Sergeant!

"Sergeant, be seated please." With that curt welcome my briefing began.

My name is Tim Culver. I went with the military option to pay for my schooling in return for a post graduation "see the world" tour! Did well enough in school that they considered me officer material and sent me to OCS. They thought that I was weird at OCS cause I actually enjoyed it. Not like a "GI Joe" super gung-ho freak type but I thought that the discipline and training were helpful. I could see where a lot of what they taught me had very practical applications in the real world. After I finished OCS, I guess they thought I could take it so they sent me over to Ranger School at Fort Benning. I did ok at Ranger School also. So the Army sent me to the Gulf in charge of a squad of 8 guys. 2nd Lieutenant Culver; yep that was me. Green as the grass that grew under our feet. And about to lead a squad into harm's way. What the hell did I know about what I was expected to do?

Well, ours was an interesting group as we were part of the advance team that went in ahead of the masses to gather information and helped to pin point "targets of interest." Recon. That was us. My squad was lucky as we didn't have a single casualty even though they sent us into some really tough spots. I guess we just learned very quickly what not to do. Plus we were really good at covering each other's behind and learned not to rush into things. We went through a couple of really tough fire fights. And some of us took a stray round or two. But never anything serious that kept us out more than a couple of weeks. Not enough to warrant Purple Hearts.

Our good fortune changed about 6-months into our tour of duty. We were reassigned to a platoon that shall remain nameless. Some asshole CO thought he knew how to run a war. Found out that he was a former desk jockey from Supply who wanted an active duty assignment so it would look good when he came up for promotional review the next time! Well he didn't know shit!

We were supposed to be sent in to be his eyes and ears but it turned out that he didn't give a crap about intelligence. He sent us out one night to go "soften up the boys next door." Shit! We walked into a set up. I ended up loosing two guys that night, and another 3 of us got dinged up pretty bad. I caught a stray round myself but escaped without major damage.

As I was having my guys looked after and myself stitched up, some intell guy walked in to ask me how things were. I told him how we had taken a lot of fire and casualties; suspected numbers of unfriendly's, types of weapons fired, etc. He told me that they expected as much and had told the CO about unfriendly's in the area, suspected movements, and more. That pissed me off! If we had known that, we would have been better prepared and probably not have taken the hits that we did!

After I got stitched up, I went looking for the CO. Well, he confirmed that they had warned him but he figured so what? Aren't there unfriendly's all around us all the time? And if we had been better at doing our job, then we wouldn't have taken so many hits. Shit! I got pissed and decked the fucker! Broke his nose, too! Told him to go back to his fucking desk job before he killed anyone else!

Well that went over like a lead balloon! He filed a complaint and I got hauled before a review board. I told it like it was. Nothing to loose. The CO was a cluster fuck waiting to happen. And yep, I decked him and I'd do it again! Hell if I was going to follow any orders from that joker! Well, they sympathized with me but decking a superior officer was a no-no. So they busted my ass back down to Sergeant, but they also sent the asshole back to his desk job! Well at least some good came out of this.

I expected to be reassigned to some grunt platoon somewhere but they sent me back to my squad to put the pieces back together and get back to business. I think our squad was the only one led by a sergeant in that conflict arena.

Anyway, after 9 months the Army took our squad to the rear and broke the team apart. I guess enough was enough. We had done our part. We were all headed in different directions. Couple of the guys received promotions and orders to new squads. My communications guy got orders to go back home as his tour was done. Me, they were sending back to Germany and after that who knows? Not me. All I knew was that I was headed to the land of beer and weiner schnitzel! Ok, I'll agree. Not my idea of R&R however it sure beat sand and MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) by a mile!

Spent two or three days getting to Germany in one plane or another. Don't hassle me! I can't recall if it was two or three days! I just remember that my butt hurt like the dickens from those hard metal bucket seats! Anyway, once I got there, they dumped me into another plane that was on its way state-side. Only I didn't know where I was headed.

After awhile, I was wondering what the deal was? I didn't see any reassignment orders for me like they gave to the others. I pestered the pilot of the transport that flew me out of Germany, to find out where I was headed. Only then did I find out that I was bound for the states, to Virginia. Virginia? What is there in Virginia?

Well we landed at Langley and I was met by a full Colonel. I was greeted very informally and treated like a civilian. Now that set my antenna's quivering like mad! When, in this man's Army, did a Colonel ever shake a Sergeant's hand and ask how was the ride? So I asked him,

"uh, Sir? Do you know why I'm here?"

He looked at me a little strangely, then smiled, "No one told you?"

Duh! Like DUH! If I knew I wouldn't have asked.... "No sir. I haven't a clue of why I'm here."

"Ok sergeant, follow me and all will be made known to you shortly." Now where have I heard that before? Every grunt that makes officer must have that response tattooed on his forehead.

So I swung my duffel bag over my shoulder and followed him into a hanger, then into a back office. As we entered it, we were greeted by two guys in suits who required that we submit ourselves to a pat down search. Ok, this was getting very interesting! The Colonel didn't seem to be put out by it so I did the same. Felt weird to be frisked!

After we were frisked, the suits held out some sort of electronic device that had a small slot on the top right side of it and required that we place our right thumbs on the translucent plastic slide in the slot. Ok, looked like a thumb print reader. Man these guys were being really cautious. For what, I guess I would be finding out.

I guess we checked out and one of the suits motioned his approval to someone somewhere who must have been observing us remotely. The suits moved us through a doorway into a smaller office, then through the office to another door that lead back into the hanger to an unmarked limo that had smoked glass everywhere. Couldn't see anything in there from the outside.

One of the suits opened the door to the limo and I could see by the way that the door swung out that the limo was heavily armed. Ok, whoever was inside must have a major league reason for this level of security. I stepped in and made room for the Colonel however he stopped at the car door, saluted and shut the door.

As my eyes adjusted to the dark car interior, I noticed a guy who looked vaguely familiar, sitting on the back seat with a pair of reading glasses perched on his nose, going through the contents of a folder that bore a White Hou ........ HOLY SHIT!

"Sergeant Culver I presume?"

"Mr. President?" I responded.

"Relax Culver. Look Tim. I'll cut to the chase because we don't have time."

He looked as if he hadn't slept in a couple of days. Whatever it was must have been bad.

"Tim, we need the skills that you have to effect a penetration and extraction of a VIP who is now in hostile hands. It's not going to be easy as the perpetrators appear to be heavily armed and equipped with good intell."

"Two days ago a group of renegade CIA agents took the daughter of the Prime Minister of Canada hostage. She was here in Washington, DC attending Georgetown University. We believe that their motive is a financial one however we have yet to receive any demands from them."

"We need someone who isn't from either the CIA or the FBI. Someone who isn't already a special asset of any branch, but someone who knows how to get in and out and is used to moving undetected. We need you to help us find and extricate her. Can you help us?"

"Mr. President...."

"Tim, it's George, ok?"

"Sorry sir, you'll always be Mr. President to me."

"Ok Tim."

"Mr. President, do you have the right guy for this? I've never done this sort of thing here in the US. Only in the Gulf and in Iran. I don't know if I'm the right person for this?"

"Well Tim, the pros tell me that your skills and experience match perfectly with the type of person we need. Plus you're not on anyone's radar yet so you're an unknown to the unfriendly's. We suspect collusion and information leaks coming from within. We need an outside guy. We need you Tim. Will you take the assignment?"

"I'll need to be briefed."

"It's ready and waiting for you."

"What kind of support would I receive?"

"Nominal. The internal leaks and suspected collusion haven't been turned yet, so for your safety and the safety of the hostage and mission, you would be virtually on your own."

"Can I take one or two support staff with me?"

"Nope. The perpetrators were well entrenched. We don't know how far this treachery extends. We trust very few at the moment."

"And you trust me with this mission?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Cause you're a newbie as far as the intelligence community is concerned. Plus our background checks all came back screaming 'straight arrow'."

"Dang. Can I see the intell?"

"Sorry. Once you see the intell, you'd have to be confined if you turn the assignment down. At least until the hostage is recovered. This is a very sensitive matter and has to be handled with kid gloves."

"Ok, don't see what choice I have."

"Tim, you have a choice. I won't bullshit you. You could end up very dead on this assignment. The renegade agents are very experienced."

So I took the assignment. Stupid! Oh well. The president thanked me, shook my hand then the car door opened and I was greeted by the Colonel. "Thank you for taking the assignment. Please come this way." And with that, I was briefed.

Annalisa Somer was a second year law student at Georgetown. She was the step daughter of the Prime Minister of Canada. Her mother married the Prime Minister when she was two; her birth father was killed in an auto accident about the time of her birth. Her mother was an attorney and she must have decided to follow in her footsteps.

There was a picture of her in the folder and she was a looker. She was a 5' 4" brunette with hazel eyes. Slender in appearance. Sensuous eyes and smile. Speaks French, and English. Graduated University of Montreal with honors. Dean's list at Georgetown. List of known friends. No notation of a significant other. Just your everyday good looking, smart law student.

Her security detail was contracted from a private firm. Members of the assigned security detail present at the time of her abduction were all killed execution style. These guys were playing for keeps. They were hardened and remorseless. That was very clear.

Toward the end of my briefing I was lead over to another conference room. The Colonel was in the room along with another guy who looked just as beat as the President did when I met him. The Colonel made the introductions,

"Mr. Prime Minister, this is Tim Culver."

Ok, made sense. "Tim, thank you for taking on this assignment. I can't tell you how worried we are over Lisa's safety."

"Mr. Prime Minister, I'll do my best to get her back safely."

"Thank you Tim. This DVD was delivered to our embassy about an hour ago. I think this will give you additional information."

The Colonel inserted the disk into a player and turned on the TV monitor. The picture opened with a closed in shot of Annalisa's face. She had been crying. Her face all red and eyes puffy. Then a voice that had been cloaked electronically belted out, "Mr. Prime Minister! We know that you're probably going to show this to national security as soon as you receive this so you might as well know that this disk has been sanitized."

And they were right. The intell ghost buster type guys couldn't get anything off the disk. No prints. No chemical signatures. No electronic clues. Nothing. Just the demands of the kidnappers and Annalisa's crying. $50 million; cash; no bills larger than a $100 bill. In both Canadian and US currencies. Multiple drop points both here in the US as well as in Canada, with simultaneous deliveries. Payment to be made in 10-days otherwise Annalisa fails to turn up. Forever.

After we finished viewing the DVD I sat back and thought about what we had just seen.

"Well Colonel, what's your take?" I asked.

"Looks bad. Mr. Prime Minister, how would you like us to handle this?"

"I don't know........ I don't know......" he was out of it. His head was in his hands as he rocked back and forth in his seat.

"Well Colonel, Mr. Prime Minister, I think we have exactly 10-days to get your daughter back. Who can I talk to that knew your daughter well?"

Turns out that Annalisa didn't have too many close friends. Well, having to live with a security detail around your neck 24-hours a day can put a real damper on the fun sort of things. She maintained a modest looking apartment in DC but lived by herself. The intell guys had already crawled through her place but I thought it worthwhile to visit it nonetheless.

Ok, this was going to be tough. After the meeting with her father and watching the video, my briefing was completed. I was ushered to the back of the hanger where I was issued a number of interesting looking toys. Kind of like in the James Bond movies. But nothing as exotic. I guess the movies are just that. They gave me a cell phone that had a built in GPS transponder so they could follow my movements. The phone also doubled as a camera that took high resolution pictures that could be sent by the phone. It came equipped with a secure blue tooth wireless earpiece that fit snug within the ear.

They issued me a backpack that had all sorts of interesting stuff concealed on and in it. The clips on the pack held magnetic ornaments that contained small amounts of C-4 that could be detonated by dialing a number on the cell phone. Clever guys entered the number into the phone's directory as "mother-in-law." Must have been a private joke. The bottom of the pack held four small plastic knives. I was told that they were porcelain tipped and so were sharper then hell. Plus a couple of other gadgets.

Some surveillance equipment in the form of listening equipment, a high powered unocular and digital camera. Anything else I needed, I had to arrange with my control. And cash; $25,000 worth in $100 and $50 bills. With a couple of charge cards on the instruction to never use them unless I absolutely had to. And then, one time only. Destroy and discard them immediately.

As far as weapons were concerned, I was issued a side arm, an FN 5.7 USG that shot a 28mm round. It wasn't meant to be a "take down" weapon, but it could do the job if handled by someone who knew what they were doing. I was offered a Glock semi-automatic however I figured that using something like that in the US would tell others who I was. So I decided to stay with the low key fire power. The FN was something a lot of guys had and getting ammo wasn't a problem.

The Colonel was formally introduced as my "control" for the assignment. He was my contact through which I could pass as well as received information. David Betno grew up in a military family. Grandfather served in WWII in the Army. Father in the Vietnam conflict as a Marine. David followed in his father's footsteps and became a grunt also. But with a difference. He had a head on his shoulders and could think through problems and situations. Went up through the chain of command in a hurry. The only problem now was that he was assigned to the Pentagon so he was "known".

As David and I finished up my briefing, he handed me the keys to a black and shiny Navigator that was parked just inside the hander.

"Gas card is in the console glove box. Card is a pool card so know one will be able to pick out your charges from everyone else's. You'll need it cause this baby sucks fuel in buckets. Fully armored including the tires. GPS equipped. Satellite comm. unit stored in the spare wheel well. Extra rounds for your FN under the driver's seat. If you need heftier firepower, call it in. Don't try to go it alone. Your duffel bag's already in it. And here's the keys to Somer's apartment. Figured you'd want to start there."

With that I was on my own. I changed into a t-shirt and blue jeans, running shoes and a wind breaker. Stuck the FN in a shoulder holster and hoped that the wind breaker would hide it a bit. I drove up to DC and found her apartment. It was early evening when I arrived. I figured that it would be under surveillance by the bad guys so I drove past it and parked several blocks away.

Maps of the neighborhood had disclosed that her apartment complex was fairly secure. You needed to either have a key or had to be buzzed in by someone. Well having a key meant that I belonged there. But since that would be the first time I would be there, I might stick out to someone who's been watching that building for a week or so.

As I wondered how I would get in but not stick out, my stomach started growling; FEED ME! Ok, haven't had anything to eat since I touched down at Langley. So I walked over to a nearby Domino's Pizza and got a take out and soft drink. Then it dawned on me ~ Pizza delivery guy! Sure! They must deliver all the time. Plus they use all sorts of college and high school kids so another guy in jeans wouldn't make a difference!

I grabbed my bag with the pizza box and soft drink and marched up to Annalisa's building. Made like I pushed an apartment number on the call box, then stood on the side next to the door as if I was waiting for the occupant to buzz me in. Just then one of the residents marched up and opened the door with his key. Well, I snuck in right behind him. Seemed like the normal thing to do!

Well, I made it up to Annalisa's apartment and let myself in with the key that they had previously given me. It was a small one bedroom unit. Didn't turn on any of the lights. Didn't want to draw attention to my presence in the apartment. As I let my eyes get adjusted to the darkness of the apartment, I scanned the room that I was in which was the living room. Looked as if it opened to the kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom. No windows in this room; lucky me. I placed one of the remote listening devices under a coffee table in the living room then stood up to start to take a close look at the room for clues.

The room looked undisturbed. Ok, I've never known investigators to be neat. Something wasn't right. Hmmmm. This was too neat. As if someone's already been through the apartment and put everything back hoping that someone else would show up and tip them to whatever it is that they're looking for. I looked over the inside of the apartment door and sure enough, there was a trip wire that I had broken when I entered. Ok, time to get out of here!

I left the apartment right away and took the fire exit up a flight of stairs. I left the exit stairwell and was walking down the corridor just as the elevator arrived and out stepped a young women who was having a difficult time balancing her grocery bags, her handbag, and a brief case all at the same time.

I ran over to her and grabbed a grocery bag just as it slipped out of her grasp!