Between Gates (The Gate Chronicles Book 1)

Chapter 4: Strategy

“So have you talked with Chenn at all?” Andrew asked.

Nari and Andrew were going over some of the information that she’d read in her lessons from the previous week. He didn't get many chances to talk to her otherwise because he was too busy, so occasionally, he would bring up a topic of discussion that was not pertinent to the lesson if he felt they needed to discuss it.

Nari shrugged. “No.”

Andrew gave her a searching glance. “Why not?”

“I just didn’t feel like it. I’ve talked with some of the girls though, and I’ve been making friends with two of them.” She spun in her chair to face him.

“Which two?” He continued to scrutinize her.

“Vanessa and Nikki.” She shrugged. "Why?"

“Ah. Yes, I know who you’re talking about. Nikki is a good friend to have. Hard working and generous.” Andrew mused, turning his chair back to his own terminal.

“Glad you approve. Shouldn’t we continue working?” Nari asked, ignoring the fact that he hadn’t included Vanessa in his assessment.

She filed the information away to remember at another time. She would need to keep her guard up with Vanessa if Andrew thought she wasn’t worthy of including in the hard-working and generous category. He also hadn’t said she was a good friend to have, yet another hint that perhaps she should be wary of Vanessa and maybe even go so far as to stop hanging out with her.

“Yes, we should.” Andrew turned back to their work. He brought up some holographic displays of virtual battle scenarios. “So can you tell me how to solve these, Nari? What should I do if my forces are down here in this plain and the enemy is somewhere in the surrounding hill land?”

Nari looked over the scenario.

Green, computer-simulated hills, mountains, and flood plains glowed on the holograph - a sort of transparent screen projected onto walls or surfaces that was able to be rotated and moved around by moving one's hands through the projection - hovering in the air. Her forces were represented by black dots, swarming the plains in tight, compact ranks. There were no dots to indicate where the enemy was, and the lay of the hills was seen from above so that she could see all the surrounding hills instead of just the ones in the front.

“Any time, Nari. Remember, in real battles you won’t have much time to deliberate in a situation like this. You need to be able to think quickly, whether it’s just you or if it’s you and your men. So what are you going to do?” Andrew pressed her to make her decisions with speed.

Her brilliance with plans was no use if she needed a lot of time to come up with one in a situation where she needed to make one in a few minutes.

“I’m going to send scouts into the hills in groups of two or three to figure out the enemy position. I don’t dare send my helicopters into the air to scout their position because if I do, they’ll be shot down if the enemy has any anti-aircraft weaponry hidden at their location. With scouts, if they do their job carefully and properly, the enemy won’t know they’re there.” She decided, pointing at a few locations in the hills.

Andrew nodded, smiling. “Yes, that’s a good plan. When – or rather, if – the scouts return, what will you do with this information?” He thumbed something into the display.

A cluster of red dots showed up, pulsing on the hologram to show her where the enemy was located. They were located in a nest of hills with the mountains towering on their left flank. 

“Am I offensive or defensive here, Andrew?”

He grinned. “You’re offensive, Nari. You should know that by now.”