Chapter 3 - The Mission Without a Name
Three years earlier, Claire had arrived at a remote operations center shortly before midnight.
A humanitarian evacuation convoy had become trapped beyond a mountain pass during a sudden regional uprising. The convoy carried medical workers, civilian families, intelligence personnel and wounded soldiers.
Communications had failed.
The main extraction route had been blocked.
Enemy forces were moving closer.
General Marcus Reed, then commander of the regional task force, had stood over a table covered with maps and reports.
“We have less than four hours,” he said. “After sunrise, no aircraft will reach them without being detected.”
Several officers proposed delaying the operation until reinforcements arrived.
Claire studied the terrain.
Delay meant abandonment.
“There is an old service road here,” she said, pointing toward a narrow line on the map.
“It collapsed years ago,” an officer replied.
“Part of it did,” Claire said. “The northern section may still be passable.”
Reed looked at her.
“You cannot confirm that.”
“No, sir.”
“You are asking me to send aircraft through a canyon based on an outdated construction map.”
Claire met his eyes.
“I am asking you to let me lead them.”
The room went silent.
The operation required a temporary call-sign system because official identities could not be transmitted over unsecured channels.
Claire was assigned Falcon-07.
She led two transport aircraft and a small escort team through the canyon in darkness. When the first route became impassable, she found another. When communication equipment failed, she used timed signals to keep the aircraft together.
The convoy was located twenty minutes before enemy forces reached the valley.
Claire ordered the medical workers and children evacuated first.
The final aircraft was overloaded. Reed instructed her to leave equipment behind and depart immediately.
Claire refused to leave twelve soldiers who were still guarding the road.
She reorganized the aircraft weight, transferred fuel and remained on the ground until the last soldier boarded.
The final transport escaped the valley moments before the pass was closed.
One hundred and forty-three people survived.
The official report was classified.
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The public never heard Falcon-07’s name.
Claire’s mother certainly did not.
