Chapter 10: The Commander Above the Commander
The photograph slipped from my fingers.
Not because I was afraid.
Because for the first time since this nightmare began, I understood something.
Colonel Harris wasn’t the end of the chain.
He was a piece.
A soldier.
A man following orders.
And someone above him had been moving every piece on the board.
I stared at the circled image of Harris.
“Who sent this?””
Emily shook her head.
“I don’t know.””
“But someone knows we found the report.””
“Yes.””
“Someone who has been watching us.””
She nodded.
Raven stood beside me, her ears raised.
Waiting.
I looked at the dog.
“Miller knew.””
Emily looked confused.
“What?””
“Miller knew Harris wasn’t the top.””
I remembered his words.
Your commander is not who you think he is.
At the time, I thought he meant Harris.
But maybe I had misunderstood.
Maybe Miller was trying to warn me about someone else.
Someone untouchable.
Someone who could erase an entire mission.
Someone who could erase me.
The security alarm suddenly sounded.
A sharp siren filled the building.
Red lights flashed across the hallway.
Emily immediately reached for her radio.
“What’s happening?””
A voice came through.
“Security breach in the command archive.””
My stomach tightened.
“The original report.””
Emily looked at me.
“They’re going after the files.””
We ran.
Raven moved faster than both of us.
The base was chaos.
Soldiers rushed through corridors.
Doors locked automatically.
Officers shouted instructions.
When we reached the archive room, two guards were unconscious outside the entrance.
Emily checked their pulse.
“They’re alive.””
I looked at the door.
The electronic lock was damaged.
Someone had forced their way in.
Inside, file cabinets were open.
Documents scattered across the floor.
But one cabinet remained untouched.
The original report.
I walked toward it.
Slowly.
Because I already knew.
The person who broke in wasn’t looking for everything.
Only one thing.
I opened the cabinet.
Empty.
The report was gone.
Emily whispered:
“They took it.””
I looked around.
“No.””
She turned.
“What?””
“They didn’t take the report.””
I pointed at the floor.
“They wanted us to think they did.””
She frowned.
“How do you know?””
“Because if someone powerful enough to erase records wanted that file gone, they wouldn’t break into a military archive.””
I picked up a torn piece of paper.
“They would erase it digitally.””
Emily looked at the paper.
“What is that?””
A small piece of the report.
But not a random page.
The final page.
The signature page.
Except the signature was missing.
Someone had ripped away the name.
I looked at Emily.
“They didn’t steal the report.””
I swallowed.
“They stole the identity of the person who signed it.””
A voice came from the doorway.
“You’re getting closer.””
We turned.
Colonel Harris stood there.
Two guards behind him.
For once, he wasn’t acting like a commander.
He looked exhausted.
“How did you get out?””
“I didn’t.””
He looked at the guards.
“They brought me here.””
I stared.
“Why?””
Harris looked at the empty cabinet.
“Because I know what you’re about to discover.””
“Then tell me.””
He hesitated.
That hesitation told me everything.
“You knew.””
His eyes met mine.
“Yes.””
Emily stepped forward.
“You knew who authorized Black Falcon?””
Harris didn’t answer.
“Colonel.””
He sighed.
“I knew the mission came from above me.””
“Who?””
His jaw tightened.
“Someone I couldn’t challenge.””
“That’s not an answer.””
“It’s the truth.””
I stepped closer.
“You let four soldiers die.””
His expression changed.
“I lost four soldiers too.””
“You sent us there.””
“No.””
The force in his voice surprised me.
“I tried to stop it.””
Silence.
I stared.
“What?””
Harris looked at me.
“The night before Black Falcon, I received a warning.””
“From who?””
“I don’t know.””
That made no sense.
“You don’t know?””
He shook his head.
“A message appeared on my secure terminal.””
“What did it say?””
His face became darker.
“Cancel the mission or lose your entire unit.””
I looked at Emily.
Then back at Harris.
“Why didn’t you cancel?””
His eyes dropped.
“Because I thought I was being tested.””
The answer made me angry.
“You thought?””
“I was a commander in a war zone. I had to make decisions with incomplete information.””
“And your decision killed people.””
The words hit him.
Because he knew.
“I have lived with that every day.””
Nobody spoke.
Then Raven suddenly walked toward Harris.
Everyone tensed.
But she didn’t growl.
She sniffed his uniform.
Then sat.
I stared.
That was impossible.
Raven hated liars.
Or at least I thought she did.
Harris noticed.
“She remembers.””
I looked at him.
“Remembers what?””
His voice dropped.
“Who really saved you.””
Before I could answer, every screen in the archive room turned on.
Static.
Then a video appeared.
A man sitting in darkness.
His face hidden.
But his voice was calm.
“You have wasted enough time.””
My blood ran cold.
Because I recognized the voice.
Not from the battlefield.
Not from the courtroom.
From my own memories.
The ones that had been taken.
The man continued:
“Sergeant Carter, you were always more difficult to control than expected.””
Emily stepped back.
“No.””
I looked at her.
“You know him.””
She didn’t answer.
The man on the screen leaned closer.
“You want the truth?””
A pause.
“Then come find me.””
The video ended.
And beneath it appeared one final message.
A location.
May you like
A place I knew.
The underground facility where my team died.
