Chapter 4 - The Man Jake Saw
Rachel did not enter the vehicle.
For nine years, she had imagined hundreds of versions of Daniel’s final moments. None included Jake Rowan.
“You were at Range 12?”
“I was a nineteen-year-old cadet.”
“You were not mentioned in the report.”
“Neither were the other seventeen cadets.”
“What did you see?”
Jake checked the motor pool entrance.
“We don’t have time to discuss it here.”
“We have time.”
“If Mercer realizes we’re missing, the maintenance route will be closed.”
Rachel stepped closer.
“You will not use my brother to control this investigation. Tell me now.”
Jake’s expression shifted from impatience to something closer to shame.
“We were running an early version of Threshold. They called it endurance adaptation. Daniel was one of the supervising officers.”
“Threshold supposedly began three years ago.”
“That is the public record.”
“What happened?”
“The exercise was designed to continue for thirty-six hours. No sleep, limited water, constant navigation changes and simulated threats. Daniel discovered the medical data was being altered.”
“By whom?”
“I didn’t know then.”
“And now?”
“I have suspicions.”
Rachel waited.
Jake looked at the floor.
“Daniel stopped the exercise. He told the cadets to return to base. Mercer arrived and accused him of disobeying an authorized research directive.”
“Mercer was only a major then.”
“He was the program liaison.”
“What happened next?”
“They argued near the observation building. An alarm went off. We were ordered into transport vehicles.”
“You said you saw someone carry Daniel out.”
Jake nodded.
“As our vehicle left, I looked back. Two medical officers carried him from the observation building. He was unconscious, but he was alive.”
Rachel’s voice became very quiet.
“The report says he died at the bottom of the ravine.”
“I know.”
“Did you tell investigators?”
“There were no investigators. We were each given statements to sign. Mercer said the exercise involved national-security systems. Speaking about it would be treated as disclosure of classified information.”
“And you obeyed.”
“I was nineteen.”
“You were old enough to know a living man was being declared dead.”
Jake accepted the accusation without defending himself.
“Yes.”
Rachel’s anger made it difficult to breathe evenly.
“You built your career under Mercer.”
“Yes.”
“You used his methods.”
“Yes.”
“You trained soldiers to fear you.”
“Yes.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
Jake handed her the old map.
“But the route is real.”
Rachel took it.
They drove without headlights along a narrow maintenance road behind the vehicle-repair buildings.
The modern base fence ended at a wooded slope. Beyond it, half-buried concrete markers showed the boundary of the abandoned range.
Jake stopped the vehicle beneath an overgrown shelter.
They continued on foot.
Range 12 was not a simple field.
It was an entire concealed training complex.
Concrete observation towers rose between the trees. Rusted rails crossed the ground. Underground access doors were built into the hillside.
Most of the structures appeared abandoned.
One did not.
A narrow strip of clean metal showed around the lock of the main observation building.
Someone was still using it.
Jake examined the electronic panel.
“It has power.”
Rachel placed Noah’s identification tag against the reader.
The light turned green.
The door unlocked.
Inside, the air smelled of disinfectant.
Modern cables ran along old walls. Computer terminals stood beneath dusty observation windows. Several medical beds had recently been removed, leaving clear marks on the floor.
Rachel found a cabinet containing damaged monitoring equipment.
Each device carried a soldier’s identification number.
Lucas Trent.
Evan Cole.
Maya Brooks.
Noah Bell.
Daniel Hayes.
Rachel stared at her brother’s number.
Jake stood behind her.
“That device should have been destroyed years ago.”
Rachel activated it.
Most of the files were corrupted, but one audio fragment remained.
Daniel’s voice filled the room.
“Rachel, they changed the purpose of the program.”
Static interrupted him.
“The limits were never designed to protect the soldiers. They were designed to identify which soldiers could survive without protection.”
The recording skipped.
“Mercer is not in charge. He is afraid of whoever authorized this.”
A door slammed somewhere below them.
Jake switched off the terminal.
They heard footsteps beneath the floor.
Rachel pointed toward a stairwell.
They descended into a narrow underground corridor.
At the end was a room with a light shining beneath the door.
Jake drew his sidearm but kept it lowered.
Rachel opened the door.
A medical bed stood in the center.
Fresh restraints had been attached to its rails.
A wall monitor displayed Noah Bell’s biometric history.
The final entry had been recorded eleven minutes earlier.
Rachel moved closer.
“He was here tonight.”
Jake examined a tray beside the bed.
“They moved him when the signal activated.”
A speaker above the door crackled.
Colonel Mercer’s voice filled the room.
“I warned you not to let grief interfere with your judgment.”
Steel shutters dropped across the exits.
The lights changed to red.
Mercer continued calmly.
“Now I have two unauthorized intruders inside a restricted facility.”
Jake looked toward Rachel.
“He followed us.”
“No,” Rachel said.
She examined the camera in the corner.
“He was waiting for us.”
May you like
A ventilation fan began turning.
White vapor entered through the ceiling vents.
