Chapter 7
As the helicopter lifted into the gray edge of dawn, Ellis sat across from Callaway, staring at the blood on her sleeve.
He spoke over the engine noise.
“Why did command hide you?”
Callaway looked out at the mountains.
“Because some missions are easier to classify than explain.”
Grayson sat two seats away.
His face was covered in dust.
His hands were shaking.
He looked smaller than he had in the C-130.
He did not speak.
Back at base, the debriefing room was colder than the aircraft had been.
Colonel Holt stood at the front with a tablet in her hand.
The platoon lined the walls.
Grayson stood at the table, trying to pull himself back into the shape of an officer.
“Ma’am,” he said, “the ambush was unexpected. Captain Callaway acted outside normal chain of command, and—”
Holt tapped the tablet.
Drone footage appeared on the screen.
The main wadi.
The cleared shooting lanes.
The wired north gap.
The RPG position.
Every warning Callaway had given was there.
Every denial from Grayson came through the audio.
Stay in the back.
You seeing ghosts again?
Keep her where she can’t get anyone killed.
Then Holt played the C-130 recording.
Grayson’s voice filled the room.
“You even fired that rifle outside training?”
Then Callaway’s answer.
“Not where people survived to talk about it.”
No one looked at Grayson after that.
Holt turned off the screen.
“Lieutenant Grayson, you ignored terrain indicators, dismissed a classified asset, endangered your platoon, and attempted to blame the only officer who prevented mass casualties.”
Grayson’s jaw tightened.
“I didn’t know who she was.”
Holt stepped closer.
May you like
“That is not a defense. That is the problem.”
Read Part 8 to see the line that destroyed Grayson’s command forever.
