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.
EMILY HARRINGTON: "We are not leaving them."
SERGEANT FOSTER: "Understood."
EMILY HARRINGTON: "Get everyone to the lower service tunnel. We move together."
The next several hours became a fight against time.
The team moved through smoke-filled corridors, carrying wounded personnel and helping civilians who could barely walk. Some people had been held for so long that they could not remember the last time they had seen daylight.
Emily kept count.
Every person.
Every injured soldier.
Every civilian.
She repeated the numbers in her head to make sure nobody disappeared in the confusion.
At one point, an explosion shook the corridor and sent debris falling from the ceiling. Emily was thrown against the wall. Her left glove scraped across a damaged metal panel, tearing the fabric and burning the outer layer.
She felt pain in her hand but ignored it.
When she looked down, she saw that the glove had split open near the palm.
The inside lining was exposed.
Beneath the damaged material were several unusual marks.
They were not part of the manufacturer's stitching.
They were deliberate.
A series of letters and numbers had been carved into the inner surface.
Emily recognized the pattern immediately.
She had seen it once before, during a classified briefing that had been removed from the normal operational archive.
But she had not yet understood why it was there.
SERGEANT FOSTER: "Captain, we need to move!"
Emily covered the marks with her fingers.
EMILY HARRINGTON: "Keep moving. I'll catch up."
She pulled the glove back into place and followed the others.
By the time the team reached the mountain route, only a fraction of the original personnel remained together.
Seven soldiers made it to the extraction zone with Emily.
The civilians were moved through a separate route, assisted by people who had been waiting beyond the perimeter.
The mission was over.
But the truth had not come out.
The military later declared that the operation had failed because of unauthorized decisions made by the commanding officer.
Emily was ordered to surrender her equipment.
She complied with most of the requests.
But when an investigator asked for the damaged glove, she refused.
INVESTIGATOR: "Captain, all equipment from the operation must be submitted for examination."
EMILY HARRINGTON: "This item is not available."
INVESTIGATOR: "It is military property."
EMILY HARRINGTON: "Then record that it remains in my possession pending review."
INVESTIGATOR: "You do not have authority to make that decision."
EMILY HARRINGTON: "Then put your request in writing."
The investigator stared at her.
He had expected a frightened soldier who would hand over anything placed in front of her.
Instead, he found a woman who seemed willing to accept punishment rather than surrender one damaged piece of equipment.
He left without the glove.
Emily kept it.
She did not know whether the code would protect her.
She only knew that the person who had given it to her had warned her never to let it fall into the wrong hands.
That person was Sergeant Daniel Foster.
Or, at least, that was what the official record would eventually say.
The truth was more complicated.
Before the mission, Foster had received a message from a soldier whose name had been removed from every active deployment list.
A soldier who was supposed to have died two years earlier.
A soldier who had once served in a classified rescue unit known only to a handful of senior officials.
His name was Noah Reeves.
And the code inside Emily's glove was connected to him.
Back in the tribunal chamber, Emily stood beneath the white lights as the hearing continued.
The generals had returned from their brief recess.
General Sterling reopened the folder.
GENERAL STERLING: "Captain Harrington, the tribunal has considered your statements. However, your claims remain unsupported by the official operational record."
EMILY HARRINGTON: "Then the official record is wrong."