"I don't know."
He transmitted the question.
This time, the reply took nearly a minute.
"Alpha Team, the safety officer is unavailable. Continue with the assigned route."
Bennett lowered the handset.
"That doesn't sound right."
"No," Mara said. "It doesn't."
Reed shifted his grip on the stretcher.
"Are we actually allowed to ignore a direct order during an exercise?"
"We're allowed to question an instruction that creates an unnecessary safety risk," Bennett replied. "Especially when the person issuing it cannot confirm the assessment."
Bell checked the map.
"The southern trail is within the approved area. We can reach the medical point without leaving the exercise boundary."
"Then that's our route," Bennett decided.
He transmitted the decision, explaining that the team would use the approved southern trail because it offered safer casualty movement.
For several seconds, the radio remained silent.
Then the controller responded.
"Alpha Team, your decision has been noted. Continue to the medical point."
The transmission ended.
Reed let out a breath.
"I thought we were about to get ourselves into trouble."
"We might still," Grant said. "But at least we'll have a casualty who arrives in one piece."
They began moving.
Mara took position beside the stretcher, helping maintain its balance as the team negotiated the uneven ground. Bennett remained near the front, checking the route and ensuring that the group stayed together.
The exercise continued for another twenty minutes without incident.
When they reached the medical point, the controller recorded their arrival time and instructed them to remain in the designated area while the next phase was prepared.
A safety officer approached.
She wore the standard exercise vest and carried a clipboard.
"Sergeant Bennett?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"I'm Captain Lewis, the safety officer assigned to this sector. I understand your team declined the eastern route."
Bennett nodded.
"We requested confirmation of the route's safety assessment but couldn't obtain it."
Lewis checked her clipboard.
"The eastern trail was not approved for casualty evacuation."
The words hung in the air.
Bennett stared at her.
"Exercise control instructed us to use it."
"That instruction did not come from the authorized controller."
Mara felt a cold sensation move through her chest.
"Captain, may I ask who was operating the radio?"
Lewis looked at her.
"Communications personnel at the main control building."
"Was Major Thomas Rourke there?"
The captain frowned.
"I don't know that name."
Mara exchanged a glance with Bennett.
Lewis noticed.
"Is there a problem?"
"We received several instructions that appeared to come from someone familiar with my previous unit," Mara said. "One of those instructions directed us toward an unapproved route."
Lewis immediately became more serious.
"Did you record the transmissions?"
Bell stepped forward.
"I have the time stamps and message log, ma'am. The radio system stores the incoming traffic."
"Good. Don't delete anything. I'll notify the exercise director."
She walked away with the clipboard.
Reed looked at Mara.
"Someone gave us a false instruction?"
"It appears so," Bennett replied.
"Why would anyone do that?"
Nobody answered.
Mara examined the training mannequin's identification card again. The private symbol remained in the lower corner, small enough to be overlooked by anyone who didn't know its history.
She had two possibilities.
Someone had copied a symbol from Operation Lantern and used it to provoke a reaction.
Or someone who had participated in that operation was attempting to communicate with her.
Neither possibility was reassuring.
At 1130, Alpha Team was released from the exercise pending an administrative review. The remaining teams continued their scheduled activities while the control staff investigated the unauthorized transmission.
Bennett accompanied Mara to the command building.
Inside, Major Shaw stood beside a conference table with Captain Mercer and the exercise director, Lieutenant Colonel James Whitaker. A technician had connected the radio logs to a monitor.
"Lieutenant Ellison," Whitaker said. "We need a detailed account of what happened."
Mara described the sequence of events: the delayed instructions, the casualty card, the unusual symbol, and the order directing the team toward the unapproved route.
Whitaker listened without interruption.
When she finished, he looked at the technician.
"Play the transmission."
The recording began.
Static, followed by a calm male voice.
"Alpha Team, your objective has changed."
Mara closed her eyes for a moment.
It was unmistakably Rourke's voice.
The technician played the next transmission, then the instruction directing Alpha Team to use the eastern trail.
Whitaker leaned forward.
"Can we identify the transmitting station?"
"Not from the recording alone, sir," the technician replied. "The traffic was routed through the exercise network, but the originating console hasn't been confirmed."
"Who had access?"
"Authorized communications personnel, exercise controllers, and administrators with elevated system permissions."
Whitaker turned toward Shaw.
"How many people?"
"More than thirty, sir."
"Wonderful."
He looked back at Mara.
"Lieutenant, you said you recognized the voice."
"Yes, sir."
"How certain are you?"
"Very certain."
"Have you spoken to this individual recently?"
"No, sir."
"Do you know why he might be using our exercise network?"
Mara hesitated.
"No, sir."
It was the truth, but not the whole truth.
Whitaker seemed to recognize the distinction.
"Your personnel file contains a reference to Operation Lantern. I want you to prepare a written statement concerning anything you know that might be relevant."
Mara stiffened.
"Sir, that operation remains restricted."
"I'm aware of that. Your statement will be handled through the appropriate channels."
"Understood."
Whitaker dismissed the team.
As Mara and Bennett left the room, he turned toward Major Shaw.
"Get headquarters on the phone. I want a review of every access log associated with this exercise."
Shaw nodded.
"And Major?"
"Sir?"
"If this was a prank, I want to know who thought it was acceptable to compromise a safety exercise."
Whitaker's expression hardened.
"If it wasn't a prank, I want to know who thought they could use my installation to send a message."
Outside the command building, Bennett caught up with Mara.
"You're going to tell them what happened in Operation Lantern?"
"Only what I'm authorized to tell them."
"Will that be enough?"
Mara looked toward the training grounds.
"I don't know."
She had spent years believing that the past could be contained by silence, that if she kept moving forward, the memories would eventually lose their power.