“No.”
“You were there.”
“I didn’t know.”
“But someone did.”
She looked again at the word NORTHSTAR.
Fourteen years.
Two operations.
One name.
And suddenly Harrison Sterling seemed much smaller than he had that morning.
Chapter Three: The Admiral Who Was Afraid
Sterling sat alone inside a conference room without his jacket.
Without medals, ribbons, and gold shoulder boards, he looked older.
Almost ordinary.
His attorney stood when Elena entered.
“My client has nothing to say to you.”
Sterling looked up.
“Yes, I do.”
The attorney turned.
“Admiral—”
“Leave.”
“Sir—”
“I said leave.”
The attorney hesitated, then walked out.
Elena closed the door.
Sterling looked at the swelling along her cheek.
Something resembling shame crossed his face.
It disappeared quickly.
“You came to enjoy this?”
“No.”
“To hear me apologize?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
Elena placed the Yemen message on the table.
Sterling’s reaction lasted less than a second.
But she saw it.
Recognition.
“Who is NORTHSTAR?”
He stared at the paper.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
Sterling leaned back.
“You think you know men like me.”
“I know exactly what kind of man hits someone because he’s losing an argument.”
His face tightened.
Elena placed another sheet beside the first.
Fourteen missing pallets.
“Who were these supplies for?”
“I authorized transfer under a classified directive.”
“From whom?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“You can.”
“No.”
“Harrison.”
He flinched again at his first name.
Elena sat across from him.
“You’re already finished.”
His nostrils flared.
“Don’t lecture me.”
“I’m not.”
She leaned forward.
“I’m offering you the first honest choice you’ve probably made in twenty years.”
Sterling looked away.
“Tell me who gave the order.”
“You have no idea what you’re touching.”
“Three of my teammates died because of a message from the same source.”
That caught him.
His eyes returned to hers.
“You found Ash Lantern.”
“Apparently.”
Sterling whispered something.
“What?”
“I said they should have destroyed it.”
Elena’s pulse accelerated.
“Who?”
Sterling stared at the wall.
“When I was a captain, I believed the system was built from honorable men making difficult choices.”
He laughed without humor.
“That belief doesn’t survive long.”
“Names.”
“You think this is theft?”
“Isn’t it?”
“No.”
“Then explain fourteen pallets disappearing.”
He leaned toward her.
“Do you know how many veterans are enrolled at Fort Belvoir’s recovery wing?”
“Six hundred seventeen.”
“How many received experimental immunological treatment after deployments between 2008 and 2016?”
Elena stared at him.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Sterling’s expression changed.
Not arrogance.
Fear.
“Everything.”
He lowered his voice.
“The supplies weren’t being moved out.”
“What?”
“They were being moved with something else.”
“What?”
He swallowed.
“Medical records.”
Elena frowned.
“Why hide medical records inside supply shipments?”
“Because digital files can be copied.”
Her stomach tightened.
“And paper?”
“Paper can disappear.”
Sterling looked toward the camera in the corner of the room.
Then leaned even closer.
“NORTHSTAR has spent twenty years erasing people.”
“Who is NORTHSTAR?”
“I never met them.”
“You obeyed someone you never met?”
“When the directive arrives with authentication codes belonging to the highest offices in the Department of Defense, you obey.”
Elena almost laughed.
“Interesting philosophy after this morning.”
His face hardened.
“Yes. I know.”
Silence.
“Why hit me?”
He closed his eyes.
For several seconds he said nothing.
“When you refused the transfer publicly, I panicked.”
“Because NORTHSTAR told you to discredit me?”
Sterling opened his eyes.
“That message didn’t come to me.”
“We know.”
“My aide showed me after the ceremony began.”
He rubbed both hands over his face.
“I had been told you were dangerous. Unstable. Obsessed with Ash Lantern. I believed…”
“What?”
“That if I made you angry enough, you’d lash out.”
Elena stared.
“You tried to provoke me.”
“Yes.”
“And when I didn’t?”
His jaw tightened.
“I lost control.”
There it was.
No excuse.
No grand justification.
Just ugliness.
“You deserve everything that comes next.”
“I know.”
The answer surprised her.
Sterling leaned back.
“But if you think destroying me destroys NORTHSTAR, you’re already dead.”
Elena said nothing.
He looked at her with something almost like pity.
“Because NORTHSTAR knew your name fourteen years before I did.”
A cold sensation moved along Elena’s spine.
“What does that mean?”
Sterling shook his head.
“There’s a vault beneath Building Forty-Seven.”
“What’s inside?”
“Old operational archives.”
“Why tell me?”
“Because I’m finished.”
His eyes dropped toward his empty jacket hook.
“And because whoever NORTHSTAR is, they’re going to erase every record before sunrise.”
Elena stood.
“One more question.”
Sterling looked up.
“Did NORTHSTAR order Ash Lantern?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I saw the original directive.”
“Who signed it?”
Sterling’s face became pale again.
“I never saw the real name.”