Chapter 2
Everything was deathly quiet as we sat still, bugs walking down your face, 'things' biting you, but you did not move. Even in this humid and barley breathable jungle, you did not move. Sensing, rather than seeing my team, I sub-vocalised to them.

"Standard pattern. I will take point."

The others did not answer, nor did I expect them to. Neither did I get an argument from them.

There were for of us on this one, instead of the usual five. The fifth, Sgt. 'Boom-Boom' Nhung was on RnR for tomorrow he gets married. He hated being left behind, to the point where I had to threaten him with an actual order to stay. He knew that this was a basic recon with some field-testing, so he did not feel too bad. He looked a bit relieved actually. The man who knew no fear, who trembled at the thought of the wrath that the woman, Emily, he was going to marry, would subject him to if he missed his 'appointment' as he called it. And we would get back in time for the festivities, this being a short operation.
Boom-Boom was a third generation Ameridian Chinese (from the merging of the two federations some years back) was as loyal as any of my team. Specialising in demolition, he was an oxymoron, a linebacker of a man, but thoughtful and as gentle as could be. And I was one of the few people that could say that to his face and live!
The other members of the team, in pairs now, including myself, moved forwards, sliding through the undergrowth with hardly a sound. Coming up to a large open clearing, we could see our objective. Small, unobtrusive and looking like any other of hundreds of farming shacks that could be found in this hell of a place, we were to report the position and observe the target for 12 hours, allowing us just enough time to get back for the wedding.
"Mike?"
Looking to the left, Cpl. Michael Mike (no puns please!) raised his hand in the classic "Wait one" signal.
The smallest of the group but one of the best when it came to surveillance and electronics, mike was very protective of his 'unique' name and would defend it to his last breath if anyone took the 'mickey' out of it.

Giving the thumbs up and pointing to a small tree about twenty metres from the shack, he went back to 'listening'. The tree he was pointing to was nothing special to look at, but I trusted his judgement. That tree would contain passive and, when needed, active components for communications for the shack. The shack was, of course, a covert listening point near the border, not far from one of the large multinationals that are slowly taking over.
Since this mission was on a need to know basis, we were to just watch for twelve hours and then leave.

The other two members of the team were the Twins, who had taken up flanking positions opposite each other, to enable us to respond with necessary force if required. I doubted this but there was no need to take it easy. That got you killed.
Twins. I use the term to describe them as a pair, not as siblings. Inseparable and often knowing what the other was going to do or think, Juan Monser was a real ladies man, with his steel grey eyes and chiselled feature and he knew it. But his ability with a "saw" (a portable gatling gun" was second to none but not as good as his unarmed combat. That was a thing of legend. I always went to him for a refresher course and though I am no slouch, I always felt that he was being kind to me until the day he said that he was honoured and proud to teach me. Praise indeed, and some that I will never forget.
The other Twin, Tia Hanson, is an absolute bombshell, stunning in everyway and would do justice to the cover of any up market magazine. But that changed when she was eighteen. She decided that she wanted more from life, a kick if you will, so she joined up. Eight years later, and after a few scrapes, I was glad she was in my team. A sniper and small arms expert, she worked in tandem with Juan and they did that with almost mystic natural ability. I did not have to explain what was needed, sometimes not even telling them what they needed to do. They just did it. A bit spooky at times, but I could live with that.
Even though I had the rank of Captain, and the rest saluted when back at base, out in the field, I had worked long and hard to train them to be the 'captain' when needs be. My only exceptional skill was being on point. I am able to seek out hot areas where traps and the such are prevalent and be able to work around these problems. I would be what is termed the thinker of the group. So much so that I ended up with the nickname of Doc from Tia as I was always asking questions and testing the team. Tia said that her shrink did not even ask as many questions as I did.

It was obvious that the shack was unmanned, probably automated, as there were no open trails to the clearing. So I decided that now was as good a time as any to test the badges or implants as they were really called. We called them our gems. These had been implanted into the inside of our forearms over a year ago now, showing no more than a scar after being so long embedded and we had only ever tested them in simulation, not live.
I pressed hard where the scar was, knowing what was expected but not knowing if it would work 'live'. There was a quick feeling of my brain being larger than my head but that quickly passed. WOW. It worked like the simulations predicted but it felt more real than that. I quickly ran through the checks. I could sense all my body from heart rate, respiration even down to the sweat glands. Running all the prescribed tests, I slowed down and speeded up my respiration, and I then triggered my adrenal gland, the metallic taste in my mouth and tingling of my skin denoting success. I then returned all my 'systems' to normal. Well it was now time to bring the rest online.
"People. A secondary reason we are here it to live test the implants. I am on line as we speak and I will call you each in turn to go active. Any questions?". There were none as I knew there would be.
"Juan. Watch Tia. She 's the first.
With no delay, Tia activated here gem. Since I was in command, I immediately felt (it is the only way I can describe it) Tia in terms of her bio signs. She was surprised but coped as expected, turning to me and giving the thumbs up after she had run through her tests.

"Tia"

She looked a Juan, as I knew she would. Juan, watching her, saw this and activated his gem. He came online as Tia had. We then spent a few minutes watching each other. I then turned to Mike. Seeing this, he triggered his gem and after the tests we just sat, one eye always on the surrounding area, for five minutes, basking in our newfound closeness.

The real purpose of the gem was now apparent. They joined the team in a gestalt at a physical level, so we knew what the others were feeling physiologically. We would know who was injured and such and, in extreme situations, had the ability to trigger the adrenal gland in each other. That is trust at it's most basic level. That is why our team was chosen.
The last test that we could do here was the IRC mode, Internal Radio Communications. Similar to radio in concept, it differed by being pulsed and indistinguishable to standard radio noise, it allowed us to transmit speech to each other via a similar system that the bio data was transmitted.
"Irc-a test"
They all replied in kind, each confirmation being heard in our heads, since the sound was conducted directly to our inner ear via bone conduction. A new twist on an old theme.
Everything was fine, the tests concluded with no problems. The final test would be done when we were safe back at base. Until then, we huddled down for what would be another twelve hours of observation.

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