Engagement [Book 3: SEKTOR V Trilogy]

Chapter 16: Kinda Remarkable

Chapter 16: Kinda Remarkable

Cairo was getting slightly annoyed with Jake's seemingly unending need to distract her from hearing the details of the briefing. Making matters worse, they both were sitting in the front row. Not a good look, she thought. Cairo decided to end it by pinching Jake's leg as hard as she could. Naturally, the move backfired.

"OW!.... Why'd you go and do that?!" Jake bellowed as he turned and directly looked at Cairo.

The room instantly went quiet...

Cairo attempted to deny responsibility, but from the looks she received, she doubted anyone was buying it. Over the past few weeks, she had spent a lot of time with Jake, but despite Jake's insistence to the contrary, along with occasional snide, nosy comments from others, they were not a couple. Cairo fully grasped the tense circumstances that surrounded her and didn't appreciate the unwanted attention. She was equally sure that General Asoban, who was known for his no-nonsense style, didn't appreciate the interruption. After an extended look in Jake's direction, he resumed his tactical discussion.

"As I was saying... we need perfection. We have zero room for error. The Zetas have been out in full force and there is no reason to expect anything different for the foreseeable future. These beings do not respond well to any form of resistance or perceived acts of aggression. There is no question that they are still seething from the inexplicable embarrassment of losing a controlled asset in New York. And while it is undeniable that they maintain an obvious and overwhelming resource advantage over us, the species' unending and dismissive attitude toward Human capability of any kind also gives us a very real tactical advantage...blind underestimation. That, and of course, we have Cairo..."

Ok, that caught her off guard. Once again, everyone was staring in her direction. This was getting annoying. She didn't like this kind of attention. She didn't care much for any kind of "group attention". The pause was no more than 5 seconds but with all eyes upon her, it felt like an eternity. Finally, General Asoban continued...

Unfortunately for Cairo however, "continuing" also meant that the General would begin discussing how her personal "skill set" could be thought of as advanced tactical weaponry.

"I'm sorry my dear, and while I certainly do not wish to make you feel uncomfortable, or add any undue pressure, the fact remains that if this mission is to be a success we will have to rely heavily on the effectiveness of your unique talents."

She knew that she possessed advanced telepathic capabilities, even by Arcturian and Sirran standards, but she also knew how not to use her "attributes" in certain situations. And this was one of those situations. A sarcastic "thanks" probably wouldn't fly well with the ET crowd in attendance, she thought to herself and only to herself. Thankfully, the General continued...

"The time to move is now. However, this will be no simple task. Moving 110 souls 250 miles in 5 days will take every bit of our resourcefulness and stamina if we are to survive. The Grey's latest batch of hyper-intelligent drones has complicated our operations. Technologically unaided movement at night will no longer be possible. Getting around during the day, while still feasible, will require considerable effort and coordination to maintain "tactical normalcy". Any ground activity that is construed to be even remotely suspicious will be flagged and immediately investigated by enemy forces using heavily-armed resources. I should not have to remind any of you that these beings shoot first and ask questions later. Our existence means nothing to them save for our ability to serve as reproductive farm animals. Over the decades, we have lost countless loved ones during our period of enslavement. However, for the first time in a very long time, we have hope. And the cause for that hope is sitting among us...

"Oh God, not again!" Cairo thought to herself, her eyes closed and head turned downward. She couldn't see but she could still somehow "feel" the collective gaze of everyone in that room upon her. "Just move on with the plan already....PLEASE", she begged internally. It's not that she was some sort of introvert...far from it. She had always been quite confident and not just for a teenager. Generally speaking, she was very comfortable in her skin. The one thing she didn't like, however, was being put under intense external scrutiny. Perhaps this was due to the fact that she had been under the microscope for most of her life. Or perhaps it was because she received endless attention as a small child after both of her Human parents were lost in a shuttle accident on Arcturus. Raised by extraterrestrials, Cairo knew she was different. These differences manifest themselves in many ways including her capacity for emotion and her remarkable ability to control it. As luck would have it, she also inherited incredible mental attributes that became readily apparent at a very young age. To her, these so-called "gifts" were nothing special and simply part of who she was, who she had always been. Of course, no one, even the benevolent and truly advanced ETs on Arcturus saw it that way, which naturally led to nearly two decades of endless poking and prodding to explore and develop her raw, natural "skill set". If she never heard, or mentally communicated, the word "remarkable" again it would be fine with her. Just as her group discomfort began to morph into mild annoyance as she continued to delve deeper into her past, Asoban snapped her out of it in an instant.

"Well my dear, what do you think?" the General repeated his question with a slightly nervous edge in his voice.

Cairo, hopelessly lost in thought, had no clue what he was talking about. However, like she had done many times in the past with her friends, family, and instructors at school, she used her "remarkable" skill set to bail herself out. The General's mind was like an open book and seemed unfair to pick it apart. Within seconds, she could see he was both nervous and slightly agitated. "Why wasn't she answering my question? Does she have reservations about the plan? Even if that is the case, we cannot, no I will not let her weakness permeate the group. If she expresses anything but full support I will lose the others."

At this point, Cairo had "heard" enough and knew she had to move very quickly before the General verbally communicated something he might later regret.

"General, I'm sorry, I was just contemplating how we would celebrate after we infiltrated and eradicated Zeta's leadership contingent at the DC compound,'' she said with a captivating smile.

"The plan in every detail is brilliant", she added.

And with that, she saw the tension in the General's facial muscles instantly melt away.

Cairo's smile turned slightly mischievous. Ok, fine, so maybe my skill set is kinda remarkable after all...

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