I said nothing.
Hale smiled faintly.
“That silence used to be your best quality.”
Something inside me, already strained beyond endurance, went still.
“No,” I said. “It was yours.”
For the first time, her expression flickered.
Caleb glanced at me.
The officers shifted uneasily.
Hale recovered fast.
“We need to talk privately.”
“I’m done with private rooms.”
“You may not have a choice.”
Behind her, the veteran from row 37 had stopped near the exit.
He had his phone in his hand.
Recording.
Hale saw him.
So did I.
So did Caleb.
For ten years, their power had depended on closed doors.
Today, there were hundreds of cameras.
Hundreds of witnesses.
Hundreds of people who had heard the name Valkyrie Seven and watched the sky answer.
Hale’s gaze sharpened.
“You don’t understand what you’re risking.”
I stepped closer.
Rain streaked the cockpit windows behind me. Emergency lights flashed red and white across her face.
“No,” I said softly. “You don’t.”
At that exact moment, Caleb’s radio crackled.
A voice came through, urgent and shaken.
“Colonel Ross, priority secure traffic. We just received an anonymous data dump tied to Operation Nightglass. Transmission logs, cockpit audio, command overrides. Sir… it’s already hitting the press.”
Hale went utterly still.
Caleb stared at me.
But I hadn’t sent anything.
I hadn’t even known the files existed.
Then my phone buzzed in my pocket.
One message.
Unknown sender.
You brought the plane down safely. Now let’s bring the truth down too.
Attached was an audio file.
The title made my breath stop.
NIGHTGLASS_FINAL_ORDER_MARCUS_PARKER.wav
Marcus Parker.
My older brother.
The man the official report said died before I disobeyed orders.
