The QRF had been close enough to reach Checkpoint Echo before the final breach.
Claire stopped breathing.
She looked at her father.
“You blocked them.”
Richard’s composure broke.
“The operation had national-level priority. If conventional forces entered that corridor, the asset would have been exposed.”
“You blocked them.”
“I made a command decision.”
“Three men died.”
“Three soldiers died protecting intelligence that prevented a larger loss.”
Claire stood so quickly her chair struck the floor.
An MP moved.
Judge Harrison raised one hand.
“Captain. Sit down.”
Claire could not hear him.
“You put me on trial for your decision.”
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“You were the officer on the ground.”
“You ordered me out.”
“And you obeyed.”
The cruelty of it was almost elegant.
Richard had built a defense for himself around the same military principle he had used to trap her: subordinates carry the visible consequences of orders issued far away.
Reynolds stood beside Claire.
“Your Honor, I move for immediate suspension of proceedings and referral of General Vance’s testimony for investigation.”
Colonel Price did not object.
That was when Claire knew the case against her was finished.
Not officially.
But morally.
Price had believed the evidence he was given. Now he stared at Richard like a man discovering the floor beneath his desk was hollow.
Judge Harrison recessed again.
