Tunnel Run, A continuation of the earlier post Worries of the Future.
Brett cautiously entered the dimly lit tunnel. He was aware of his pounding heart and heavy breathing. The stress he felt was not due to the 50-pound pack strapped to his back. The weeks of running, and frequent trips through the grueling obstacle course, left him and his classmates in top shape. He hardly gave the heavy pack a second thought. However, the pressure of being team leader was weighing heavy on the young cadet.
“Remember the plan,” he whispered to Shannon, and his other two teammates.
Without thinking, Brett clenched his fists and then opened his hands again. It had become a nervous habit since his unusual arrival at X-Ray. His burnt palms had healed just like the doctor predicted. The only evidence of the burns was a bit of faint scaring on both of his hands.
Brett drew a deep breath, and held it for a second. “Don’t forget, we move slowly and cautiously.” He instructed.
As team captain, it was Brett’s responsibility to lead his team through the course.
“Shannon, you stay right behind me, and keep us on track. It will be easy to get turned around in the tunnels. Philip, you take the rear,” Brett continued. “Remember, we use hand signals to communicate, and keep the talking to a minimum. Keep an ear out for the other teams. Sound will travel a long way in these tunnels. Any questions?”
All three of Brett’s teammates shook their heads, no.
“Good,” Brett held out his fist for the other cadets to bump, a sign of team unity. “Go red team!”
He upholstered his laser pistol, flipped the switch on, and started down the dim, narrow tunnel.
This was the first time the cadets were put on the Tunnel Run course. The instructors took advantage of the old thorium mine near the space base. Years ago, it was converted to a testing course. The maze of tunnels became the perfect place to test the cadets’ teamwork, and leadership skills.
The goal of the game was to be the first to deliver their packs to the command center. At the start, three teams entered the course at different locations. Each team was armed with laser weapons that were used to take out other team members. The teams were also given two smoke grenades. The harmless vapor could be used to confuse the other teams, or as a shield that absorbed the laser light, and avoid being tagged.
Whichever team delivered their packs the fastest earned bragging rights, but the instructors were more interested in watching the cadet’s teamwork during the exercise. With cameras monitoring every tunnel, the trainers observed the action, and especially noted the leaders’ performances.
Brett found the situations odd. He, and the others, had come to the program to train for work in the vastness of outer space, but now his was in a cramped, underground mine.
Brett paused at the first intersection, peaking around the corner, first to his right and then to his left. He listened for footsteps from the other teams, but heard nothing. Waving his teammates on, he slipped around the corner and down the long passageway until he came to a four-way intersection.
Fighting the urge to rush, Brett again paused to watch and listen. When he felt all was clear, he led the team forward. In the distance the tunnel grew brighter. Brett’s team cautiously rounded a bend, and found a large, brightly-lit cavern that formed an underground dome. All around the cavern, were entrances to tunnels leading out in all directions.
With no sign of the other teams, Brett raced through the cavern, and darted down the tunnel to his right. There, he stopped to wait for the others. When Philip caught up to the team, Brett breathed a sigh of relief. They had made it through a dangerous part of the course. Brett started to gain confidence, but it quickly faded. Instead, he found his team in a bad situation. The passage he chose turned into a dead end. Frantically, he motioned to the others to go back. If another team caught them, they would be trapped.
Backtracking to the large cavern, Brett reasoned that it was a place where all of the teams would be forced to cross, in order to reach the command center. If his team waited in the shadows, they might be able to ambush another team, as it showed itself in the bright light.
So the red team crouched in the darkness near the open cavern and waited. Philip and Janet kept an eye to the rear, to make sure another team didn’t sneak up behind them. After about five minutes, Brett began to wonder if he made the right decision. If the orange and blue teams had already slipped through, they might be well on their way to the finish, leaving Brett’s red team in last place.
His strategy paid off. Not two minutes later, he noticed movement at one of the cavern entrances. The blue team leader cautiously crept from the darkness, and sprinted toward a tunnel on the far side of the cavern. Brett leveled his laser pistol and prepared to fire. Following his leader, the second blue team member raced across the open cavern, and then the third.
Brett opened fire on the leader, but he disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel, unharmed. Brett focused his sights at the second member, and squeezed the trigger. The blue member’s vest lit up red, a hit! Out of the game, he shook his fists in frustration.
The blue team responded quickly, sending laser fire at Brett and his team. Brett was surprised how quickly the action unfolded. With laser beams crisscrossing the cavern, someone popped a smoke grenade. In seconds, the entire dome was filled with thick, gray smoke, so neither team could see the other.
Brett waited for the smoke to clear, but realized he was now wasting precious time.
“Make a chain, and hold on,” Brett whispered, the first word he had spoken since the game began.
He reasoned that the entrance where the blue team came from, was not the way to the command center, nor was the entrance that his team had originally came from. That left one option. With his hand against the wall, as a guide, Brett led his team through the cloud of gray smoke.
At the tunnel, where the blue team had disappeared, Brett dove to the ground and opened fire. He expected the blue team to be waiting from him, and he was right. Flashes of laser fire came from the far end of the tunnel, but ceased after a few seconds, with neither team scoring a hit. The blue team now had the lead, and was taking advantage of it.
Brett felt a sharp tap on his shoulder.
“The orange team is right behind us,” said Shannon frantically.
The smoke in the chamber was starting to thin, and figures could be seen entering from the far side.
Philip quickly popped a smoke grenade to slow the orange team down.
“Let’s go!” Brett commanded, taking off, full speed, down the tunnel.
After a long trek, and a wrong turn, the red team finally reached the heart of the mine, Brett paused to take in the incredible sight. Before him was a massive open area where countless tons of ore had been removed. Only rows of giant, stone pillars were left in place to hold up the enormous ceiling.
“Watch out!” Shannon warned, as flashes of laser light flickered in the distance.
Brett came to his senses and dove for cover behind one of the pillars. The rest of the team followed. However, just before he reached the pillar, Phillip’s vest lit up red. He was out of the action.
Brett’s heart sank at the loss of his team member, but he had to stay focused, and get his teammates to the glowing blue light in the distance. The command center was now in sight, but it would be a fight to the finish.
“We need to keep moving. Follow me, and stay together,” said Brett.
The red team slipped around the back of one column and then darted for the next. Soon, the orange team caught up, and entered the fray. Lasers flashed from all directions, but Brett pushed forward.
A grenade went off up ahead, but the smoke had little effect in the vast open space.
Breathing heavy, Brett reached the last pillar before the command center.
“Go!” he ordered Shannon and Janet to run for the finish, while he blanketed the area with cover fire. Seconds later, he followed his team into the safety of the command center.
Sweat poured down his face as the shook off his heavy pack, and handed it to one of the instructors. Just then, the orange team marched in. The game was over.
“I saw a lot of good teamwork,” Instructor Rush addressed the exhausted cadets. “Good job out there. Now the results. Orange team, you ran the course in fifty-six minutes. You deliver three packs. Blue team, you ran the course in forty-three minutes, and you only delivered two packs. Red team, you arrived second, at forty-eight minutes, but you delivered three packs. Red team is the winner.
Brett, Shannon, and Janet erupted in a round of cheering, and congratulated each other with a joyful group hug. Brett pulled Phillip into the group. “It was a team effort, and you are part of the team,” he said. In the spirit of sportsmanship, Brett turned to offer a hand to the blue and orange team members. Mission accomplished.