Chapter 8
General Harris leaned back.
“Colonel Dayne, Captain Shaw identified the vulnerability before the attack. You dismissed her recommendation.”
Dayne forced his voice steady.
“I made a tactical decision based on available information.”
“No,” Harris said. “You made a personal decision based on arrogance.”
Dayne swallowed.
The general continued.
“You also attempted to interfere with close air support after requesting emergency assistance, while lacking accurate knowledge of friendly positions.”
Dayne’s eyes flicked toward the door.
There was nowhere to go.
Harris stood.
“Effective immediately, you are relieved of command pending formal investigation.”
Dayne’s face went red.
“General, with respect—”
“You lost the right to discuss respect when your soldiers paid for your pride.”
The room went dead still.
Dayne looked around, searching for one friendly face.
He found none.
Not even among the men who used to laugh at his jokes.
Military police stepped forward.
Dayne’s shoulders dropped.
For the first time that day, he said nothing.
As they escorted him out, Sergeant Cole appeared at the entrance of the tent on crutches.
His leg was wrapped.
His face was pale.
But his voice was strong.
“Captain Shaw?”
Riley turned.
Cole looked at her, then at the other soldiers gathered behind him.
Dozens of them.
Bandaged.
Exhausted.
Alive.
He raised his hand in a slow salute.
“Thank you for bringing us home, ma’am.”
One by one, the soldiers behind him saluted too.
Riley’s eyes softened.
For a moment, the cockpit calm disappeared.
She was just a person standing in front of the men she had almost lost.
She returned the salute.
“You held the line,” she said. “I just helped you keep it.”
Cole shook his head.
May you like
“No, ma’am. You believed what he refused to see.”
Read Part 9 to see how the investigation exposed Dayne’s failure and turned Riley’s warning into legend.
