Chapter 13 - The 0800 Order
At 6:12 a.m., my name appeared on every military network in the country.
Not my name as General Mara Ellison.
Something worse.
GENERAL ELLISON—SUBJECT OF INTERNAL SECURITY REVIEW.
The alert had been formatted as a routine administrative notice.
It contained my photograph.
My service record.
My awards.
My current assignment.
And a statement saying that I had authorized an operation to seize classified Northstar assets outside lawful command channels.
I stared at the screen.
Torres stood behind me.
“Ma'am…”
“I didn't authorize anything.”
“I know.”
Mercer looked at the same display.
“It's already spreading.”
“Through which network?”
“Every network.”
I turned toward the communications officer.
“Shut down outbound traffic.”
“We can't.”
“Why?”
He swallowed.
“Your authorization.”
I stared at him.
“My what?”
“Your digital credentials are the highest clearance.”
“So?”
“So the system is treating every command you give as compromised.”
I felt anger rise.
“Then lock everything.”
“We tried.”
“And?”
“The system rejected the request.”
Torres looked at Mercer.
He whispered,
“Someone wrote the protocol specifically to survive you.”
I took the tablet from him.
The 0800 order remained on the screen.
GENERAL ELLISON HAS BEEN AUTHORIZED TO CLOSE NORTHSTAR EFFECTIVE 0800.
It was now 6:13.
“Why 0800?”
Mercer shook his head.
“Because at 0800, the classified review board convenes.”
“And?”
“You'll be the subject.”
I looked at Torres.
“How long until they arrive?”
“An hour and forty-seven minutes.”
I nodded.
“Good.”
Mercer frowned.
“Good?”
“I prefer deadlines.”
I pulled my two Silver Stars from the case.
Torres looked at them.
“You brought them.”
“My father told me to.”
“What do they do?”
“I don't know yet.”
“Ma'am.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“You told me last night to open every channel.”
“Yes.”
“I did.”
“And?”
She hesitated.
“There was one response we didn't hear.”
My pulse quickened.
“What response?”
She turned the tablet toward me.
A dormant account had opened at 5:58 a.m.
The account name was:
E.E.
I stared.
“My father's initials.”
Mercer shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“His initials weren't E.E.”
I looked at him.
He met my eyes.
“Your mother's are.”
Nobody spoke.
I felt the floor disappear beneath me.
“Access it.”
“We need your credentials.”
“Use them.”
Torres hesitated.
Then she entered the command.
The screen went black.
A video opened.
My mother appeared.
Not the woman standing beside me.
A younger version.
Twenty-three years younger.
She sat in a dark room.
Victor Sloane stood behind her.
My mother looked directly into the camera.
“If you're seeing this, Mara has reached the final stage.”
I looked at Mom.
She was staring at the screen in horror.
“What is this?”
She whispered,
“I forgot.”
The video continued.
“You have been told Northstar was created to protect the country.”
My younger mother paused.
“That is only partly true.”
Sloane stepped forward.
“Northstar was created to control information.”
He smiled.
“Protection was the language we used to sell it.”
My younger mother looked uncomfortable.
Sloane continued.
“Some secrets must remain secret.”
My younger mother said,
“Until they become weapons.”
Sloane smiled at her.
“They already are.”
The video ended.
I turned toward my mother.
“How much?”
“All of it.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I remember pieces.”
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“You created it.”
“No.”
“Then what did you do?”
She looked at the floor.
“I designed the surveillance architecture.”
I felt my jaw tighten.
“You built the system that watched me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Sloane asked me to.”
“You said you were trying to protect Dad.”
“I was.”
“Then why help the man he was fighting?”
“Because at the beginning, Sloane wasn't the man your father fought.”
She looked at me.
“He was the man your father trusted.”
That was worse.
Much worse.
Mercer stepped toward the door.
“We need to move.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because the board isn't the biggest problem.”
He pointed to the window.
Black vehicles were entering the compound.
“Those aren't investigators.”
I watched uniformed security teams fan out across the road.
“How many?”
“Four teams.”
Torres checked the display.
“Six.”
“Who authorized them?”
She looked at the tablet.
“General Ellison.”
My stomach dropped.
“My credentials.”
“Yes.”
“They're coming for me.”
Mercer nodded.
“Probably.”
“Probably?”
He looked at me.
“If Sloane wants you alive, they arrest you.”
“And if he doesn't?”
Mercer didn't answer.
I turned to Torres.
“Get everyone you trust into the lower command room.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Don't call anyone outside this building.”
She nodded.
Then I looked at my mother.
“You're coming.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
I walked toward her.
“You don't get to disappear again.”
“I'll slow you down.”
“You already slowed me down for twelve years.”
She flinched.
I regretted the words immediately.
But I didn't take them back.
She picked up the case containing the medals.
“Then let's go.”
Before we reached the stairwell, the doors exploded inward.
Shots rang through the corridor.
Torres dragged me behind a concrete column.
Mercer returned fire.
Someone shouted,
“General Ellison! Drop your weapon!”
I stared at my mother.
She looked at me with grim recognition.
“They want you alive.”
“How do you know?”
“Because if they wanted you dead…”
A gunshot struck the wall above us.
May you like
“…they wouldn't be warning you.”
Then the lights went out.
