“Hi, Mike, it’s Jack.”

His feet slammed to the floor with a crash and XML for Dummies followed it. “Good morning, sir, how are you?” He had not talked to his former boss in nearly two years.

“Good enough. Mike, I need you down at McPherson on Monday morning.”

Whaaa? “Sir, it’s been eight years. I’m not in the Army market anymore.” By nearly Pavlovian response, he started to catalog everything he would need to take.

“I just got finished talking to your company’s president. This is not, currently, an official recall…”

I like that little hidden threat boss, Mike thought.

“But I pointed out that whether it was or not, you would be eligible to return under the Soldiers and Sailors Act…”

Yup, that’s Jack. Thanks a million, ole boss o’ mine.

“That didn’t seem to be a problem. He seemed to be kind of upset at losing you right now. Apparently they just got a new contract he really wanted you to work on…”

Yes! Mike chortled silently. We got the First Onion upgrade! The site was a plum job the company had been chasing for nearly a year. The account would guarantee at least a solid two years of lucrative business.

“But I convinced him it would be for the best,” the general continued. Mike could hear other conversations in the background, some argumentative, some subdued. It seemed almost like the general was calling from a telephone solicitation company. Or several of his cohorts were making the same calls. Some of the muted voices in the background seemed almost desperate.

“What’s this about, sir?”

The answer was met by silence. In the background a male voice started shouting, apparently displeased with the answer he was getting on his own call.

“Let me guess, OPSEC?” Any answer to the question would violate operational security directives. Mike scratched at a spot of ink on the varnished desktop then started working the gripper again. Blood pressure… It was security and dominance games like this that had partially driven him away from the military. He had no intention of being sucked back in.