I WAITED SIX DAYS. Acting any sooner would have been a mistake. With the situation between Thukhan and I coming to a head, any immediate action on my part would have been expected, or even planned for, by him. So I hid my rage behind a mask, and plowed through the immersive marksmanship training, to include simulator exercises prior to the following week’s live-fire trips to the open-air range. I also redoubled my efforts to find excuses to demonstrate through action what the DS had been screaming about the night my weapon went temporarily missing. It didn’t take much. Notice someone struggling to get his bunk made on time? Help him make his bunk. Spot someone’s uniform out of whack? Walk up and straighten things out for her. See an error of any sort? Correct it before the DSs did. And so on, and so forth. To the point that I got to know a goodly number of my fellow bay inmates, and a few more people around the company as well. Simply by making an extra effort to notice things, and help a brother or sister out.
