KGB Tales #9 - Self-less (story/pic)

          Young and strong Ivan.  He was my first partner in the KGB.  We were assigned together during our final 6 months of training.  He excelled in all of our training and helped pull me along.

          I had always looked up to his charismatic leadership and pressed myself to be more like him.  Our training was rough and rigorous, but together, we were unstoppable.

          After our training, we were given our first assignment and to no surprise, Ivan was our unit leader.  We were to infiltrate the american NSA program, which was (I must admit) a relatively easy task.

          After a few months into the operation, the NSA detected a breach in their intelligence.  We knew the americans could never catch on to us, but Ivan saw the fact that they had even detected the breach was a failure.

          As his second in command, he called me into one of the safe houses.  I was surprised to see several others from our unit there.  Even though the detection was a unit failure of no fault of his, Ivan accepted full responsibility.

          He pulled off his shirt, revealing his handsome physique and picked up a katana that was lying on his desk.  "I wish to set an example for you all that even a minor failure is unacceptable."

          We stood by, staring his admiration, as he sat in his chair and placed the tip of the sword against his navel.  He stared up at us with his head held high.  His eyes flinched and there was a slight grimmace as he slowly pushed the sharp blade deep into his gut.

          The perfectly sharpened blade slid through his rock-hard abs like melted butter.  There was only the sound of the slicing, as Ivan made no groans, grunts or any sign of pain.  We could see the blood trickle from his wound, soaking the front of his pants.

          Ivan sat calmly as the tip of the blade stuck into the back of his chair.  His chest slowly and steadily rose and fell with each relaxed breath.  My partner did indeed take it like a pro.  His brown eyes remained focused as he looked at me.  "You are in command now."  

          He held his hands together as a symbol of our unity.  I gave him a final salute.  After a few moments, his arms fell to his side and his head sank.  I had learned many things from this young man, the most important of which is perfection is the expectation.