How to Love the Stars | Ghost (Simon Riley)

Chapter 9

Once they reached the location, Althea and Ghost headed for the ship, while Soap, Alejandro, and Shadow Company headed for the Oil rig with the missile.

They deployed a cable up to the deck of the ship. She tugged on her cable. "Good hook." She latched her mechanism onto the cable and Althea and Ghost grappled up the side of the building. Rain was drenching everything, turning the water into a choppy, murky mess. The crates slid around on the deck of the ship, making it difficult to find a place to hide. It was definitely not an ideal battleground. There were not as many high elevations and spots to hide as Althea had hoped for. In addition, the deck was slick with rain, making it difficult to navigate properly. She could see at least 3 soldiers from her vantage point. Another few had been stupid enough to carry flashlights with them, making her grin.

She activated her comms and put in her headset. She could hear Graves talking and coordinating with Soap and Alejandro. She grabbed a bar and swung herself onto one of the larger crates on the deck for a better view. She took out one of her smaller knives, poised to throw it.

A gruff voice with a rich British accent sounded through her headset, almost making her jump. "Whisper, do you copy? What's your location?"

"I'm on the deck. I can see 5 soldiers from here." Althea glanced down, looking for Ghost. She could have sworn she had seen him just a minute ago.

Althea slunk from the left side, preparing to take out one of the soldiers, but right before she was about to throw a knife, the man fell. Althea whipped around but just saw Ghost's brawny figure lurking behind another box.

Ghost's voice came in through her earpiece. "Too slow."

She scoffed. "Bastard." Althea noticed a few more men just around the corner of another crate. She pulled out her rifle, picking a few of them off silently. She hit the closer ones with her knives, hitting each one precisely. All the other soldiers were none the wiser.

"Deck clear." She assumed that there were no more soldiers on the deck, as she had checked most of the rooms and halls already.

As she rounded the corner, she had just barely caught a glimpse of a soldier with a gun on an upper deck before she was tackled backward to the ground by a second person, knocking the breath out of her. Gunfire rained all around her and she gasped for air. Perhaps she had gotten too confident in her skills that she hadn't seen that soldier around the corner, nor the one that was on top of her now.

Althea grabbed for a hold of something, anything around to get away. In the darkness, she could barely see anything besides the faint outline of the figure's massive body. She kicked him in the stomach but her kick landed lower than she'd aimed. The figure crumpled in pain. Althea quickly reached for her knife, about to slit the figure's throat when his hand firmly but gently stopped her wrist.

She heard a low voice with a British accent. "Shit. Whisper, it's me." He raised his head, his skull mask glinting in the light of the boat's lamps. Althea breathed a sigh of relief. Her arm went limp and she leaned back on the crate behind her to catch her breath. She closed her eyes, adrenaline pumping through her veins.

Ghost groaned, bringing her back to the present. "I'm sorry for kicking you," She smiled sheepishly, remembering the kick she had delivered to him. She had used all her force for that kick.

He cursed and stood, picking his gun off the floor. He dusted dirt off his clothes, glaring at her all the while. He looked like he was about to bite her head off. "Be more fucking careful." Althea winced. "I guess I owe you a coffee then."

He paused for a moment before speaking. "Tea."

Althea furrowed her brows. "Huh?"

"Get me a tea. I don't drink coffee." Althea snorted quietly. "Fine." For a moment they made eye contact, something wordless passing between them. Althea couldn't tear her eyes away from his no matter how hard she tried. Althea stiffened, heat suddenly rising to her face. That was strange. She's never felt that before. A flare suddenly shot into the sky from the shack, lighting up the sky.

Ghost stood up straighter, suddenly alert. Althea started forward, swearing under her breath. "Ghost, they're launching the missile!"