The Unusuals

unishment than missing Istanbul.

Leland moved quickly now. He didn want to lose his nerve. He tapped lightly on the door, even though he knew it would do no good. The general was a sound sleeper. Gently opening the door, Leland walked over to the bed and cleared his throat.

”Excuse me, sir. ” The general kept snoring, so Leland reached out and repeated himself. The general didn stir. Leland grimaced and lightly touched the generals shoulder.

eneral Garrison flinched and made a loud snorting noise as he snatched a breath. He rolled over and said, ”What… who is it? ”

”Its me, Captain Leland, sir. ”

”Leland, what in the hell do you want? ” Garrison growled through a dry throat. ”I thought I told you not to disturb me. ”

”You did, sir, but theres something… something that I thought I should bring to your attention. ” He took a step back.

”Something, ” General Garrison said in an irritated voice as he sat up. ”This had better be good, Captain, or you
e going to be out calling in close air support for the rest of your tour. ”

Leland took a dry gulp, his worst fears confirmed. It seemed he would never be able to satisfy the man. ”A plane arrived shortly after midnight, sir. ”

”Planes arrive all the time, ” Garrison snarled. ”This is an air base, Captain. Thats what happens… planes land and planes take off. ”

Leland was suddenly regretting his decision, but there was no turning back. ”I think it might involve the prisoners, sir. The two high-value ones. ”

The news had a sobering effect on the general. ”What do you mean, the two prisoners? ”

”The plane was an Air Force G III. Six men deplaned, all wearing BDUs. They had two Humvees waiting for them. ”

”Who are they? ”

Leland grew increasingly nervous. The next piece of information had been passed along as a rumor. ”I have not been able to verify this, sir, but I was told by someone on the flight line that the men are from the Office of Special Investigations. ”

Garrison threw back his blanket and swung his feet onto the floor. After mumbling a few curses he looked up at his aide and said, ”Office of Special Investigations? ”

”Yes, sir. ”

”How long have you known? ”

”About forty minutes, sir. ”

The general stood. ”Air Force Office of Special Investigations arrives on my base, unannounced, in the middle of the night, and it takes you forty minutes to notify me. ”

Leland stood ramrod straight and looked over the top of the generals head. ”Sir, you left specific orders not to be disturbed. ”

”I left specific orders not to be bothered with all of the trivial bullshit that you think is important. When the Office of Special Investigations shows up in the middle of the night, its about as bad as it gets for a CO. It ranks just an ass hair under a plane crashing or attack on the base. ”

”Im sorry, sir. ”

”Where are they now? ”

”Im not sure, sir, but I think they might be at the Hilton. ”

Garrison was in the midst of pulling on his flight suit. He stopped with both feet in and fixed a stare on the young captain. ”The Hilton? ”

”Yes, sir. ”

The anger spread across the generals face. ”How in the hell did you ever graduate from the United States Air Force Academy? ”