Chapter 19 - SOMEONE HAD BEEN EXPECTING USEmergency lights turned red.
Hayes moved beside me.
“Trap?”
“Obviously.”
A speaker activated.
A distorted voice filled the room.
“General Vance.”
“Identify yourself.”
“You already know us.”
“Harbor?”
A soft laugh.
“Harbor was a name Vale used because bureaucrats require names.”
Screens began displaying classified operations.
Some decades old.
Others recent.
“We existed before Vale.”
“Who authorized you?”
“Every administration that benefited from not asking.”
I felt cold.
“Why bring me here?”
The screens changed.
My entire career appeared.
Academy photographs.
Deployments.
Investigations.
Camp Vora.
Even images from my childhood.
Hayes whispered a curse.
The voice continued.
“We have watched you for twenty-two years.”
“Why?”
“Because eventually Harbor requires new leadership.”
I laughed.
“You think I'm joining you?”
“No.”
The voice became almost gentle.
“We think you're going to rebuild us.”
The screens went black.
The doors unlocked.
No attack came.
No gunmen appeared.
They simply let us leave.
That frightened me more than anything else could have.
Outside, morning sunlight spilled across the mountains.
Hayes looked at me.
“What now?”
May you like
I stared toward Washington.
“Now we find out why they're so confident.”
