The next group of characters appeared on the terminal.
The display briefly flickered.
Then another warning appeared.
LEGACY SECURITY PROTOCOL IDENTIFIED.
The officer looked toward the secretary.
SECURITY OFFICER:
"Sir, this sequence belongs to an archived military network."
DEFENSE SECRETARY BROOKS:
"Which network?"
The officer hesitated before answering.
SECURITY OFFICER:
"Silent Horizon."
Maya's eyes moved toward the screen.
The name had been following her through every accusation, every interrogation, and every attempt to silence her.
Silent Horizon was not supposed to appear in any public military record.
It had been a classified operation involving a small group of specially selected personnel.
Its purpose was to establish secure communication channels between military units operating beyond conventional command structures.
The operation had been declared unsuccessful.
Its remaining personnel had been reassigned, discharged, or officially listed as casualties.
At least, that was what the public record claimed.
DEFENSE SECRETARY BROOKS:
"Are you certain?"
SECURITY OFFICER:
"Yes, sir. The protocol identifier matches the archived classification."
GENERAL WHITAKER:
"That operation was terminated two years ago."
Brooks looked toward him.
DEFENSE SECRETARY BROOKS:
"According to which authorization?"
General Whitaker opened his folder.
GENERAL WHITAKER:
"The termination order was approved by senior command."
DEFENSE SECRETARY BROOKS:
"Who signed it?"
Whitaker did not answer immediately.
He searched through several pages.
Then he turned one of them toward the secretary.
Brooks examined the document.
His expression became increasingly serious.
The authorization contained several official signatures.
One belonged to General Richard Sterling.
Another belonged to Admiral Thomas Reynolds.
The third signature was partially obscured by a classification stamp.
Brooks studied the document for several seconds.
DEFENSE SECRETARY BROOKS:
"Why was this termination order never submitted to my office?"
GENERAL STERLING:
"The operation was classified above ordinary administrative review."
DEFENSE SECRETARY BROOKS:
"That does not exempt it from oversight."
GENERAL STERLING:
"The security circumstances were exceptional."
DEFENSE SECRETARY BROOKS:
"Then explain why the authentication key is appearing on equipment recovered from an officer accused of compromising the operation."
Sterling looked toward Maya.
GENERAL STERLING:
"Because she may have stolen it."
MAYA CARTER:
"I didn't steal anything."
GENERAL STERLING:
"You expect us to believe that a captain recovered a classified authentication key from a destroyed facility and somehow managed to preserve it without knowing what it was?"
MAYA CARTER:
"I knew exactly what it was."
The general leaned forward.
GENERAL STERLING:
"Then why did you not surrender it immediately?"
MAYA CARTER:
"Because I knew what would happen if I did."
GENERAL STERLING:
"That is an extraordinary accusation."
MAYA CARTER:
"It is an extraordinary situation."
Brooks raised one hand, stopping the exchange.
DEFENSE SECRETARY BROOKS:
"Enough. We are going to establish the facts before anyone makes another accusation."
He turned toward the security officer.
DEFENSE SECRETARY BROOKS:
"Can the system identify the original authentication source?"
The officer looked at the screen.
SECURITY OFFICER:
"It should be possible, sir, but the sequence is incomplete."
DEFENSE SECRETARY BROOKS:
"What is missing?"
SECURITY OFFICER:
"The final verification group."
Maya looked down at her glove.
She had expected that question.
The outer layer had been destroyed during the attack on the northern communications station. Part of the final engraved sequence had been damaged by heat and impact.
But the code had been designed with multiple verification layers.
The visible characters were only one part of it.
MAYA CARTER:
"There is another section."
Brooks immediately looked at her.
DEFENSE SECRETARY BROOKS:
"Where?"
MAYA CARTER:
"Inside the wrist lining."
The secretary carefully examined the glove.
A section of its inner material had been folded inward and reinforced with dark stitching.
At first, it looked like an ordinary repair.
But the stitching was unusually precise.
Maya slowly turned her wrist.
The secretary noticed a small metallic strip hidden beneath the damaged fabric.
DEFENSE SECRETARY BROOKS:
"Can you expose it?"
Maya carefully pulled the torn edge of the glove outward.
The fabric opened slightly.
Beneath it was a narrow strip containing several additional characters.
The security officer moved the scanner closer.
The terminal immediately reacted.
A new sequence appeared.
SECONDARY AUTHENTICATION LAYER DETECTED.
The blue indicator turned yellow.
Then the screen went dark.
A second later, a red warning appeared.
UNAUTHORIZED VERIFICATION ATTEMPT.
The security officer froze.
SECURITY OFFICER:
"Sir, the system is rejecting the sequence."
DEFENSE SECRETARY BROOKS:
"Why?"
SECURITY OFFICER:
"Because the authentication source is still active."
Brooks looked at him sharply.
DEFENSE SECRETARY BROOKS:
"That is impossible."
SECURITY OFFICER:
"That is what the terminal is reporting."
General Sterling slowly stood.
GENERAL STERLING:
"Shut the system down."
The security officer did not move.
DEFENSE SECRETARY BROOKS:
"Nobody shuts anything down."
GENERAL STERLING: