Chapter 2: The Phones Began Ringing
The first phone rang from somewhere behind the judges' bench.
Then another.
Then another.
Within seconds, every secure device in the Tribunal chamber was vibrating, chiming, or shrieking from inside pockets and leather cases.
General Thomas Vance stared at the phone on his desk.
Its encrypted display flashed red.
GENERAL ALERT — PRIORITY BLACK.
He didn't touch it.
Neither did General Cross.
Colonel Hale reached for his own device, but Secretary Daniel Mercer snapped, “Don't.””
Hale's hand stopped in midair.
Mercer looked across the chamber.
“Everyone stays exactly where they are.””
The room obeyed him.
Even the reporters.
Even the military police.
Even Vance.
Mercer turned to me.
“Captain Jenkins, where did you get that code?””
“I already told you.””
“No. You told me where you found it.”” His voice was low now.
“I asked where you got the code.””
I looked at the blackened glove fused around my hand.
“My father taught it to me when I was seventeen.””
Mercer frowned.
“Your father was Colonel Nathan Jenkins?””
“Yes.””
A strange look crossed the Secretary's face.
Recognition.
Not surprise.
Something older.
“Colonel Jenkins died twelve years ago,” Mercer said.
“Eleven years, eight months, fourteen days.””
The answer came before I could stop it.
Mercer studied me.
“You remember the exact date?””
“He left the house that morning.””
My voice had gone quiet.
“He told me he'd be back before dinner.””
The chamber suddenly felt colder.
“He never came home.””
Cross shifted in his chair.
I saw it.
Mercer saw it too.
The Secretary turned toward him.
“General Cross.””
Cross straightened.
“Sir.””
“Did you know Colonel Jenkins?””
Cross hesitated.
“Of course.””
“How well?””
“We served in the same command structure.””
Mercer kept staring at him.
“For how long?””
“Several years.””
I laughed.
It was the first sound I'd made that wasn't controlled.
Cross looked at me.
I shook my head.
“You told me you'd never met him.””
His jaw clenched.
“What?””
“Three days after my father's funeral, I came to your office.””
Cross said nothing.
“I was seventeen. I had my father's service medal in my hand. I asked you why his final mission was classified.””
Still nothing.
“I remember exactly what you said.””
Mercer turned toward him.
“What did he say?””
I didn't take my eyes off Cross.
“He said, ‘Your father died serving his country. You should be proud of him and stop asking questions.’”
A few people in the gallery exchanged looks.
Cross's face hardened.
“Captain, grief can distort memory.””
“No.””
I held up the ruined glove.
“Apparently, it can also survive fire.””
Mercer raised his hand.
“Enough.””
He turned toward the security detail.
“Seal the chamber.””
The doors locked immediately.
Metal bolts slid into place with a heavy mechanical clunk.
Several generals began protesting at once.
“You can't detain active officers without—”
“This is a military tribunal,” one shouted.
Mercer silenced them with a look.
“I am the Secretary of Defense.””
His voice wasn't loud.
It didn't need to be.
“I can lock every one of you in this room until I know who has been compromised.””
Nobody spoke after that.
Mercer gestured to me.
“Captain Jenkins, come with me.””
Vance stood.
“Absolutely not.””
Mercer turned.
“You've misunderstood.””
He pointed toward the secure phone on Vance's desk.
“That alert is a Level Zero emergency code.””
Vance's lips tightened.
“That system has been inactive for eighteen years.””
Mercer nodded.
“Exactly.””
I watched the old general's face.
For the first time since I'd entered the chamber, he looked genuinely frightened.
Mercer looked back at me.
“Who else knows the code?””
“Three people.””
“Names.””
“My father.””
“He's dead.””
“Yes.””
“Who else?””
I swallowed.
“My former team leader.””
Mercer waited.
“Marcus Thorne.””
The name seemed to land differently.
Mercer glanced toward the security officer beside him.
“Find Marcus Thorne.””
The officer immediately touched his earpiece.
“Sir, Corporal Thorne was listed among the fatalities in Blackridge Valley.””
I looked at him.
“No.””
The officer hesitated.
Mercer turned.
“What do you mean, no?””
I answered quietly.
“Marcus wasn't in the helicopter.””
Every head in the chamber snapped toward me.
Hale stared.
“He was one of the thirteen.””
“He was supposed to be.””
“Captain,” Hale said sharply, “I personally reviewed the casualty manifest.””
“Then you reviewed a forged manifest.””
He stepped toward me.
“You expect us to believe you know more than the recovery commander?””
“I was there.””
“So were others.””
“Not where I was.””
Hale opened his mouth.
Mercer cut him off.
“Colonel, sit down.””
Hale reluctantly returned to his chair.
Mercer stepped closer to me.
“Tell me what happened at the crash.””
I closed my eyes.
For one second, I was back there.
Snow.
Fire.
The shriek of metal tearing apart.
Marcus shouting my name.
Then silence.
I opened my eyes.
“The helicopter was hit before we reached the extraction point.””
“With what?””
“Shoulder-fired missile.””
“Confirmed enemy weapon?””
“No.””
Mercer frowned.
“No?””
I shook my head.
“There was no enemy contact at the time of impact.””
Cross's expression changed.
Mercer noticed.
“General Cross?””
Cross didn't answer.
I did.
“The missile came from behind us.””
A murmur rippled through the chamber.
Mercer stepped closer.
“Meaning?””
“It was fired from our side of the mountain.””
Silence.
Nobody moved.
I could hear one reporter breathing.
Then Mercer said, “Why wasn't that in your report?””
“Because I never had a chance to file one.””
“What happened after the crash?””
I looked down at the floor.
“When I woke up, the helicopter was burning.””
My voice tightened.
“Marcus was pulling me out.””
I could still feel his gloves under my shoulders.
“He kept saying, ‘Don't look back, Sarah. Just move.’”
Mercer asked softly, “Was anyone else alive?””
“Yes.””
“Who?””
“Everyone from my team.””
Hale shot to his feet.
“That's impossible.””
I turned toward him.
“Is it?””
He pointed at the casualty report.
“Sixteen bodies were recovered from that valley.””
“No,” I said.
“Thirteen.””
Hale froze.
“Thirteen bodies were recovered.””
He glanced down.
The paper in his hand suddenly seemed very heavy.
I continued.
“Three bodies belonged to personnel who were never assigned to Rescue Team Seven.””
Mercer's face darkened.
“Whose bodies?””
“I don't know.””
“You must have seen them.””
“They were burned beyond recognition.””
Mercer looked toward his aide.
“Get the forensic files.””
The aide hurried away.
Vance finally spoke.
“Mr. Secretary, this is an absurdity. Captain Jenkins is injured, disoriented, and facing disciplinary action. Her testimony is clearly compromised by trauma.””
I looked at him.
“Then why did you order the tribunal moved forward before I was medically cleared?””
Vance didn't answer.
“And why,” I continued, “was my team's satellite beacon deactivated six minutes before the helicopter exploded?””
That did it.
The chamber erupted.
Several officers stood.
“Who told you that?””
“That's classified.””
“You couldn't know that!””
Mercer raised his voice.
“QUIET!””
The room fell silent.
He looked at me.
“You have proof?””
I nodded.
“Where?””
I lifted my ruined hand.
“Inside the glove.””
Mercer stared.
“There's more than the code?””
“Yes.””
He motioned for a secure technician.
The technician approached cautiously and knelt beside me.
“Can you remove the glove?””
“I can try.””
“Don't.””
The voice came from General Cross.
Everyone turned.
He was standing now.
His eyes were fixed on my hand.
“Don't let them take it off.””
Mercer slowly faced him.
“Why?””
Cross said nothing.
Mercer walked directly toward him.
“I asked you a question, General.””
Cross looked at the floor.
Then back at Mercer.
“That glove is evidence from a classified operation.””
“You just admitted knowledge of its existence.””
Cross's expression tightened.
“I knew Captain Jenkins carried specialized equipment.””
“You knew about the glove?””
“Yes.””
“Did you know about the code carved into it?””
Cross hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
Mercer turned toward the military police.
“General Adrian Cross is to remain in this chamber.””
Cross's face went pale.
Mercer pointed at Vance.
“General Thomas Vance as well.””
Then at Hale.
“Colonel Robert Hale.””
Hale stepped forward.
“Sir, you're overreaching.””
Mercer looked at him.
“No.””
He took out his secure phone.
“You're all under temporary containment pending a counterintelligence investigation.””
A general near the back laughed nervously.
“This is insane.””
Mercer didn't look at him.
“Maybe.””
He pressed a button.
“But an inactive Level Zero code just came online for the first time in eighteen years.””
His eyes moved to my hand.
“And three dead men just became evidence.””
A security alarm suddenly blared.
The lights flickered.
Every secure screen in the chamber went black.
Then one screen came back on.
Red letters appeared.
IDENTITY CONFIRMED.
SARAH JENKINS.
Below it:
SECONDARY SURVIVOR LOCATED.
I stopped breathing.
Mercer stared at the screen.
The words changed.
CORPORAL MARCUS THORNE.
LOCATION: INSIDE THIS FACILITY.
May you like
Someone screamed.
And from somewhere beneath the Tribunal chamber, three floors below us, came the unmistakable sound of a single gunshot.
