When the Group Commander and Captain Faith arrived back at the SCIF, The Dud was already there waiting for them. “Major Dudley, thank you for joining us,” the Group Commander said.
“Sir, I came over as soon as I could, what can I do to help?” The Dud responded. Faith resisted the urge to chop him in the throat on the spot.
“The major problem is, we can’t get the safe open to get the documentation out to verify our security procedures, and without that, we can’t pass the inspection.”
“This safe?” he inquired, although Faith was confident he knew exactly which one the Group Commander meant. “Yes, I saw Chief Rollins putting a bunch of stuff in there on Friday afternoon, when I was cleaning out my office and following the transition protocols that Captain Faith had established.
Where was The Dud going with this? Faith wondered to himself. Surely he wasn’t trying to blame this on Chief Rollins?
“I think I can help out with that, sir,” Major Dudley said to the Group commander. The Dud them dialed in a series of numbers and the safe popped wide open. Inside it was all of the inspection paperwork, neatly tabbed and labeled. “See? It’s all right here,” The Dud said innocently.
Faith didn’t catch exactly what the combination was, but he knew it wasn’t the same thing it had been two days ago. Faith exploded. “You sorry bastard! he shouted, “You changed the combination!” he said accusatorially.
The Dud looked perplexed. “Well, of course I changed the combination,” he answered defensively. “The SOP, that you wrote, states that the combination must be changed anytime one of the primary office holders rotates out. Since I was leaving the unit, and I changed the combination.”
“But you knew that we were having this inspection today!” Faith exclaimed, “And you knew that without this paperwork, we’d fail.”
“That’s correct,” The Dud said, pausing slightly. Faith had a bad feeling about this whole situation, but didn’t really understand why. Then it hit him- The Dud hadn’t stammered a single time. That meant he was completely confident in what he was doing. Which could mean only one thing: a setup.
The Dud shifted his gaze from Faith to the Group commander. “That’s correct, I knew that without this paperwork you’d fail the inspection, and I also knew that it would be a major gig if the former Group S2 left and the combinations weren’t changed. That’s why I changed the combination and called you with the new combo.”
“You never called me,” Faith challenged, his eyes narrowing. The Dud said nothing, but walked over to the phone and dialed in the number to Faith’s office. Then he pushed in the keys that played through the voicemail. There was a loud beep, then The Dud’s unmistakable stammer:
“Uh, yeah, Captain Faith, this is M-M-M-Major D-D-D-D-Dudley. Just wanted to tell you that I reset the combo before I left, in a-c-c-c-cordance with the n-n-n-new SOP. I don’t want to say what it is over the phone, but you’ll remember it from the first time you went through the inspection with me. I j-j-j-just wanted to s-s-say that I know we have had our d-d-d-differences but n-n-n-no hard feelings. Good luck with the insp-sp-spection tomorrow. I’ll be gone all day inprocessing but call me on my cell if you n-n-n-need anything.” MAJ Dudley then placed the receiver back on the phone and gave an “I told you” look to the Group commander.
“What time did you make that call, Major Dudley?” the Group Commander asked.
“About 1500,” the other man answered.
“Captain Faith, why weren’t you in your office at 1500 on Friday?”
“I was… out of the office, sir,” he answered. He didn’t exactly want to admit he was on his way to getting plastered at the joint retirement/promotion party.
“Let me get this straight. You spend the last day of work before a big inspection getting drunk, during duty hours, then you let the warrant officer who is responsible for running our side of the inspection go on leave, and because you can’t get the safe open, we completely fail a major inspection. Is that about right?” the Group Commander demanded. Faith made no reply, technically everything he said was correct.
At that moment, the Group DCO burst into the room. “Sir, I heard what happened,” he said. “I was at the range with one of our ODAs and the word came in. What do we need to do to fix whatever it is that’s wrong?”
“The main thing I think we need to do,” the Group Commander said evenly, “is to find a new Group S2.”
“Sir, I came over as soon as I could, what can I do to help?” The Dud responded. Faith resisted the urge to chop him in the throat on the spot.
“The major problem is, we can’t get the safe open to get the documentation out to verify our security procedures, and without that, we can’t pass the inspection.”
“This safe?” he inquired, although Faith was confident he knew exactly which one the Group Commander meant. “Yes, I saw Chief Rollins putting a bunch of stuff in there on Friday afternoon, when I was cleaning out my office and following the transition protocols that Captain Faith had established.
Where was The Dud going with this? Faith wondered to himself. Surely he wasn’t trying to blame this on Chief Rollins?
“I think I can help out with that, sir,” Major Dudley said to the Group commander. The Dud them dialed in a series of numbers and the safe popped wide open. Inside it was all of the inspection paperwork, neatly tabbed and labeled. “See? It’s all right here,” The Dud said innocently.
Faith didn’t catch exactly what the combination was, but he knew it wasn’t the same thing it had been two days ago. Faith exploded. “You sorry bastard! he shouted, “You changed the combination!” he said accusatorially.
The Dud looked perplexed. “Well, of course I changed the combination,” he answered defensively. “The SOP, that you wrote, states that the combination must be changed anytime one of the primary office holders rotates out. Since I was leaving the unit, and I changed the combination.”
“But you knew that we were having this inspection today!” Faith exclaimed, “And you knew that without this paperwork, we’d fail.”
“That’s correct,” The Dud said, pausing slightly. Faith had a bad feeling about this whole situation, but didn’t really understand why. Then it hit him- The Dud hadn’t stammered a single time. That meant he was completely confident in what he was doing. Which could mean only one thing: a setup.
The Dud shifted his gaze from Faith to the Group commander. “That’s correct, I knew that without this paperwork you’d fail the inspection, and I also knew that it would be a major gig if the former Group S2 left and the combinations weren’t changed. That’s why I changed the combination and called you with the new combo.”
“You never called me,” Faith challenged, his eyes narrowing. The Dud said nothing, but walked over to the phone and dialed in the number to Faith’s office. Then he pushed in the keys that played through the voicemail. There was a loud beep, then The Dud’s unmistakable stammer:
“Uh, yeah, Captain Faith, this is M-M-M-Major D-D-D-D-Dudley. Just wanted to tell you that I reset the combo before I left, in a-c-c-c-cordance with the n-n-n-new SOP. I don’t want to say what it is over the phone, but you’ll remember it from the first time you went through the inspection with me. I j-j-j-just wanted to s-s-say that I know we have had our d-d-d-differences but n-n-n-no hard feelings. Good luck with the insp-sp-spection tomorrow. I’ll be gone all day inprocessing but call me on my cell if you n-n-n-need anything.” MAJ Dudley then placed the receiver back on the phone and gave an “I told you” look to the Group commander.
“What time did you make that call, Major Dudley?” the Group Commander asked.
“About 1500,” the other man answered.
“Captain Faith, why weren’t you in your office at 1500 on Friday?”
“I was… out of the office, sir,” he answered. He didn’t exactly want to admit he was on his way to getting plastered at the joint retirement/promotion party.
“Let me get this straight. You spend the last day of work before a big inspection getting drunk, during duty hours, then you let the warrant officer who is responsible for running our side of the inspection go on leave, and because you can’t get the safe open, we completely fail a major inspection. Is that about right?” the Group Commander demanded. Faith made no reply, technically everything he said was correct.
At that moment, the Group DCO burst into the room. “Sir, I heard what happened,” he said. “I was at the range with one of our ODAs and the word came in. What do we need to do to fix whatever it is that’s wrong?”
“The main thing I think we need to do,” the Group Commander said evenly, “is to find a new Group S2.”
