Several minutes passed as the two continued their perusal through the laptop’s information, but neither offered any comment. As he processed all the information, the occasional beep of Agent Diaz’s laptop or a low grunt from her, echoed through the room. As she completed her research, she began to pack up her equipment.
“Wow, Major, this place is what we call a hornet’s nest. There is a ton of information here but it looks pretty random. All these financial records, old orders, even the security camera feeds,” Agent Diaz said.
“Does it say anything about my unit?”
“Not really. I can see that this unit was in some hot fights but there’s no specifics.”
“Even in the heat of battle, they wouldn’t ask me for this kind of information. I bet this isn’t for me,” the Major said.
“Whatever it is, it’s big. We’re the only ones on the list as far as I can tell.” Agent Diaz pulled out of the desk the papers and left the Major to go over them alone.
“If this is for someone else, I hope they make the right choice,” Major Mike said as he continued his search. Three days later, Agent Diaz returned like she had before.
“Well. This is pretty run-of-the-mill here.”
“Nothing else at all about my unit? Not even names of any of the men in my unit?”
“No. Looks like you have made the right choice. Oh, and one more thing,” Agent Diaz said, pulling out a piece of paper with statistics on the men in Major Mike’s unit. “This guy in your unit is pretty high on the list,” she said.
The Major just nodded. He had a feeling his guys would not be happy with the decision that they had made.
“The only thing that makes sense is that this mission is not for me at all. Why else would they not want me on the mission? I’m the best they’ve got,” the Major said as he continued to stare at the papers.
“Look at this as a life experience. You have to learn to walk before you can fly,” Agent Diaz said.
“Maybe so, but I’m a lousy teacher. I may never be as good as they are,” the Major said.
“You have a lot of knowledge on the subject. You know what to look for and the potential for an ambush.”
“You might be right. I guess I’ll have to go to Plan B.”
“Good luck with the guys,” Agent Diaz said as she walked out the door.
“And you, too. There is something I need to see someone about,” the Major said.
Major Mike grabbed up his keys and walked out of his apartment door. He started down the long hallway to the elevator at the end. A few minutes later, he appeared in the lobby and walked outside to his car. As he drove down the freeway, his thoughts churned as to the best way to convince twelve men to do something that he had not been able to do in ten years.
Major Mike drove into the parking area of his old base. He pulled up into the lot and parked his car. Several minutes later, the Major walked past the security guard and hoped that everything was going to be alright.
“What are you doing here? Staff Sergeant Shelton? What kind of trouble are you causing now?” Sergeant Frank Hsu, the first NCO in the Command Center said.
“Just here on official business. I wanted to talk to you about the review of my selection as an advisor,” Major Mike said.
“About that, I’m not sure that was a good idea.”
“Sergeant, we all make mistakes. It’s the getting over them that’s important. I just want to make sure that if I’m ever in the position to do something like this again, that we are there for each other.”
“Okay, let’s do this. Come on back and I’ll tell you everything I know,” Sergeant Frank said.
After a few minutes, Sergeant Frank walked over to the glass window and waved to Major Mike. He pulled a large folder out of his drawer and handed it to Major Mike.
“This is the file on me, on my entire unit. In effect, we are the previous records for this program. It’s a little spooky.”
“I’ll bet. Let me read through this. I think you’ll find that the last I knew was that you were just doing fine. Is that right?”
“Yeah, real good. I’ve even started looking for a transfer. I’m getting tired of the whole Army system.”
“Yeah, I can see that. I’m sure glad I found you before you transferred. I’ve had a great run through the Army but you don’t stay here forever. I’m just glad it worked out the way it did,” Major Mike said as he placed the folder on his desk.
The two sat in silence for a minute or so. Then the Sergeant spoke up. “So, is that all you needed?”
“Well, looks like it’s about time for your weekly physical.