... Reaching the office I just I just opened the door and walked right in like I belonged there. I entered a small lobby, actually it wasn't much bigger than the foyer in my San Diego beach house. There was a small secretaries desk just as you entered and to the right of the door, and there was two five drawer filing cabinets against the wall. The cabinets had a flat iron bar installed in front that went into a slot at the bottom and was bent over at a right angle at the top and fitted with a combination lock. At the desk was a young enlisted man, he was sitting sideways to the desk polishing a pair of shoes when I came through the door. A short hallway was directly in front of me and it looked like there were probably a couple of rooms on each side and then a larger room at the end. I didn't make eye contact to start with so as not to startle the man too soon, I needed to take in the room and locate any other hostiles, and I needed an extra step to get him into range of my knockout punch before he started moving. By the time he carelessly looked up to see who had entered I had already ascertained that we were alone and my open palm was coming down for a power stroke to his left temple. In real life things are a lot different than what you see in a movie, it is not nearly as easy to knock someone out as what you would think, and to hit a man in the head with a closed fist is a good way to break several knuckles or fingers. When the palm of my hand made contact with the side of the man's head at maximum velocity and with the abrupt locking of the arm into a rigid steel like rod, the entire force and almost all of the momentum was transferred in an instant with enough power to crumble a cement block. If done correctly the jar causes a concussion and if it doesn't knock the victim out it so addles them that they can no longer defend themselves. This was a knock out punch that sent the tin of shoe polish skidding across the floor and left the man in a pile beside the desk. He was wearing a small sidearm in a holster on his belt so I grabbed it, a Spanish Ruby, I had only seen photos in a gun collectors book but it looked like any other small revolver.
As I moved down the hall I found three small offices with desks, bookshelves and filing cabinets in them similar to those out front. There was also a supply room with a huge old antique copying machine of some type, a mimeograph maybe? The door at the end had to be my target and it was the only one with a door that was shut. I listened for a moment by the door and thought that I could hear something faint but couldn't make it out, so I opened the door a crack and peered in. There was sound from another room off to the side and after a moment I recognized it, the guy was taking a shower! I entered and surveyed the room, there was a nice desk and office chair and there was seating for up to three visitors in front of the desk. A small backless and well worn setee was against the wall to my left, I was betting that a lot of very nervous visitors had used that bench. I immediately went to the computer and got started, the thumb drive and special adapters that I had been given for the mission had been confiscated, so the only option was to take the entire computer with me or remove the hard drive. I found a letter opener on the desk, pulled the computer out so that I could get to it removing wires from the back as I went. It would be much easier to carry just the hard drive, but if worst came to worst I would just pick the computer up and run. It was difficult but I removed the cover and somehow managed to get the screws out that were holding the hard drive in place. Fortunately it had been replaced already at least once, and like many other lazy technicians the farthest and hardest to get to screws had been left out so that it was just the two front and closest screws that remained.
Then I heard the water turn off in the shower, I had the hard drive, but I also had a partially disassembled computer in the floor and loose wires everywhere. If I took care of this officer while he was vulnerable then I might could buy myself a few more minutes. So I entered the room, which looked just like an old seedy motel room. There was a bed with a dress uniform freshly pressed lying on it and a bathroom with the door partially open to my right. The officer must be preparing for a special occasion, dress uniform, polished shoes, he was heading to a high level event of some kind. Gun out I opened the bathroom door all the way and there stood what could have passed as a "Hollywood pretty boy," this was no foot soldier. He was well built but more like a dancer, or advertising model with what would be considered very handsome features, and he sported a well groomed but somewhat un-masculine looking mustache. It was a good enough look for a civilian, but not what you would expect on a military man. He was standing in front of a large mirror with a towel wrapped around his waist. He was about my weight and height but almost completely unblemished and without my hard features and battle scars. I moved him wordlessly out beside the bed and face down on the floor, then using the abundant wire from the desk phone beside the bed I tied him up securely and inserted a gag to keep him quiet. Then on a whim I changed cloths, I might as well go out the gate in style, most of the time a gate guard barely even looks at outgoing traffic, they are mainly there to keep unauthorized people from entering the facility. It was very likely that the guard or guards would not even look past the uniform. Retrieving the shoes beside the still unconscious man up front it was time to get out of here, but glancing outside I saw an old but highly polished black Limo pulling up at the door, now what... ?
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Hard Drive by walknboston, available under Creative Commons.
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