get the other teams in 01 interested, and they could lay down the gauntlet for regular games.
    Grinning with anticipation, he bought four top of the line guns and all the necessary equipment and ammunition for four players.
    Sara was glad he finally found something he could turn into a hobby, but she was puzzled by all of the excess equipment in his cart. “Why are you buying four of everything?”
    “So I can get the rest of my team to play with me,” he explained, rubbing his hands together with anticipation and delight. “It’s been quite a while since we could really play and interact together. They’ll absolutely love this sport.”
    “Oh dear.” Sara’s eyes went wide, the vision of elite combat forces armed with paintball guns dominating the local paintball fields dancing in her head. “What have I done?”
    “Don’t worry, Sara, we won’t play with any of the civilians,” he assured her earnestly. “They wouldn’t be much of a challenge, anyway.”
    “Hey!” the sales clerk protested indignantly, overhearing Rys’s comment. “We are pretty good, don’t count us out!”
    Rys smiled indulgently and ignored his reaction, knowing the poor guy had no idea who he was talking to. “I’m definitely telling my brother captains about this, though.” He paused, savoring the thought of a tournament involving the entire 01 force.
    Better still, maybe he could arrange for all of them to play against each other regularly as teams. Now there would be something to look forward to!
    Just thinking about the possibilities of paintball war games made him feel like chuckling evilly.
     

Chapter Four
     
    High School…was not at all what Rys was expecting.
    For one thing, the campus was situated on a much grander scale than he had anticipated. It was almost incomprehensible that it took up a full twenty acres, including the sports fields. Maybe it was a holdover of his mindset from living on a cramped colony world, but Rys couldn’t help but think that there was a lot of wasted space out there.
    The other part that initially surprised him was how crowded the campus seemed. He knew, on an intellectual level, that this school had an