"I can't believe you got this job, sir!" Calloway said as Strickland led him down the hall.
"Well face it, Calloway! You win some, you lose some!" Strickland callously said. "Now, lemme show you your new office!"
"Office?" asked Calloway.
"Yep!" Strickland opened up a door leading to a small room. "Here it is!"
"Wait a minute, this is the boiler room!" Calloway pointed out.
"Have fun!" Strickland pushed the colonel into the room and slammed the door.
The colonel barely had time to catch his balance when he heard the door locking from outside.
Meanwhile, the cadets had a meeting in the recreation room.
"Guys, this is terrible." said Tug. "If we thought Strickland running an orphanage was bad, now he's gonna run a military school!"
"No kidding." Pierre agreed. "There's got to be something we can do to fight back against him."
"Anybody got any ideas?" asked Jamal.
"I got one!" Flim Flam exclaimed.
"Oh boy..." Logan sighed.
"Let's go talk to Calloway and see what he thinks we can do." Flim Flam said. "He knows military training and strategy better than we do."
Everybody stared at Flim Flam with blank expressions.
"What?" He said.
"How do you suggest that we get past Strickland?" Grunt asked. "If I don't know any better, it's likely that Strickland has already dealt with Calloway already and had him locked up."
"And he's already installed security cameras everywhere." Miguel added. "He could be watching us as we speak."
"Good point." Flim Flam nodded. "It seems we might need something that can help us block them."
"It just so happens that the colonel provided us with some walkie talkies the other day." Tug said. "They all contain a secret camera. If we can use them to record ourselves, we might be able to pass the footage off as us here in the rec room."
"Right, then." Flim Flam nodded. "In that case, let's give it a shot, while we also figure a way to upload the recorded footages onto the security camera system Strickland's installed."
Meanwhile in the head office, Strickland was talking to the school superintendent.
"Weber gone, you're probably wondering why I called you here today." He said. "As your new colonel, I have come up with a new strategy of running the school."
"And what is that, Mr. Strickland?" asked the board.
"Presenting, my new Army-Droid 3000!" Strickland pressed a button on a remote.
Just then, a large six-foot robot soldier burst through the door.
"I have a company willing to build thousands and thousands of these machines. All I need from you is thousand and thousands of dollars."
"You actually think these high tech gizmos will turn our cadets into hardcore military soldiers?" asked the head member.
"Not to mention are their computer systems and controls secure?" Another board member asked. "Any measures to stop the robot from getting hacked?"
"Oh please." Strickland scoffed. "This machine is programmed to have top security and will eliminate any attempts at hacking or glitches."
Back in the rec room, the boys had finished recording themselves lying down. Tug took the flash drives containing the footage out of the walkie.
"Okay cadets, here are the flash drives with the footage." Tug said. "Grunt, Jamal, Baxter! Place them into the drives at the bottom of the cameras and the footage will appear on the monitors."
"Sir!" They saluted.
Grunt, Jamal and Baxter (in that order) stacked on top of each other and plugged the drives into the cameras.
In no time did the monitors in Strickland's office began to play the footage in a loop.
The boys then snuck out of the room and started to search for the colonel. Just then, they heard someone approaching.
"Guys, someone's coming." Flim Flam whispered.
The boys hid to the side and saw Strickland walking down the hall with his robot soldier and the board members.
"If I'm not mistaken, that's one of Strickland's latest invention to 'train' us." Miguel whispered and nodded towards the robot.
"And if I'm not mistaken, they're probably on their way to the rec room to check on us." Grunt whispered. "What do we do?"
"We're going to have to throw him off base." Tug whispered. "Three of us will distract them while the others try to find Calloway."
"Yeah, but who?" asked Pierre.
The cadets shared glances with each other before they slowly began to turn towards Flim Flam.
"Well guys, that's our cue." He said to Pierre and Logan.
"Why us?" asked Logan.
"Because, we are a team and we always stick together!" Flim Flam proclaimed.
"Just like the Three Musketeers!" Pierre exclaimed.
"In that case, we should get moving." Logan urged.
"Break!" The boys split up.
Flim Flam, Logan and Pierre (not really in that order) stacked up on themselves and put on a janitors coat and hat as Strickland and the board members were approaching.
Looking around, the trio spotted a mop and pail and promptly reached over and start mopping the floor.
"Hey you! Outta my way!" Strickland ordered.
"Sorry sir, but I'm afraid this area is being cleaned, I'm afraid you'll have to go somewhere else." Flim-Flam said in a deep voice.
"Listen here, chump!" Strickland sneered. "You'd better let me through or else!"
"Or else, what?" Flim Flam asked. "Pretty sure you wouldn't mind the area being squeaky clean for whatever exercises you're thinking of ordering the cadets to do, wouldn't you?"
Strickland and the board members shared glances with each other.
"He's got a point, Strickland." The head member said. "Let him do his cleaning while we go elsewhere."
"Fine!" Strickland exclaimed.
Strickland and the board members walked away in a huff.
Meanwhile, the rest of the gang had been looking for Calloway in the hall.
"Mr. Calloway..." Tug whispered. "Where are you?"
"Colonel." Grunt whispered. "Where are you?"
"COLONEL!" Jamal shouted.
"Quiet, Jamal!" Tug shushed Jamal. "You want us to get caught?"
"I'm here!" Someone whispered.
"Colonel, is that you?" Tug whispered.
Calloway knocked on the janitor's closet door.
"In here!" He whispered.
"Oh, perfect, we've found you, Colonel!" Jamal said.
"What're you doing in there?" asked Baxter.
"Just get me out of here and I'll explain!" Calloway barked.
Tug turned the doorknob and saw that it was locked.
"It's locked!" He exclaimed. "What do we do?"
"We could try looking in the garbage." suggested Grunt. "Maybe someone threw away the key?"
Grunt looked in a nearby wastebasket and looked for the keys.
"Don't be ridiculous, Grunt." Jamal folded his arms. "They didn't-"
"Found it!" Grunt found the keys and unlocked the closet door.
Calloway quickly came out, all sweaty and steamy.
"Thank you, cadets..." He huffed and puffed. "...it was getting really hot in there..."
"So what happened?" Jamal asked.
Apr 23"Strickland locked me in here!" Calloway explained. "He said he was going to show me to my new office and then he locked me in here!"
"That fiend!" Baxter pounded his fist.
"Of course he would do that to you, sir." Tug said. "We've got to fight back."
"And conveniently, there they are right now!" Miguel pointed to Strickland and the board members coming down the hall.
Calloway narrowed his eyes and they then approached Strickland and the board.
"Colonel Calloway!" said one of the members. "What are you doing here? And why are you all sweaty? Have you been working out?"
"No Ms. Stone!" Calloway said. "The general locked me in the boiler room! He's a treacherous scoundrel!"
"Incredulous!" gasped the board.
"No, no, no!" Strickland lied. "He locked himself inside! I was trying to get him out!"
"Strickland, it seems that this isn't the kind of actions we approve for a general." Ms. Stone said. "I'm afraid we are going to deny your request for money! Let us know if you can truly do something amazing for this school, and you'll have your money then!"
"What I'd like to know is what could've possessed Payne to select you as his replacement when you hardly know a thing about treating your military peers with respect." Another board member added.
"He knew I needed a job, so he gave it to me." Strickland proclaimed. "Besides, I'll show you just what my ideas can do."
"Needing a job isn't good enough when you don't even have any military experience, Mr. Strickland." Ms. Stone cut in sharply. "And the fact that you are not treating your military peers with respect puts you just one step away from dismissal as superintendent of the academy."
"You get one more chance, Strickland!" said the board members. "Blow it, and you're fired for sure! See you soon! Very soon!"
The board members walked out, glaring at Strickland.
Strickland then turned towards Calloway, who was now clicking his teeth as he shook his head.
"Looks like we indeed share the same birthday, Strickland." The colonel said smugly.
"Just shut up, will you, Calloway?" Strickland grumbled.
"Right away, sir." Calloway said as walked away. "I shall now get back to training my cadets."
Strickland stared at Calloway as he walked back to the rest of the cadets.
"Enjoy this while you can, Calloway..." He thought. "I've got some big plans for you."
Author's Note:
Ruh roh! What could Strickland have planned? Stay tuned for more developments.