Chapter 10 - WHAT EVELYN KNEWThe surviving Iron operators remained.
Claire couldn't look at them.
Marcus finally spoke.
“We knew about Ironfall.”
Claire turned.
“What?”
“You remembered after the debrief.”
“No.”
“You did.”
They explained.
After Ridge Kilo, Claire had tried to confess publicly.
Voss threatened the team.
Thomas's family.
Evelyn.
Daniel's Marines.
Anyone connected to the operation.
Claire demanded that her people remain silent until they possessed proof.
Then weeks of interrogation, medication, sleep deprivation and trauma shattered portions of her memory.
Marcus pointed toward Evelyn's drive.
“Watch it.”
Claire did.
Alone.
Evelyn appeared.
“You're going to remember Ironfall.”
Claire gripped the desk.
“And you're going to blame yourself.”
Documents appeared.
The original threat assessment.
Then Claire's copy.
They were different.
Enemy activity had been removed.
Civilian traffic erased.
Risk downgraded.
Voss had altered the intelligence before Claire approved the operation.
Evelyn looked into the camera.
“You authorized a surveillance decoy on an empty corridor.”
Her voice cracked.
“Voss turned it into an ambush.”
Then came the revelation Claire wasn't prepared for.
“Thomas knew.”
A field recording played.
Thomas Vale's voice filled the room.
“Claire needs to know.”
Then Claire's younger voice.
“After we get them out.”
Thomas replied:
“Then we get them out.”
Claire remembered.
Thomas had discovered the deception.
And still volunteered to enter Ridge Kilo.
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Not because Claire forced him.
Because eleven Marines were trapped.
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