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GEN. WM. MITCHELL ANG BASE,
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN
(AUGUST 2, 2014)

CHET NORTHFIELD'S P.O.V.

"I'm afraid I can't permit that."

That decidedly female voice had wafted down from the warehouse rafters above us. And, the moment it had done so, both Naomi and Eric Bravo went for their guns Only to find out the hard way that it had merely been a verbal distraction! For the next moment...

...it began raining men.

More specifically, ninja! They rappelled down from those rafters like professional mountaineers. But, wearing black-and-red unitards that initially made them resemble black widow spiders. In fact, they were initially the _size_ of spiders! That is; till they landed on Bravo and Naomi like the proverbial ton of bricks. These shrink-and-grow ninja then repeated that same trick on LaPierre and Cornell. While Sam and I went down last. Our own ninjitsu training allowing us to deck quite a few before superior numbers won out. And all that in less time than it takes to tell!

Only when we were all encased in silk-mesh nets did the owner of that voice show herself.

She was lowered to the ground by two more ninja. Each one holding on to their rappelling cords with one hand, while gently-yet-firmly grasping the shapely wrist of a baton twirler in a lovely sleeveless, cream-orange leotard with matching moccasins.

[Imagine Peter Pan without his Robin Hoodie.]

"Greeting, gentlemen...and lady. My name is Laura Petrie. Please! No jokes about 'Lolack of Twilo' or 'Oh, Rob!' That's my real name. I'm from Scotland, Indiana, via IU @ Bloomington. * And these handsome young men restraining you are..."

"...genin of the Heikegani-ryu," I interrupted her: "I ran into some of their kunoichi counterparts in Venice, California, recently. Fancy them working for baton-twirling alien invaders!"

Laura laughed (somewhat) good-naturedly.

"I see your reputation for intuitive leaps of deduction are not exaggerated, Mr. Northfield! But, in this case, you're only half-right. These young men are actually Zainichi from Shiojiri, Japan. Brought here, via their hometown's sister city of Mishiwaka, Indiana, posing as mere exchange students. When, in fact, they are actually promising sulsado-ka.. I give you...the Am Ja Hwa Rang!"

Sam instinctively gasped. And I couldn't blame him. Because, in my own one-man war against the Heikegani-ryu, I had heard rumors of a similar organization within the special forces of the North Korean army. Practitioners of a ninjitsu-like art called "sulsa-do," whose code-name loosely translated...

...as "Knights of the Night."

"You've all led us a merry chase," Laura continued: "However, it's now long-past time to return our stolen property to us. Boys? Will you be so kind?"

Whereupon, we were all thrown to the floor like heavy sacks of flour. Following which, each pair of sulsa that had been holding us eased black-taped batons out of small, thin scabbards strapped to their backs. Although, they proceeded to aim them like long-barred target pistols.

That's when things got really strange.

You know that old joke about "no atheists in fox holes?" Well, right that second, it was proving true in my case. I was silently praying for a miracle. And, believe it or not; I got one!

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!"

tbc
Chapter End Notes:
* IU at Bloomington: the flagship campus of Indiana University ("Go, Hoosiers!")

Zainichi: any Japanese of centuries-old Korean heritage (as opposed to the children and/or grandchildren of more recently naturalized Korean immigrants to Japan).
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