High command wanted the Colonel to divert troops to the east to flush out any Japanese remaining in the coastal villages and towns, but in the end, he persuaded them to let him continue the advance and leave them mopping up to some of the local troops that were now following the Nuzeelanders. The advance continued up the main road until they reached a cross street called Boundary Road, which the Colonel deemed was close enough to the Japanese positions, and he ordered his troops to deploy. Indeed, they immediately came under fire from some Japanese artillery supported by a drone.

Andrew had read in his grandmother’s journal about her being able to see things at a distance like she was using binoculars without really explaining what she was doing. After considering the matter, he decided that she was probably modifying the air in front of her eyes to create artificial lenses like a pair of binoculars or a telescope would use. It took him a few minutes of fiddling with his energy shield to decide it must be the physical shield, and then after no joy with that, he determined it was a combination of both.

Suddenly, he could see the drone. He pulled his vision back and pointed for Simpson’s benefit.

“See that tree on its own to the right of the road? He waited for her to respond positively. “Look up straight above that tree, and you’ll find the drone.”

“Got it.” She said after a few moments. “I’ll need to rest on something to steady the gun enough to shoot it at that range.”

Jason looked around and spotted an APC not too far away.

“Keep your eye on it, and I’ll direct you to an APC you can lean against.” He said.

“Okay.”

He very carefully put his hands on her hips rather than her shoulders so that he didn’t disrupt her vision of the drone. He moved her slowly backward and then to the right around a hole and then a bit further back before moving her a bit more to the right and then slightly forward so she was pressed against the APC. She very carefully lowered her elbows onto the bonnet of the APC, settled her breathing, and then bang. The drone dropped from the sky.

“Damn good work, soldier. What’s your name?”

“Corporal Alyssa Simpson, sir.” The sniper replied, turning to face the Colonel.

The Colonel nodded, smiled at her, and then turned to Andrew.

“You’ll be the Australian mentalist, Harris, right?”

“Sir,” Andrew said, saluting, which the Colonel took the time to return formally, coming to attention himself.

“I’ve heard good things of you during our advance, leading it from the front. I understand the two of you make a good team for dealing with their mentalists.”

“We’ve done well so far, sir. We’ve learned to function well together. Been a bit lucky a couple of times.”

“Did you really spend a fair part of the advance sitting on the front mantle of an APC?”

“Yes, sir. It was easier that way. I can hold the shield in front of the vehicle, and Simpson could stand in the commander’s hatch, ready to shoot at anything that needed shooting.”

The Colonel shook his head. “Amazing. We’re going to have to reconsider our attitude toward people with your kind of abilities after this war is over.” He looked forward. “We’ll camp here for the night and start again in the morning. Everybody needs a rest.”