Small Intermission
McAlister VS. Smoke Detector
McAlister was in his study reviewing some general strategies and battle plans for operation Hellion and was well into finalizing them. All he needed was the signature of Colonel Barton. Whom he was supposed to "meet" tonight. He was happy that the plans were coming together so quickly, but for McAlister all plans were swift. Every senator, congressman, and cabinet member was like putty in his hands. Senators were always in deep when it came to taking bribes and offers to not sign a good bill. Congressmen were taking funds to help their "friends". And the cabinet members all had skeletons in their closets; to which McAlister had the key to. He was just finished when he heard a sound. A tiny echoing beep. McAlister thought it was his cell phone so he left his study to go check it. He went into his bedroom and grabbed the phone; it was off. Now what could be causing the beep? Thought McAlister. He heard the beep again. Thinking it was the pager he carries for emergencies he rushed downstairs to check his brief case. He pressed the recent activity button and there were no new incoming calls. So what was beeping? It could not be his home phone; for his house phone did not beep. So what was beeping so incessantly? McAlister had to find out. He called his maid.
McAlister – "Josephine!"
Josephine – "Yessir!"
McAlister – "Come here!"
{Josephine was a Mexican middle aged woman with black hair and brown eyes. she wore a tan colored sheath dress and had her hair tied back in a bun. She entered the living room where McAlister had called}
Josephine – "Sir what can I do for you?"
McAlister – "Do you hear that beeping?"
Josephine – "No sir . . . wait. . . what is that?"
McAlister – "That's what I am trying to find out. I thought you would know."
Josephine – "I am afraid not sir. But I can help you look."
McAlister – "I will go back upstairs, you check down here."
Josephine – "Yes sir."
The two rushed off to find the source of the beeping. But nothing showed on the first level of the house. Whatever it was; it must be upstairs. Josephine even went to check the basement. Nothing could be found. McAlister was getting pissed and annoyed that he could not find out what was beeping. He tore through his electronics thinking something must be going off. CD player? Nope, that wasn't it. TV? Nope, that wasn't it either. So what was it? He searched through his 2-way radio, his handheld GPS tracker, digital tuner, video recorder, radio, and still nothing. McAlister was just about ready to strangle someone with how angry the beeping was making him. He went back into his study and leaned on the desk. Shifting his eyes back and forth to try and pin point the cause. He heard the beeping again and realized the source was behind him. He looked to the right and turned around to see the light on the smoke detector was flashing. The beeping was coming from the smoke detector. In a rage McAlister rushed over and pressed the button on the machine. Only to have it beep again. He tried holding the button and all of the alarms went off in the house. The terrible beeping was now accompanied by the dreadful siren of the alarm. After a few minutes it finally stopped. McAlister thought he fixed the problem and tried to go back to his work. When just as he was about to sit down the beeping started again. McAlister was now even more in a rage. He tore the machine out of its holder and thought it can't beep without power. McAlister thought that the smoke detectors needed a hard wire to work so thinking he turned off the machine he put it on the table. Thinking he was successful smiled, only to have that smile disappear as another beep sounded from the machine. McAlister tried to rip out the small speaker but to no avail; it would not come loose. He pulled out his Swiss army knife and prayed the knife into the speaker tearing off the plastic shield. He then repeated to jam the screwdriver tool into it to try and break it. He paused and waited and after a few minutes the beeping stopped. McAlister went back to his work and about four minutes later the machine started to beep again! McAlister nearing the edge of sanity threw the machine in the air and shot it with his Glock. It crashed through the stain glass window of his study and burst into flames in the lawn. McAlister laughed and blew the smoke from his gun.