I See You

The sound of the big guns going off are muffled by the inches of solid steel surrounding me. The sound of my heart beating in my own ears threatens to drown out all other sound anyway. The engines of the armored beast in whose belly I sit are a distant drone, as much in my head as my ears. A sharp order is barked and the vehicle jerks to a stop. The man seated across from me speaks to me in a voice muffled by the foam ear plugs squashed deep into my ears. His hand slaps the top of my helmet and we both stand to a crouch and make our awkward way to the rear of the steel box.

The door there drops open and four of us drop to the desert floor. The memory of the day's heat rises from the sand even as the cooling air hits us. My buddy and I sprint away from the others as they take up position by the Armored Personnel Carrier., rifles pointed out into the still young night.

The heavy square tube on my back bounces a bit as I run, bent over slightly, presenting the smallest target I can. We don't run for long. Just shy of the top of a sandy dune we drop to the ground and pause. I look up at the night sky and see all the stars the universe has to offer. No moon tonight, this is good. The stars are all I see and they seem to turn on their own as we wait. The LT touches my arm and brings me back to the present, to the sand, to the war going on around me. Distant booms and flashes of light beyond the horizon tell the story of what is around me and where I am. I roll quickly to my stomach and crawl to the top of the dune, careful to expose only what is necessary to look over the edge and down on the sandy, rocky valley. I pull the night vision gogles down to my eyes to survey the site.

The LT does the same. He puts his hand on my shoulder and gets my attention. I look at him and he gestures, pointing with a flattened hand to the left and forward. I turn my eyes to where he has indicated and I see the movement of personnel and the form of two, no three, enemy tanks, covered in netting and dug into the sand there. Too close together. As I watch the main gun of one of them barks, the flash ultra bright in my enhanced vision. I lift my gogles from my eyes and roll to my side, freeing the tube on my back. The LT helps me pull the heavy device around and remove the protective canvas covering. I move up to the top of the dune, pointing the device at where I think the enemy is, pulling the eyepiece into place in front of my right eye. The world becomes bright green for a moment before resolving into a gray-green daylight and I can see the tanks and people clearly once again. I can faintly hear the electronic voice in the LTs ear and he responds in a whisper. He taps me on the shoulder and I place my finger on the trigger of the laser I point down on the enemy.

Long moments pass. The tiny cross hairs that have appeared in response to my finger wavier every so slightly against the view in my eyepiece. LT taps me on my shoulder in response to something said in his earpiece. I press the trigger and an ever so tiny dot appears in my view against the middle tank of those below. Invisible to the naked eye, it paints a picture that can be seen by the machines commanded by those approaching. Several seconds pass before LT taps my helmet telling me to close my eyes. I shut my eyes tightly and keep the laser pointed at the same spot.

The ground shakes. The exposion is massive. The LT drags me from behind and I keep my face toward the sand. Heat rolls over us but we are far enough away and behind the dune. Sand still showers us. I roll to my back and protect the electronics of the machine I use to point out enemies in the dark. I pull the canvas back around it and zip it up. LT scans the desert around us for movement. I secure my charge and flip my gogles down to see in the dark, also looking for anything that moves.

We return to our armored transport and move on to the next target given to us by the faceless voice on the radio. Our night's work is just begun.