Something closer to anger that had been held back for too long.
MARCUS REED: "You already know what happened to them."
GENERAL HAYES: "You are here to answer questions, Captain."
MARCUS REED: "Then ask why the extraction team never arrived."
The room became quiet.
General Cross slowly leaned back.
GENERAL CROSS: "The extraction plan was followed according to the authorized schedule."
MARCUS REED: "No, it wasn't."
GENERAL CROSS: "You have no evidence to support that statement."
MARCUS REED: "I have the transmission."
GENERAL HAYES: "What transmission?"
MARCUS REED: "The order that canceled our extraction while we were still inside the facility."
Hayes closed the folder.
GENERAL HAYES: "That order has already been reviewed."
MARCUS REED: "Then you know it was issued before the rescue operation was finished."
GENERAL HAYES: "You are making accusations against senior command."
MARCUS REED: "I'm describing what happened."
GENERAL CROSS: "You are a captain. You do not have the authority to question decisions made at the highest level of command."
Marcus looked directly at him.
MARCUS REED: "Then perhaps someone at the highest level should explain why forty civilians were left inside an underground facility."
Several observers shifted in their seats.
The military official lowered his folder slightly.
General Mercer looked down at the papers in front of him.
Hayes remained still.
GENERAL HAYES: "There is no verified record of forty civilians being held at the location."
MARCUS REED: "There were forty-two."
GENERAL HAYES: "That number does not appear in the official report."
MARCUS REED: "Because the facility was removed from the report."
GENERAL CROSS: "You are suggesting that the military deliberately concealed an entire detention facility?"
MARCUS REED: "I'm telling you what I saw."
GENERAL CROSS: "And we are expected to accept your word?"
MARCUS REED: "No. You're expected to investigate it."
Cross's expression hardened.
GENERAL CROSS: "You should be careful, Captain."
MARCUS REED: "I have been careful for a long time."
Marcus lowered his eyes briefly.
His left hand was covered by a ruined olive-brown tactical glove. The fabric was blackened by smoke, and several sections had been torn open. The fingers were worn, and the protective material around the palm had almost disappeared.
It looked like ordinary damaged equipment.
To anyone else, it was worthless.
But Marcus had carried it through the mountains, through the evacuation route, and into this tribunal.
He had refused to surrender it when investigators collected his equipment.
He had refused to replace it when medical personnel offered him another pair.
And he had refused to explain why.
General Hayes noticed him looking down.
GENERAL HAYES: "Is there something you wish to add?"
MARCUS REED: "Yes."
GENERAL HAYES: "Go ahead."
MARCUS REED: "The official report says I abandoned my unit. It says I lost control of the mission. It says I exposed classified information."
GENERAL HAYES: "Those are the findings of the investigation."
MARCUS REED: "Then why does the investigation not mention the people we rescued?"
No one answered.
MARCUS REED: "Why does it not mention the children? Why does it not mention the medical workers? Why does it not mention the second extraction team that was supposed to meet us?"
GENERAL CROSS: "There was no second extraction team."
MARCUS REED: "There was. It was withdrawn before we reached the facility."
Cross looked toward Hayes.
Marcus saw it.
A tiny movement.
A glance that lasted less than a second.
But it told him that the subject was uncomfortable.
GENERAL HAYES: "Captain Reed, you are making this hearing increasingly difficult."
MARCUS REED: "It became difficult when someone decided that the people inside that facility did not matter."
Hayes struck the table with his palm.
GENERAL HAYES: "Enough."
The sound echoed across the chamber.
The guards behind Marcus moved closer.
He remained still.
GENERAL HAYES: "You will not use this tribunal to attack the command structure. You will answer the allegations and accept the process."
MARCUS REED: "I will answer every question. But I will not accept a false report simply because it has an official seal."
The military official turned a page.
MILITARY OFFICIAL: "Captain Reed, the tribunal has also received a recommendation that your security clearance be permanently revoked."
Marcus looked at him.
MARCUS REED: "On what grounds?"
MILITARY OFFICIAL: "Unauthorized handling of classified material."
MARCUS REED: "I protected the material."
MILITARY OFFICIAL: "The report states that you removed classified equipment from the operational zone."
MARCUS REED: "I brought back evidence."
GENERAL CROSS: "Evidence of what?"
Marcus looked down at the damaged glove again.
MARCUS REED: "Of what happened before the mission was declared a failure."