Not equipment.
People.
Emily adjusted her binoculars.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
EMILY HARRINGTON: "We have civilians inside."
SERGEANT FOSTER: "How many?"
EMILY HARRINGTON: "I cannot tell yet."
She lowered the binoculars.
EMILY HARRINGTON: "Get the team into position. Quietly."
The soldiers moved into their assigned positions.
Emily contacted command and requested permission to investigate the additional structure.
The response came almost immediately.
COMMANDER ON RADIO: "Negative. Your objective is the intelligence archive. Do not approach the underground facility."
EMILY HARRINGTON: "There are civilian transports entering the lower compound."
COMMANDER ON RADIO: "Your observation is unverified."
EMILY HARRINGTON: "I can see them."
COMMANDER ON RADIO: "Proceed with the original assignment."
EMILY HARRINGTON: "Requesting authorization to secure the civilians."
COMMANDER ON RADIO: "Denied."
Emily looked again toward the underground entrance.
A small figure appeared behind one of the narrow windows.
It was a child.
Even from a distance, she could see the child's hands pressed against the glass.
EMILY HARRINGTON: "Command, there are people being held inside."
COMMANDER ON RADIO: "Captain, you are not authorized to conduct a rescue operation."
EMILY HARRINGTON: "Then send a rescue unit."
COMMANDER ON RADIO: "There will be no additional deployment."
The transmission ended.
Emily stared at the radio for a moment.
The mission had changed.
Whatever the original objective had been, it was no longer the most important thing in front of her.
She turned toward Foster.
EMILY HARRINGTON: "We are going inside."
SERGEANT FOSTER: "That is a direct violation of the order."
EMILY HARRINGTON: "I know."
SERGEANT FOSTER: "If we do this, command may not authorize extraction."
EMILY HARRINGTON: "Then we make sure we have something worth extracting."
Foster studied her face.
He knew what the decision meant.
He also knew that the people inside the facility had no one else coming for them.
SERGEANT FOSTER: "Understood, Captain."
The team moved.
What followed was a chaotic sequence of alarms, smoke, and gunfire.
The compound's outer security system activated before the soldiers reached the lower entrance. Floodlights illuminated the surrounding terrain, and the sound of automatic weapons echoed between the concrete structures.
Emily directed her team through a service corridor.
They encountered locked doors, security personnel, and evidence that the facility had been operating for months.
Inside the lower level, they found rows of small rooms.
Some contained medical equipment.
Others held personal belongings.
Several contained people who had been missing for weeks or months.
There were families.
There were injured workers.
There were children.
The soldiers began opening the rooms while Emily coordinated the movement toward the western exit.
But the operation was deteriorating rapidly.
The enemy had known the team was coming.
Their response was too organized to be accidental.
Every corridor seemed to lead into another controlled checkpoint. Doors that should have opened remained locked. The emergency lighting changed from white to red, and a warning system began announcing that the facility was entering lockdown.
SERGEANT FOSTER: "Captain, the lower doors are sealing."
EMILY HARRINGTON: "Get the civilians moving. Use the western passage."
SERGEANT FOSTER: "The western passage is blocked."
EMILY HARRINGTON: "Then find another route."
A soldier appeared at the end of the corridor.
SOLDIER: "Captain! We have wounded personnel near the medical room!"
Emily turned immediately.
EMILY HARRINGTON: "How many?"
SOLDIER: "Three. One cannot walk."
EMILY HARRINGTON: "Get them onto the transport stretcher. Nobody gets left behind."
The radio crackled.
COMMANDER ON RADIO: "Captain Harrington, report your position."
Emily pressed the communication button.
EMILY HARRINGTON: "We have located the civilians. We are moving them toward the extraction route."
COMMANDER ON RADIO: "Your mission is compromised. Withdraw immediately."
EMILY HARRINGTON: "We have wounded personnel and civilians still inside."
COMMANDER ON RADIO: "You are ordered to withdraw."
EMILY HARRINGTON: "We need additional transport."
COMMANDER ON RADIO: "No additional transport is available."
EMILY HARRINGTON: "Then send the extraction team already assigned to the operation."
A long pause followed.
Then the commander's voice returned.
COMMANDER ON RADIO: "Captain Harrington, extraction is canceled."
Emily froze.
For a moment, the sounds around her seemed to disappear.
EMILY HARRINGTON: "Repeat that order."
COMMANDER ON RADIO: "Extraction is canceled. You are to withdraw using your own resources."
EMILY HARRINGTON: "There are civilians here."
COMMANDER ON RADIO: "You are on your own."
The transmission ended.
Emily stared at the radio.
Around her, the people she had promised to protect were waiting for instructions.
A wounded soldier was struggling to breathe.
A little girl was holding the hand of an older woman.
Foster stood beside the doorway, his face covered in dust.
SERGEANT FOSTER: "Captain?"
Emily looked toward the civilians.
She could leave.
She could follow the order, take whoever was able to move quickly, and attempt to escape before the facility was completely sealed.
Or she could stay.
She understood the consequences of either choice.
If she stayed, she might never reach the extraction point.
If she left, the people behind her would be trapped.
Emily lowered the radio.