"Understood, sir."
"She's here because ability was never the problem."
Mercer walked out.
Across the training hall, Elena collected her notes and returned the equipment to its designated storage area.
"That was impressive."
"We completed the objective."
"You also prevented the team from making three major mistakes."
"We identified three risks."
"You're doing it again."
"Doing what?"
"Making everything sound ordinary."
Elena looked at him.
"That's because it should be ordinary."
"Not everyone thinks that way."
"Then perhaps they should."
"Staff Sergeant Ward. My office, please."
Elena straightened.
"Yes, Sergeant Major."
The door opened.
General Adrian Mercer stood beside the window.
And her eyes settled on the man who had once asked her to explain why Captain Nathan Cole had died.
"General," she said.
"Staff Sergeant."
"Please sit."
Elena remained standing.
"With respect, sir, I would prefer to know why you've brought me here."
Mercer studied her.
"Because two years ago, you told me you could no longer trust your judgment."
"I said I would never make the same mistake again."
"Yes," Mercer replied. "And I believe that promise has been hurting you ever since."
She looked away.
Mercer placed the photograph on the table.
Captain Cole smiled up at them from the page.
"I didn't send you to Blackridge to test whether you can defeat another soldier," the general continued. "I sent you here because I need to know whether you can lead a team again."
Elena stared at the photograph.
"What happens if your assessment shows that I can't?"
Then he said, "We find out whether the problem is your judgment—or the fact that you've been judging yourself by an impossible standard."
Elena looked at the photograph once more.
Elena took the chair.
But before she could speak, Mercer opened a second folder.
MAJOR VICTOR SLOANE.
Her former operations officer.
Elena's face went pale.
Mercer watched her carefully.
"Staff Sergeant," he said, "there is new information about Captain Cole's final operation."
She looked at him.
"What information?"
Mercer turned the page.
"Information that suggests the failure may not have been entirely the result of bad intelligence."
"Someone may have known the evacuation report was incomplete before your team entered the facility."
For two years, she had trained herself not to think about him unless circumstances made it unavoidable. Sloane had been the operations officer responsible for coordinating intelligence and transmitting the final instructions during the industrial settlement mission. He had not been physically present when Captain Nathan Cole died, but his voice had been the last command Elena heard before everything collapsed.
Now General Mercer was telling her that someone might have known the evacuation report was incomplete.
"Where did this information come from?" Elena asked.
Mercer closed the folder halfway.
"An internal review conducted after a separate investigation uncovered discrepancies in the archived communications log. The discrepancy was significant enough to warrant another examination of the original operation."
"How long have you known?"
"Three weeks."
Elena's expression hardened.
"Three weeks."
"I understand your frustration."
"No, sir. You understand that I'm frustrated. That's not the same thing."
"You have every right to ask why you weren't informed sooner. The review required verification. We couldn't approach you with an allegation that might have proved incorrect."
"What exactly does the discrepancy show?"
Mercer turned the folder toward her.
Elena read it once.
The report did not establish that Sloane had deliberately withheld information. It established only that a warning might have reached the operations center earlier than the official record indicated.
"Was this message received by Major Sloane?"
"We're still determining who accessed it and when."
"Then you don't know whether he saw it."
"Correct."
"You don't know whether he understood its significance."
"Correct."
"And you don't know whether the timestamp in the secondary archive is accurate."
Mercer watched her carefully.
"Also correct."
Elena closed the folder.
"Then we have a discrepancy, not proof of misconduct."
"That's why the review is preliminary."
"If Sloane received the warning," she said, "why would he have allowed us to proceed?"
"That is one of the questions the review must answer."
"Was there another team?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
Mercer hesitated.
"That information is still being verified."
Elena turned sharply.
"General, with respect, you cannot ask me to participate in an investigation while withholding every fact that might explain what happened."
"I'm not asking you to conduct an investigation."
"Then why show me this?"
"Because your recollection may help establish the sequence of events. And because you deserve to know that the official account may be incomplete."
Elena looked back at the document.
"Do you believe Major Sloane deliberately sent us into danger?"
"No."
"Do you believe he might have?"
"I believe the evidence must be examined before anyone reaches that conclusion."
"What do you need from me?"
"Your original account of the communications. Every detail you remember, including details you considered unimportant at the time."
"I already gave that account."
"You gave it under the assumption that the communications log was accurate. We need you to review it again with the possibility of a timing discrepancy in mind."