PART 3 — THE MAN INSIDE

I reached the container in less than two minutes.

General Hayes followed.

So did the security team.

Blackwell remained behind.

Under guard.

The massive metal doors were open.

Inside, five body bags lay beneath harsh portable lights.

The sixth was empty.

But my attention was immediately drawn to the rear wall.

A narrow compartment had been cut into the container.

Two Marines stood beside it.

One of them looked at me.

“Commander.”

I stepped forward.

“What condition?”

“He’s alive.”

“Conscious?”

“Yes.”

The Marine moved aside.

I looked inside.

A man was sitting against the wall.

His wrists were restrained.

His face was bruised.

His clothes were stained.

But I recognized him immediately.

My breath caught.

“No.”

General Hayes came closer.

“Who is he?”

I couldn’t answer.

The man slowly lifted his head.

His eyes found mine.

Then he whispered one word.

“Cross.”

My knees nearly gave way.

I hadn’t heard that voice in eighteen months.

Because the man sitting inside that container was supposed to be dead.

Lieutenant Daniel Mercer.

ARGUS Team Six.

My former partner.

The man whose death report I had personally read.

Hayes stared at him.

“Mercer?”

Daniel gave the smallest nod.

“I knew you’d come.”

I stepped inside.

“Who did this to you?”

He looked past me.

Toward Blackwell.

The admiral was standing outside the container.

His face was frozen.

Daniel saw him.

His expression changed instantly.

Fear.

Real fear.

“He knows,” Daniel whispered.

“Who?”

“Blackwell.”

The admiral shouted from outside.

“Don’t listen to him!”

Daniel flinched.

I turned.

“Why?”

Blackwell shook his head.

“You don’t understand.”

I stepped toward him.

“Then explain it.”

He remained silent.

General Hayes moved between us.

“Admiral, you’re done.”

Blackwell looked at him.

“No.”

Hayes frowned.

“You assaulted a federal commander, authorized an illegal transfer, and your voice appears on a recording ordering her disappearance.”

Blackwell’s expression hardened.

“You think I’m the mastermind?”

Nobody spoke.

He looked at me.

“You think I created ARGUS?”

My blood ran cold.

“What are you saying?”

Blackwell looked toward the Marines.

“Get everyone off this field.”

Hayes immediately raised a hand.

“No one moves.”

Blackwell laughed bitterly.

“You’re already too late.”

My radio crackled.

An unfamiliar voice came through.

Not from our team.

Not from any channel I recognized.

“Commander Cross.”

I froze.

“Identify yourself.”

Static.

Then:

“You shouldn’t have opened the container.”

The signal disappeared.

Hayes looked at the communications officer.

“Trace it.”

The officer shook his head.

“Sir, there’s no originating signal.”

Daniel suddenly grabbed my sleeve.

His eyes were wide.

“Evelyn.”

“What?”

“You need to listen to me.”

I leaned closer.

“The six body bags aren’t evidence.”

I stared at him.

“Then what are they?”

Daniel looked toward the empty bag.

“They’re a message.”

“To whom?”

He swallowed.

“To everyone who was involved in ARGUS.”

My heart began pounding.

“And the empty bag?”

Daniel looked directly into my eyes.

“That one was meant for you.”

Before I could respond, the parade deck lights went out.

Complete darkness.

Then came a single gunshot from somewhere beyond the container.

The Marines immediately dropped into defensive positions.

General Hayes shouted:

“SECURE THE COMMANDER!”

I felt a hand grab my shoulder.

Daniel pulled me deeper into the container.

“Don’t move.”

Another shot cracked through the night.

Then my radio came alive again.

This time, the voice was unmistakably familiar.

A voice I had trusted for years.

“Commander Cross…”

I froze.

The voice continued.

“I’m sorry.”

Then the channel went dead.

I looked at General Hayes.

“Who was that?”

He stared at me.

His face had gone completely pale.

“That,” he whispered, “was the Secretary of Defense.”