Disclaimer: The concept of and all characters from Space: Above and Beyond belong to Glen Morgan and James Wong, Fox Broadcasting and Hard Eight Productions. I'm just borrowing them. No money was made from this, and this was done totally for fun.
Feedback: Any and all comments are welcome.

OPTIONS
by
Susan


He fired the gun four times in rapid succession, imagining he could see the bullets streaking through the air towards their intended targets. Three down, he thought, and who knows how many more to go. "Moving positions," he said into his radio.

"Copy, Jack. Nice shooting," Nathan West said, trying to spot his friend, but Hawkes was very good at his job, and the sniper stayed hidden even as another target fell. "From position two, you should see your next three cresting the ridge."

"Copy, King."

The next half hour moved quickly for both young men as they continued to slowly move in a stop-wait-move strategy created to move them around the alien terrain in only a pattern they knew. West checked his watch, he had two minutes to make it to their rendezvous point. He would have completely missed Hawkes where his friend, had Hawkes not yanked him to the ground.

"Shit, Cooper," Nathan whispered, moving into a better position. "I'm getting you a bell or something." Nathan glared at his squad mate for nearly giving him a heart attack. "Probably wouldn't work with you unless you wanted it to," he muttered.

Cooper shrugged, before turning his head to look back through the scope of his riffle. He actually got the reference Nathan was making this time without his friend having to explain. He smiled as he fired again. "What color ribbon?" he asked, grinning as the target fell to the ground. "Time to move."

"Camo green," Nathan responded, picking up his rifle and following Cooper through the terrain to the next position they'd chosen. When they stopped ten minutes later, he opened the handheld computer and quickly double checked their position with the intel from the tracking satellite. "Queen and Ace, should be less than a click away."

Cooper was already on the ground, his eye to the scope of his rifle. "I can just make them out," he said. "They've got four unfriendlies with them."

"Can you take them from here?"

"Yes," but he was shaking his head no at the same time. "But not before they could get Shane and 'Phouse."

"I could pull one of the shots," Nathan suggested, adjusting the scope on his rifle, "maybe two if we can get closer." Cooper snorted and Nathan rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry I'm the better pilot and your the better shot, " Nathan joked, trying to keep their spirits high. They were too close to stop now. "Options?"

"Hey," Cooper started, then paused. He was normally not the one to plan things, especially things like this. "We could just walk right up to them? Well, you really," he said, gaining courage as the plan formed in his head. "Distraction-like. Hope three of them come for you. On cue, you drop and take the far one, I take the three over you?" Nathan didn't respond, and Cooper winced, thinking maybe the plan was too uncertain, before quietly muttering, "Man, it was only a suggestion."

Nathan nodded. He had been to busy playing the plan out in his head. Once, twice, and then a third time just to be sure, before he spoke. "It might just work too."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Nathan agreed, crawling over Cooper and out toward the ledge for another look. "But, you better not miss."

"Deal."

- end -

© Susan August 2004