UNKNOWN MALE VOICE: "I am not speaking to the Secretary."
Brooks looked at Marcus.
DAVID BROOKS: "Then who are you trying to reach?"
The voice returned.
UNKNOWN MALE VOICE: "Captain Marcus Reed."
Marcus stepped closer.
MARCUS REED: "I'm here."
The connection crackled.
UNKNOWN MALE VOICE: "Do you still have the glove?"
MARCUS REED: "Yes."
UNKNOWN MALE VOICE: "Good. Do not let anyone take it."
Marcus recognized the voice.
He had heard it before, during training sessions and classified briefings.
It was Noah Reeves.
MARCUS REED: "Reeves? Is that really you?"
NOAH REEVES: "Yes, Captain."
Marcus looked toward the Secretary.
MARCUS REED: "You're alive."
NOAH REEVES: "For now."
DAVID BROOKS: "Reeves, this is Secretary Brooks. We need your location."
NOAH REEVES: "You need to know who is listening."
DAVID BROOKS: "We have secured the tribunal chamber."
NOAH REEVES: "You have secured the room. You have not secured the network."
The technician looked toward the display.
TECHNICIAN: "Sir, the connection is being redirected."
NOAH REEVES: "Captain, listen carefully. The people who canceled your extraction are not the only ones involved."
MARCUS REED: "Who else?"
NOAH REEVES: "The second archive contains the full authorization chain. It will show you who approved the operation and who changed the orders."
DAVID BROOKS: "Can you send us the location?"
NOAH REEVES: "Not through this channel."
DAVID BROOKS: "Why did you contact us?"
NOAH REEVES: "I needed to know whether the glove had been opened."
MARCUS REED: "Why does that matter?"
NOAH REEVES: "Because the moment the first archive was activated, they would know someone had found the original record."
The display flashed.
A warning appeared.
CONNECTION SECURITY COMPROMISED.
NOAH REEVES: "You have less time than you think."
DAVID BROOKS: "Who is accessing the channel?"
NOAH REEVES: "I cannot see the full connection. But they are already inside the network."
The technician began typing rapidly.
TECHNICIAN: "Sir, I am losing the signal."
NOAH REEVES: "Captain, there is one more thing."
Marcus leaned toward the microphone.
MARCUS REED: "Tell me."
NOAH REEVES: "The person who ordered your team to be abandoned did not act alone."
The connection broke.
The screen went black.
Marcus stood motionless.
He had finally heard from the man who gave him the glove.
But the conversation had lasted only seconds.
The truth was still incomplete.
Brooks turned toward the security officer.
DAVID BROOKS: "Seal the chamber. Nobody leaves until we establish who accessed that network."
The security officer moved immediately.
SECURITY OFFICER: "Yes, Mr. Secretary."
Brooks looked at Marcus.
DAVID BROOKS: "Captain, I need you to tell me everything Reeves said before the operation."
Marcus lowered his eyes toward the glove.
He remembered the night before deployment.
The equipment room had been almost empty. The lights were dim, and most of the soldiers had already gone to their quarters.
Reeves had been checking a communications device when he called Marcus over.
NOAH REEVES: "Captain, I need you to keep something safe."
MARCUS REED: "What is it?"
Reeves had held out the glove.
NOAH REEVES: "Do not lose this."
MARCUS REED: "It's a tactical glove."
NOAH REEVES: "Not anymore."
Marcus had turned it over.
MARCUS REED: "What am I looking at?"
NOAH REEVES: "A record that should never have been erased."
MARCUS REED: "A record of what?"
NOAH REEVES: "The first Silent Horizon operation."
Marcus had frowned.
MARCUS REED: "I thought that operation was closed."
NOAH REEVES: "Officially, it never happened."
MARCUS REED: "Then why are we being sent to the same location?"
Reeves had looked toward the equipment room door.
NOAH REEVES: "Because someone wants to make sure the original evidence stays buried."
MARCUS REED: "Who?"
NOAH REEVES: "I do not know how many people are involved."
MARCUS REED: "You must know something."
NOAH REEVES: "I know the original team found an internal network operating inside the command structure. They tried to report it. Before they could transmit the evidence, their communications went silent."
MARCUS REED: "What happened to them?"
NOAH REEVES: "Some were killed. Some disappeared. Others were declared dead without their remains ever being recovered."
Marcus had stared at the glove.
MARCUS REED: "And this contains proof?"
NOAH REEVES: "It contains the key to the original archive."
MARCUS REED: "Why give it to me?"
NOAH REEVES: "Because I need someone outside that network to keep it safe."
MARCUS REED: "You think our mission will be compromised?"
Reeves had taken a moment before answering.
NOAH REEVES: "I think someone has already decided how the mission will end."
The memory faded.
Marcus looked toward Brooks.