Context: A critical part of Book 3 - A.T.X.D. Stealth Angel - is the friendship between this book's main character - Laney Davidson - and Cassy Wayne, a former Air Force Tech Sergeant and pilot who has been serving with A.T.X.D. officially since Book 2 but debuts in in Book 1. In the below scene in particular, I want to illustrate how Cassy, despite being three or four years older than Laney, tries to be an actual friend by inviting her to play a simple game of one-on-one soccer in the A.T.X.D. HQ sports area, given that the latter has been dealing with social estrangement for most of her life. When Cassy is later captured, the fear of losing one of the few people who truly made an effort to care for her is part of what threatens to push Laney over the egde, but also what empowers her to face her demons and be a better operative.
>>>>>>>TRAINING CENTER<<<<<<<
>>>>>>>INDOOR SPORTS-BALL COURT<<<<<<<
>>>>>>>1:00 PM<<<<<<<
Sweeping the soccer ball between her legs, Cassy made some careful zig-zagging curves back and forth across the court floor as she neared the goal post at the back end of the court. Just short of what was in this case the penalty line, Cassy reared back and sent the ball flying into the net, where it briefly tangled itself in the ropework before coming to rest back on the floor. Retrieving the ball, Cassy reversed direction and made for the other goal, dribbling the ball in the same zig-zag pattern as before. Approaching this goal net, however, Cassy went more to the extremes and kicked the ball up before bending to the side and swinging her leg outward. The ball flew into the other net as the former Air Force pilot slid on her backup shin guards and knee pads with a squeak to avoid blistering her legs on the laminated wood floor. As she picked herself up and retrieved the ball, Cassy heard an encouraging whoop and some clapping before turning around to see Laney in her athletic attire as well.
“Nice shooting there, Cassy,” Laney complimented, to which the former replied, “Thank you. Trying my best to keep the sport in me.”
As Cassy bounced the ball on the arches and soles of her Skyshift trainers, Laney came down to the court floor and mentioned, “You know, I used to play soccer too. At least in elementary school. Not so much in high school.”
“Join a league back then?” Cassy asked before catching the ball and holding it under her arm.
“Not really,” Laney replied, “I guess I just never enjoyed the competitive atmosphere.”
“I can respect that,” Cassy agreed, then recounted, “I started off in an after school little league program in elementary school, took a break professionally for a few years before picking up the sport again in high school. I even got a position with the USAF Falcons team, where I did some offense as Center Midfielder, until I was transferred to Groom Lake. So when I heard that ATXD offered a court for various indoor sports, I was glad to keep playing my childhood-favorite sport.”
“Sounds almost like you wanted to be more of a Mia Hamm than an Amelia Earhart,” Laney joked.
With a playful smirk, Cassy replied, “I got the best of both in me probably. Both passions at least let me move around a lot, and I am a girl with a lot of energy. Hikari told me you have quite a skill set at rollerblading, though.”
“Again, just a kids-play thing. I’m actually surprised that I retained any skill at it so many years later. Does everybody have a sport they play on downtime at A.T.X.D.?”
“Many of the operatives I’ve met at least. The most popular here at Central Division is basketball; maybe because Sergeant Major Connor and Major Nichols are so good at it, and many of the guys and some of those really aggressive girls want to get to their level - if they aren’t already. Meanwhile, I’ve had the pleasure of playing multiple rounds of volleyball with Sophia. And Captain Miller, puh-leeze, if there’s a Mia Hamm here at base, she’s definitely it. Then I’ve heard that some of the extraterrestrials like Yang have brought a few interesting sports from their homeworlds that are safe to play on the court too, though I have yet to try one myself.”
Returning to the court, Cassy then paused before asking, “You want to see if you’re still good at soccer though, Corporal? I’m admittedly getting bored playing all by myself here.”
Looking up at the ceiling in thought briefly, Laney soon decided, “Sure, why not. Although, I mostly played goalie or defensive at the most. Not really the goal shooter if you get what I mean.”
“Something tells me you’ve got more potential at the sport than you’re letting on, girl,” Cassy replied with a sly and encouraging shine of her eyes. “I think you could do just as good, if not better, than I.”
“Okay, that’s a little extreme,” Laney replied with a dismissive giggle. She then proceeded to pick up a replacement pair of gloves, shin and knee pads from the bleachers which Cassy had brought along apparently with the expectation that a fellow player might turn up.
Standing at the net and spreading her feet out, Laney prepared to meet Cassy’s shots.
“Since you asked for a companion, Cassy,” Laney then encouraged, “if you mind me getting a little aggressive here, bring it on girl.”
“Roger that, Corporal,” Cassy replied, her eyes eagerly shining before she dropped the ball and backed up to the half-court line. Starting off with the zig-zag dribble from earlier, Cassy made for Laney’s left. But just as Laney advanced forward to strike the ball, Cassy suddenly pulled it back and let Laney’s shoe scuff the floor instead before running around to the right side. But just when Cassy thought she’d outflanked her comrade, Laney corrected her mistake by twisting both toes and lunging forward right as Cassy kicked the ball for the net, managing to catch it within the edges of her fingertips.
“Nice one,” Cassy complimented, receiving the ball back from Laney before trying again from the left. However, Cassy still found herself unable to fully outflank Laney as she tried to sweep the ball away only for the Corporal to sweep it back towards her.
“Guess up close and personal doesn’t work,” Cassy then observed. “Let’s try from afar then.”
“I’m ready,” Laney returned with a wave of the hands. “Give me all you got.”
“Ha, and you said you didn’t enjoy the competitive environment of sports,” Cassy replied, diverting to the right while Laney returned, “Back then. Maybe I’ve changed over the years.”
Cassy then narrowed her eyes competitively before setting her foot on the ball and holding it firmly like a bird of prey harshly restraining its prey. As Laney focused in on it, Cassy suddenly swept it up into the air with a bounce, deflected it off the knee, and then swung her leg outward and struck the ball hard with her arch. The ball came flying through the air and seemed to be just out of Laney’s reach, but with a simple jump, Laney swatted the ball back with both hands towards Cassy. Laney’s opponent, though, had run up closer in the meantime, catching the ball with her foot again as it bounced back to the floor. Cassy quickly tried a harder ground kick only for her jaw to drop with surprise as Laney caught the ball full in the chest with her arms and doubled over backwards on the floor with a playful “Gugh.”
“Hell, were it not for you being full-time enlisted,” Cassy replied as she helped Laney back up, “I’d say you’d be worthy of becoming Team USA’s next goalie at the World Cup. You’ve blocked everything I’ve thrown at you. Now, why don’t we see if you can kick as good as you can block.”
“If you insist,” Laney replied before receiving the ball from Cassy and going back to the half-court line.
As soon as she received the go from Cassy, Laney dribbled the ball forward and made for a straight line instead of curving around the court. The first kick which Laney shot went right between Cassy’s legs and clean into the net, and the former Air Force pilot chuckled with embarrassment and fascination at the surprise move before retrieving the ball. But Cassy wasn’t as easy to catch off guard as Laney might’ve thought: she did manage to swat back two kicks and sweep the ball out from under Laney’s foot in close-quarters once. Cassy even copied one of Laney’s defensive moves when, as the ex-Marine sent the ball flying with a thrust of the toe, she tackled the ball and clutched it against her chest with her arms before returning to a standing position and shaking her head casually.
“Now that almost seemed like something out of an NFL football game you just pulled off, Cassy,” Laney replied.
In response, Cassy took her turn deflecting the praise with, “I’m not about to gain a ton of muscle and start ramming my shoulders into somebody, Laney.” She took a moment to gently slap her shoulders before adding, “The only time these biceps are going to do something that aggressive is subduing a hostile in the field, and I don’t need extra padding for that.”
“Point taken,” Laney agreed with a goofy smirk.
As they had worn themselves down a bit, Laney and Cassy chose to sit on the bleachers and just talk for a short while as they recharged. Cassy began with, “So you didn’t do much in the way of sports, yet you still have incredible talent. Why do you choose to ignore it?”
“Well, I don’t know,” Laney replied, crossing a leg over and briefly tugging at both the laces and the heel loop of her tennis shoe. “I guess I felt like….well, I don’t know if you know this, Cassy, but I have some weird thing in the head.”
“Super senses?” Cassy questioned patiently, to which Laney looked up with surprise and replied, “Yeah. How did you know?”
Cassy paused for a minute to find the right words before replying, “I sort of guessed it: you being very reactive in hand-to-hand, able to track things like a soccer ball or a fist swing with such precision, and devise almost lightning-quick reactions when in danger. I’ll admit I’ve never seen anything like it before. But when you join the A.T.X.D., you get used to and even fascinated with the many differences you come across; earthly and non-earthly alike.”
“But, this isn’t genetic,” Laney replied. “I don’t know how, but Ashley said there was an old, archived report from twenty years ago which indicated I may have been...infected or implanted with something.” Laney then put her head in her hands partially and tried to shrug it all off with, “Ugh, why am I telling you this? You’re not my psychologist.”
“But I am your friend,” Cassy replied, maintaining full seriousness, sympathy, and composure. “I understand if you want to keep this private, ma’am. But if you ever need to talk to someone, I’m here, Sophia’s here. In fact, we’re all here for you.”
“It’s not that I want to hide it from you guys. But I feel that there’s just so much mystery and so many things about my life that even I don’t seem to know. My memory: it’s like an old film that’s been torn in multiple places. And my temper, God, that I think was one reason I didn’t do sports so often: as a kid I had trouble communicating with large groups and, well, whenever people got pushy with me, I pushed back. So as I got older, I didn’t talk to many people and avoided competitive or aggressive environments because I was too scared to see what would happen if I lost it.”
“Well, everybody has their fuse, Laney. And if it means anything, I like sports when they’re just for the fun of being with friends. I too hate the competitive environment: it just spoils everything. But even when things get competitive here at A.T.X.D., it all really comes down to teambuilding and comradery, just like in the Military. And at the same time, part of being on the team, Laney, is that we don’t give up on each other. So, y’know, let me or a fellow Stealth Angel know, big girl-to-big girl, if you need a little reinforcement to protect you. We’re with you all the way.”
“No matter what?” Laney checked, looking up again but with a more relaxed expression this time.
“No matter what,” Cassy returned with an encouraging smile, adding a gentle hand to the shoulder in support.