Chapter 4 - The Colonel and the Bully

Blake was the reason we got back onto Fort Halden.

I hated that.

Naomi loved it.

“Poetic,” she said.

“Annoying.”

“Same thing sometimes.”

Caleb had intercepted an encrypted message from a personal device near the barracks.

Not military network.

Civilian channel.

One sentence.

DARBY DID NOT RUN ALONE. HARRIS HELD IN B14 ANNEX. KEENE MOVING SOMETHING TONIGHT.

Sender identity masked.

But the device signature belonged to Staff Sergeant Blake.

I stared at the screen.

“Why would he help?”

Eli shrugged.

“Maybe because Keene threatened him.”

Naomi said, “Maybe your tray assault changed his heart.”

I gave her a look.

“Fine.”

Reece remained skeptical.

“Could be bait.”

“It could.”

“Then we assume it is.”

“Yes.”

That answer surprised him.

We moved at 0200.

Naomi and Eli entered through the drainage culvert.

I followed.

Reece stayed at the warehouse with Lila and Caleb to coordinate.

The culvert smelled worse than I remembered.

Mud.

Rust.

Standing water.

Naomi crawled ahead.

“Your bully owes me new boots.”

“He already owes me lunch.”

Eli whispered, “Focus.”

We emerged behind the old training range.

No alarms.

No lights beyond normal perimeter illumination.

Fort Halden looked ordinary.

That was the dangerous part.

A base could contain treason and still have vending machines.

We moved toward Building 14.

Caleb whispered through our encrypted earpieces.

“Camera sweep in twelve seconds.”

We stopped behind a generator housing.

“Clear.”

We crossed.

The west service door to Building 14 was locked.

Eli knelt.

“Thirty seconds.”

“You said twenty.”

“I lied.”

Naomi watched the corner.

I listened.

Footsteps.

“Ten seconds.”

Eli opened the panel.

“Got it.”

The door clicked.

We entered.

Inside, fluorescent lights buzzed.

Building 14 contained communications archives, server equipment, and old signal records.

Officially.

Unofficially, it now held Colonel Harris.

We moved down a stairwell.

Caleb guided us.

“Server room is lower level. Harris likely second floor annex.”

I stopped.

“Split.”

Eli shook his head.

“No.”

“We need both.”

“That is how people die.”

“That is how missions finish.”

Naomi said, “I take Harris. You two get server.”

Eli looked at her.

“You are not going alone.”

“Then Mara gets Harris.”

I nodded.

Eli swore.

“Fine. Ten minutes. If we lose comms, exit independently.”

We separated.

I climbed to the second floor.

The annex door had an electronic lock.

I reached for my bypass tool.

The door opened.

Blake stood there.

We stared at each other.

He whispered, “You look terrible.”

I almost laughed.

“You threw food at me yesterday.”

“That was before I knew you were a ghost.”

“Still rude.”

He stepped aside.

“Move.”

I entered.

Harris sat in a chair with one wrist cuffed to a table.

His jacket was gone.

One side of his face was bruised.

He looked up.

“Darby.”

Blake closed the door.

Harris looked at him.

“You.”

Blake raised both hands.

“I am having a complicated week.”

I crossed to Harris.

“What happened?”

“Keene questioned me.”

“About the insignia?”

“About what you said.”

“What did you tell him?”

“That I wanted counsel.”

Blake smiled faintly.

“He said it twelve times.”

I picked the cuff.

Harris watched me.

“You came back.”

“Yes.”

“That was stupid.”

“Everyone keeps telling me.”

The cuff opened.

Harris rubbed his wrist.

“Who is with you?”

“People you think are dead.”

His face changed.

“Ward?”

“Yes.”

“Trent?”

“Yes.”

“Reece?”

“Yes.”

Harris sat back.

“Mercer?”

I shook my head.

He closed his eyes.

“Damn.”

I pulled Mercer’s notebook copy from my pocket.

“Do you know Meridian?”

Harris went still.

Blake looked between us.

“What is Meridian?”

Harris whispered, “Where did you hear that?”

“Mercer.”

His face drained.

“He knew?”

“He wrote: Meridian was not weather.”

Harris stopped breathing.

Then he looked at me.

“Where is the original?”

“Safe.”

“Darby, you do not understand.”

“Then explain.”

Blake went to the window and watched the corridor through the blinds.

Harris spoke quietly.

“Twelve years ago, I approved a training flight over Nevada.”

“Aircraft crashed.”

“Yes.”

“Cause?”

“Severe weather and instrument failure.”

“No.”

His eyes closed.

I continued.

“Telemetry was altered.”

Harris opened them.

“How do you know?”

“Mercer.”

He looked shattered.

“I signed the report.”

“Because you believed the evidence.”

“I signed.”

“That is what they used.”

“Who?”

“Vale.”

Harris stared.

I saw the moment something old inside him broke.

“Adrian Vale chaired the review.”

“I know.”

“He told me if I challenged the finding, the pilots’ families would lose benefits because negligence would become the official cause.”

“Control.”

Harris whispered, “I thought I was protecting them.”

I thought of Daniel? No, unrelated. Stay story. I thought of Mercer.

Same mechanism.

Make someone guilty.

Offer them a way to protect others.

Own them.

Blake turned from the window.

“Someone’s coming.”

I handed Harris a small radio.

“Can you walk?”

“I can fight.”

“Better.”

The door opened.

Major Keene entered.

He stopped.

His eyes moved from Blake to Harris to me.

For one second, no one spoke.

Then Keene smiled.

“I knew it was bait.”

Blake frowned.

“What?”

Keene looked at him.

“Your message.”

Blake went pale.

“You let it through.”

“Of course.”

I raised my weapon.

Keene’s hands stayed visible.

“You are making this worse, Darby.”

“Story of my life.”

“You think Mercer was a hero.”

“I think he died trying to expose you.”

Keene laughed softly.

“You still have no idea what he built.”

“What did he build?”

“A catastrophe.”

Harris stood.

“Adrian Vale falsified Meridian.”

Keene’s expression barely changed.

That was answer enough.

Harris whispered, “You knew.”

Keene looked at him.

“You were useful because you needed forgiveness.”

Harris’s face hardened.

Blake looked sick.

Keene continued.

“That is the thing none of you understand. Institutions are not controlled by force. They are controlled by guilt.”

I stepped closer.

“And Raven Point?”

“Same principle.”

“Who sold us?”

Keene looked at me.

“Mercer.”

I froze.

Harris frowned.

“Liar.”

Keene smiled.

“Ask your dead friends.”

My earpiece crackled.

Eli.

“Mara, server room compromised. We found a transfer in progress.”

“What kind?”

“Archive purge.”

Keene heard.

His smile widened.

“You are late.”

I moved toward him.

He lifted one hand.

“If I do not check in within sixty seconds, Building 14 wipes.”

Blake whispered, “He’s bluffing.”

Keene looked at him.

“Am I?”

Caleb’s voice came through.

“He is not. I see a dead-man trigger.”

I looked at Harris.

Harris looked at Keene.

“Can we stop it?”

Caleb answered.

“Maybe. Need access token.”

Keene tapped his chest pocket.

I almost smiled.

“Thank you.”

His smile vanished.

He reached first.

I was faster.

We collided.

Keene drove me into the wall.

Blake grabbed his arm.

Keene elbowed him in the throat.

Harris swung the metal chair.

Keene ducked.

The chair smashed the window.

Alarm.

Finally.

Keene drew a pistol.

I trapped his wrist.

Shot fired into the ceiling.

Blake tackled him from the side.

We went down.

I hit Keene’s hand against the floor until the pistol dropped.

Harris kicked it away.

Keene laughed from beneath us.

“Too late.”

I tore the access card from his chest pocket.

“Caleb.”

“Run.”

I ran.

Down the stairs.

Past the archive room.

Into the lower server corridor.

Eli waited at a locked cage.

Naomi had blood on her sleeve.

“Not mine,” she said.

“Good.”

I slammed the card against the reader.

Green.

We entered.

Caleb’s voice came fast.

“Rack seven. Red terminal.”

I found it.

Countdown.

00:31.

“Token slot right side.”

I inserted the card.

“Now?”

“Biometric.”

“Whose?”

“Keene’s.”

I swore.

Eli said, “Can we bypass?”

“Not in thirty seconds.”

Naomi looked at me.

“Bring him.”

“No time.”

I looked at the terminal.

Then at my insignia.

Mercer’s key.

“Caleb. Does archive accept Night Lantern legacy authentication?”

Silence.

Then frantic typing.

“Maybe.”

“Where?”

“Lower panel.”

I tore it open.

A familiar slot.

Shield.

Lines.

Star.

Eli stared.

“Mercer.”

I inserted the insignia.

Countdown.

00:12.

The terminal flashed.

UNKNOWN LEGACY KEY.

00:09.

VERIFY.

I pressed my thumb against the star.

00:05.

The screen went black.

Nothing.

Naomi whispered, “Mara.”

Then lights returned.

ARCHIVE PURGE ABORTED.

Eli exhaled.

Caleb screamed through the earpiece.

“Yes!”

I leaned against the rack.

Naomi laughed.

“Your dead captain really planned everything.”

I looked at the terminal.

A directory appeared.

MERIDIAN.

RAVEN POINT.

NIGHT LANTERN.

VALE NETWORK.

And one folder that made my blood go cold.

DARBY CONTINGENCY.

Eli saw it.

“What is that?”

I opened it.

Inside were surveillance reports covering the last nine months.

My apartment.

My unit.

My medical appointments.

My dining hall.

Blake’s name appeared repeatedly.

I looked at Naomi.

“He was assigned to pressure me.”

“What?”

A document opened.

BEHAVIORAL STRESS ASSET: BLAKE, J.

OBJECTIVE: provoke subject instability, disciplinary exposure, transfer eligibility.

My stomach turned.

Blake had not simply been cruel.

Someone had used him.

Maybe without his knowledge.

I opened another file.

IF DARBY EXHIBITS MEMORY RECOVERY OR CONTACT WITH SURVIVORS, ACTIVATE RECOVERY PROTOCOL.

Eli whispered, “They were waiting for you to remember.”

“Remember what?”

A video file sat beneath the text.

DATE: RAVEN POINT.

I clicked.

The screen showed helmet camera footage.

Smoke.

Gunfire.

Mercer.

Me.

Then someone stepped into frame.

A man in Raven gear.

Face visible.

Warrant Officer Paul Reece.

He raised his weapon.

And shot Captain Mercer in the back.

The room went silent.

Eli stared.

Naomi whispered, “No.”

I could not breathe.

Reece had said Mercer died in the ambush.

Reece had led us to the case.

Reece had told us Vale betrayed the team.

But the camera did not lie.

I watched Reece stand over Mercer.

Then take the black case.

The footage ended.

Eli’s voice shook.

“Mara.”

I touched the insignia.

The real betrayal was not only above us.

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It had been inside Raven.

And the man coordinating our escape was the man who killed our commander.