Chapter 17 - The Hearing
By 10:00 a.m., I was officially a civilian.
The order was signed.
My command authority was suspended.
My clearances were revoked.
My uniform was taken.
My weapons were confiscated.
My medals remained in my hand.
Two silver stars.
Everything else was gone.
The officer who delivered the order wouldn't look me in the eye.
“General…”
“Not anymore.”
He swallowed.
“Yes, ma'am.”
I looked at the paperwork.
“This says I voluntarily resigned.”
“Yes.”
“I didn't.”
“I know.”
“Then fix it.”
He lowered his voice.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because your signature is already attached.”
I stared at the page.
My signature.
Perfect.
Mine.
Except I had never written it.
I looked at Torres.
She stood across the room in uniform.
We had been ordered not to speak.
She spoke anyway.
“Ma'am.”
The officer turned.
“You're not authorized to address her.”
Torres ignored him.
“The system logged the signature from an internal terminal.”
“Where?”
“Your mother’s old research office.”
I looked at Mom.
She went pale.
“I haven't been there in twenty-three years.”
The officer stepped forward.
“You need to surrender the medals.”
I closed my fingers around them.
“No.”
“They are military property.”
“No.”
“General—”
“You stripped my rank.”
“Yes.”
“You revoked my clearance.”
“Yes.”
“You erased my career.”
He swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Then you don't get the stars.”
He stared.
My mother whispered,
“Mara.”
I looked at her.
“Not now.”
A door opened.
Mercer entered.
He had been missing since the archive attack.
Blood covered his sleeve.
“Don't surrender anything.”
The officer turned.
“Sir?”
Mercer ignored him.
He looked at me.
“It's beginning.”
“What is?”
“The public hearing.”
“What hearing?”
“Your hearing.”
I laughed.
“You mean my trial.”
Mercer didn't deny it.
They took me to a secure conference room.
No judge.
No jury.
Only officers, attorneys, investigators, and a wall of screens.
At the center sat a civilian representative.
She introduced herself as Elena Park.
“General Ellison, you are being investigated for unauthorized access to classified systems, falsification of command orders, and attempted disruption of a protected national security program.”
I looked at her.
“Northstar.”
She didn't answer.
“Isn't that what we're calling it?”
She consulted her folder.
“That designation is not officially recognized.”
I smiled.
“Of course it isn't.”
She continued.
“We have digital evidence.”
“Forged evidence.”
“We have your credentials.”
“Stolen.”
“We have your signature.”
“Forged.”
“We have witnesses.”
“Which ones?”
Silence.
I leaned back.
“Hale?”
“Deceased.”
“Brooks?”
“Missing.”
“Mercer?”
Present.
“Wren?”
“Unaccounted for.”
I looked at Mercer.
He seemed exhausted.
Park said,
“Mr. Mercer has provided a statement.”
My stomach tightened.
I looked at him.
“What did you say?”
He closed his eyes.
“I told them the truth.”
“Which truth?”
“That your father manipulated the entire operation.”
I felt something harden inside me.
“Did he?”
“Yes.”
“And me?”
Mercer looked at me.
“You were the intended successor.”
There it was.
The sentence I had feared.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought I was protecting you.”
“Everyone says that.”
He looked broken.
“I know.”
Park slid another document toward me.
“This authorizes your detention pending further investigation.”
I didn't touch it.
“What happens at 0800?”
“Northstar will be formally closed.”
I looked up.
“By whom?”
“You.”
“What?”
“The system has recorded your authorization.”
I almost laughed.
“So you're asking me to accept responsibility for something I didn't do, then claim the credit for something I don't control.”
Park said nothing.
Mercer suddenly stood.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
He reached into his jacket.
A device.
He placed it on the table.
“What is that?” Park asked.
“The original command log.”
Her face changed.
“Where did you get it?”
“I stole it.”
“From whom?”
“From Sloane.”
I looked at him.
“What does it show?”
Mercer activated the device.
A recording appeared.
My father's voice.
“Northstar termination protocol cannot be executed by a compromised identity.”
The screen changed.
A second voice spoke.
My mother's.
“Then what can?”
My father answered:
“The stars.”
I felt my heart hammer.
Mercer looked at me.
“That is why Sloane needs them.”
I pulled the medals from my pocket.
The hearing room went silent.
The two stars caught the light.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Park whispered,
“What are they?”
I looked at her.
“Apparently…”
May you like
I placed them on the table.
“…the only evidence you haven't forged.”
