Only one problem with this heroic rescue - The 10-Ring

The day began normally in the financial district of downtown Buenos Aires. People had been a little tense since several highly-publicized hostage incidents in the high-rise offices, but most businesses were taking steps to increase security, and many were offering programs to help their employees deal with the added stress,

Routine business went on, right up until the folks in one firm noticed that the doors and windows of the neighboring business had suddenly closed. Then they heard an ominous voice saying, "Now you will begin to die." Yeah, that got their attention.

The call went out to BAPD, and a scout was sent to the high-rise building next door to sneak a peek into the closed offices. He reported that he could see a dozen employees sitting in a circle on the floor in a conference room, their heads down on their chests, apparently avoiding looking into the eyes of one animated guy in the center, who was menacing them.

BAPD swung--or exploded--into action. Traffic was blocked for a large area and the entire block cordoned off. Thousands of people were evacuated, and police snipers placed on the rooftops. News choppers circled the area, broadcasting the latest terrorist incident live to millions of viewers.

On a silent signal, a SWAT team burst through the doors and windows, flinging flash-bangs and waving sub-machineguns, just in time to save a dozen innocent victims from... their meditation guru.

The business had closed for the day to give their employees a course in warm-fuzzy-feelings and stress-reduction techniques. And, yeah, they reported they were pretty thoroughly de-stressed until a bunch of heavily-armed guys in black balaclavas crashed the party. For some reason, that kind of threw 'em off their concentration. But they got rescued, whether they needed it or not.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Publishers' Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group