The Project

     “Guys…this is KS’s laptop…” Malco says, unwrapping the laptop from its nature proof seal; “You know what that means…”

            “He has orders for us, great…” Samuel says, ‘thrilled’ about having to get to work again, “$20 says he has some B.S. riddle for us again.”

            “I’ll take that bet.” A voice speaks up; I turn around and see Jessica, our field commander, making her way through the thicket, “He rarely does the same thing twice.”

            Clearing a place to put the laptop is not an easy task; we need to make a place to sit without making it known we were here at all. We find a dark area and chop few roots; just so we have a level area to place the laptop down. The computer is blank, with only the command prompt open with three letters onscreen: W.E.A.

            “Code-breaker, you’re up.” Jessica says, motioning for me to come over, “we have three letters: Whiskey, Echo, Alfa; make something of it.”

            I slowly walk over to the computer and sit down, “My name is David, and this is simple; he wants us to find the password, one that is relevant to our mission and these letters.” I scan the rest of the computer, but find nothing, “It is an acronym for something…Someone, what current event is there that’s relevant to us?”

            “Well…Asian Arms just went under…and China is growing in military strength.” Malco responds, “other than that just the entire thing with Italy and the Netherlands.”

            “What’s going on between Italy and the Netherlands?” I ask, examining the laptop’s outside.

            “They signed a peace treaty, there is tension in Europe.” Malco responds, playing around with his hand-gun, “what does this have to do with anything? Just solve the code.”

            “This has everything to do with it, wait…this light…Echo…Alfa…Whiskey?”

            “What?” Jessica asks, “Do you see something?”

            “The charge light…it is blinking in Morse code, and so is the cursor on the screen…” I say, intrigued at the computer, now more than ever.

            “What does that mean?” Samuel asks, tossing his knife around, “How does that help us?”

            “This and something else equal our password and mission; how do they fit together though?” I sit there, thinking of all the clues I have; then I get it, “Europe at War.” Quickly I type the code in and the moment I press the enter button, the screen dies; then comes alive once again, this time with more than just three letters.

            Initializing Stage One…Introduction…Complete

          -Welcome Phantoms, By Reading This You Have Successfully Broke My Code, Now To Your Mission: We Have Been Compromised, I Fear I Will Not Make It, You Must Escape While You Can; Trust Only Those With You Right Now; Meet Up At S8E16; If I Am Absent Initiate Our Cause, The Code Is The Same As Our Mission. –KS

     Terminating Stage One…Complete

     Initializing Stage Two…Termination…

            The screen goes blank and the computer refuses to turn on again,

“You heard him; we have to move out now; Malco on point.” Jessica commands; shooting the computer.

            “Ma’am” Malco responds, picking up his rifle and running ahead of us.

            When we get back to the main road, we board our jeep and take out a map,

“Where are we going?” Samuel asks.

            “Angola; Camabatela, to be exact.” I quickly say, “Just get us there.”

            “You know something” Jessica says as we drive off, “I want to know what.”

            “All I can say is you need me.” I say, looking off to the side and see a glint in the distance, “Sniper!”

            The bullet tears through the jeep door, but luckily misses everyone; the second round barely misses our tires; the third hits the steering wheel, right where Samuel’s hand would have been if he did not duck and take cover. When we clear the sniper we get as far as we can from the area; we go six miles before we link up with the main highway again.

            “Good eyes; but now we need to know why he fired on us; what is your part in this? How did he know we were American?” Jessica yells.

            “I’ll tell you when my mission is over, I can’t tell you now.” I say, staring into her eyes, “I suggest you focus on our objective at hand.”

            “Oh..shi- Roadblock!” Malco yells, Pointing out the police blocking the road, “We can’t stop; they’ll find out our involvement.”

            “Take them down; Malco, Sides” Jess yells, tossing a shotgun to Malco. The two hang off the side and fire on the police as we break through the roadblock; no police is killed, just injured so they can’t give chase.

            We arrive at our destination early in the night, a small shack stands before us, we get out and enter the shack, we see a lift and take it down to the bottom floor of the bunker. The bunker is illuminated only by the faint glow of the computer terminals. I run over to one and power it up, the screen is instantly flooded with code and a CCTV terminal opens up; revealing the police gathering outside,

            “I need some time, cover the entrance.” I command, turning back to the code.

            “Malco, Samuel, we need to protect the shack until David can input what he needs; when we reach the surface, guns free; understood?” Jessica says, boarding the lift, “David, meet us topside when you’re done.”

            I nod as the lift goes up, each soldier readying their weapons for a fire fight. I turn back and start to hack into the terminal. The first stage is easy to crack: Simplified Chinese; I easily get the password: BumpintheNight. Stage two is harder though: Morse code, translating to the password: EPIC DREAM WORLDS. Stage three opens with a simple question:

     What is your Mission?

     I quickly look over to the others through the CCTV: they are pinned behind the jeep; which they managed to pull over in front of the shack door, to give cover to whoever comes through the door. I look to Jessica; who is covering a bloody arm, trying to issue first aid whilst being shot at. I quickly input the password and call the lift down. Topside there is a fire-fight, the police have suppressed my squad mates, and my squad is not only out gunned, but their own guns run dry. I look and see Jessica propped up against the tire of the jeep, now tipped over onto its side.

            “Commander, are you stabilized?” I ask, moving over to her, “It doesn’t look serious.”

            “I am fine, just took one in my arm; I did the best I could, but our medic was K.I.A” She says, nodding over to bolder, Malco’s bloody body hides behind, “And Samuel is doing the best he can, but he ran dry on his rifle, so did I,” She moans in pain from her wound, and looks me in the eye, “I can’t fight anymore, take the gun on my waist and help me to the lift.”

            “I…I can’t, I’ve never used a gun on someone.” I say, nervously pulling the gun from its holster, “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

            “Yes you can, I believe you can.” She says, throwing her arm over my shoulder, “Fear not god-like foes, but pig-like allies”

            “How did you know the password?” I look her in the eyes, but her head leans back and her eyes close, “never mind, I will bring you back home.” I wait until the cops need to reload before running to the shack with Jessica on my shoulders, “Samuel, on point.”

            “Sir” Samuel responds, running over to us, he closes the door and locks it, “What happened to Jess?”

            “She fainted; she will live if we get out of here now.” I say, carefully placing Jessica on the ground, “Watch the lift.”

            I look at the computer and see that the police are storming the shack; they easily break through the door and proceed to the lift. We stare at the lift as it lowers and armed police surround us, only one, well decorated man remains on the lift itself;

            “At this point you are all dead.” The man says in a booming voice, as the cops lower their weapons, “welcome to the Phantom Project.” Tossing us new dog tags, he moves over to Jessica’s body, “We’ll get medics on her right away.”

            “Kevin Simpson, I take it.” I say, putting on the dog tag, “What kind of test is this?”

            “only the best are Phantoms, I had to make sure you were the best in your unit.” He says, looking at the police that surround us, as they take out their dog tags, identical to the ones Samuel and I now wear.

            “what kind of sick test causes our squad mate to be killed?” I ask, staring into Kevin’s eyes, “And I thought we were already Phantoms”

            “The test was to see if you could decode, and upload a military message before you were ultimately captured by rival P.M.C.s, You passed, your friend did not however, and your commander, well she was alive when we found her here, so she passed.” Kevin says, drawing his handgun, its gold finish shines under the florescent light above, “Do you know what this is?”

            “it’s a hand-gun, painted gold.” Samuel says

            “Wrong, this is the sign of a Phantom, all the trials and hardships overcome by a trainee is rewarded with a handgun and one bullet, what he does with the bullet determines if he is a phantom or not.” Kevin says, handing me the gun, “What do you choose to do with it? You first fired a gun today, now fire one again, but this time for the Phantom Program, initiate the Protocol.”

I stare at the gun in my hand, nervously move my finger around to the hammer and pull it back, then, trembling, I point it at my own head, looking around I see Samuel watching me, his own golden handgun in his hand, following as I do, and Kevin remains expressionless as I slowly squeeze the trigger.

            On March 5, 2015 I killed David Swillow, erased all evidence I walked on this earth, and was mourned by friends and family; David may have died, but I did not. In the bunker where I pulled the trigger on my own head both Samuel and I were brought into the Phantom Program, the Army made of dead soldiers, of ghosts, of men who are both alive and dead; no one knows who we are, not even us; our names were buried with our lives that we all through away in that bunker with that same unloaded gun, now only Phantoms remain of us.