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            The first duty of a Top Sergeant is to take care of his Captain.  Sometimes this might mean doing things that you won't find in the manual.  Like today for instance, my Captain was off at Warrior School learning how to be a better warrior while Top Sergeant Graves was at the Captain’s house, waiting for the Captain’s son Billy to get home from school.  The truth was I didn't mind.  Ten-year old Billy was almost as smart as his Dad and his Dad was our Intelligence Officer so he had a way of keeping old Sergeant’s like me on their toes whether we were playing chess or computer games or ambushing each other in our paint-ball outfits.


            So I was kind of looking forward to that three o'clock bell and Billy getting home from school while I did a little KP around the Captain’s kitchen.  Soon Billy would be here and I was kind of smiling while I thought about the nice surprise I had planned for him.  He’s never guess that I was going to—
            My happy thought went right of my head when I turned around to see a big man with a stocking mask covering most of his ugly face.  How in the world had he managed to get on the Base?  And then I saw that he wasn't alone.  There were three of them!  None of them said anything as they grabbed me and began tying my hands behind my back.


            I didn't say anything either.  My mind was too busy racing as I tried to figure out what they were doing here, what they wanted, and how the hell I was going to get myself out of this mess?  While I wondered they smeared my lips shut with several strips of heavy black tape.  Then one of them pushed me down onto my knees and kind of sneered down at me.
            “Do what you're told and you won't be hurt.  All we want is the kid.”
            Billy!  They were after Billy!  My eyes shot to the clock.  It was already twenty to three!  Anger surged through my body and I tried to lunge to my feet, but the big one slammed his fist into my gut, knocking the wind out of me.  Then the other two grabbed me and stretched me out so that they could tie more ropes around my knees and ankles.
 
           “That was stupid!” the big one was in my face.  “We won't hurt the kid as long as his Daddy delivers the intelligence file we want.”
            Did he really expect me to believe that?  If my Captain had a file on these guys, they were dangerous, and dangerous people never keep their word.
            “Now you stay here nice and quiet and don’t try to warn the kid.  I wouldn't want either one of you getting hurt,” the big guy said with a crooked smile that told me that he would like nothing more than to hurt both me and Billy – a lot.
            But you didn't get to be a Top Sergeant by taking foolish chances so I kind of nodded to him and XXXX my body to relax down on the floor were they'd put me.  Then I watched as all three of them trooped into the living room to wait.  That was their first mistake.

             I looked up at the kitchen clock.  It was ten to three already.  In another ten minutes Billy would be walking home from school with no idea of what was waiting for him.  I had to hurry, but I also had to be very quiet.  I didn't want to do anything that might bring one of those three goons back into the kitchen.  So first off I just tried wiggling my body around and tried to get my fingers on the ropes that were binding me.  But that was no good.  The goons had tied those ropes really tight and my fingers couldn't find any way to loosen them.  I needed a knife!
            That meant that I had to get to my feet and somehow make my way over to the kitchen sink.  That was not as easy as it sounded.  The ropes around my knees and ankles were holding my legs and feet really close together and they were tied so tight I was already losing circulation in my legs and I could feel pins and needles in my feet.

            Little by little, I inched my body up into a standing position while my heart pounded and I tried to keep my balance.  If I fell over the noise was sure to bring those goons back in here.  Then I looked up at the clock.  It was three o'clock already!  Billy would be running out of the school right now

            Inch by inch, my body made its way slowly over to the sink while my brain bullied me for being such a fool.  Just last week I had read Billy the riot act because he had stopped off to see one of his friend’s new computer games without thinking to tell anyone where he was.  Now I was wishing that he would find another friend to stay with and stay with him for a long, long time.
            And then, just when I thought my luck had deserted me, my luck came back and smiled at me.  A sharp steak knife had slipped into my hand.  Now all I needed to do was to close my eyes and concentrate.  Me and knives were very close friends and this knife didn't let me down now.  In a matter of moments I had managed to cut my hands free.  Then I hurried to cut through the rest of the ropes while I made my plan.

            Three minutes later I was outside of the house to surprise Billy with a new game as I clamped my hand over his mouth and pulled him down into some bushes beside me while I pictured those three goons all sitting confidently in the living room waiting for their young XXXX victim to come home.
Two minutes after that the front door to Billy’s house opened and a squad of MPs rushed inside to tell those goons “Games over!”