Chapter 10 - the marriage built on orders
Adrian did not confront Samantha immediately.
He needed to know whether the personnel list was authentic.
Major Ortiz arrived at the station with military cyber specialists. They confirmed that the file had been created on a Northstar server eleven years earlier and updated repeatedly.
Samantha’s name had not been added recently.
She had been connected to Silent Compass before their first date.
Adrian entered the interview room alone.
Samantha saw the personnel file in his hand and began to cry before he spoke.
“How long?” he asked.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“That is not an answer.”
She covered her face.
Adrian placed the document on the table.
“Two months before we met.”
“I didn’t know what they were planning.”
“You were assigned to me.”
“At first.”
The truth came slowly.
Samantha had graduated with large student debts and no stable career. A recruiter offered her a research position assessing the family lives of military officers. She was told the program helped identify security vulnerabilities.
Adrian’s name appeared in her assignment file because his brother had died aboard Kestrel Seven.
“They wanted to know whether you suspected the official report,” Samantha said.
“So you met me intentionally.”
“Yes.”
“Did they tell you to marry me?”
“No.”
“Did they tell you to have Chloe?”
“No.”
Her answer came with such force that Adrian believed it.
That made the rest more painful.
“I fell in love with you,” she said. “I stopped reporting after our wedding.”
“The file shows updates every year.”
“My mother continued.”
Adrian’s gaze became cold.
“Gertrude recruited you?”
“She knew about the program before I did. She introduced me to the recruiter.”
“And when you tried to stop?”
“They threatened to expose everything.”
“Why not tell me?”
“Because I thought you would leave.”
“You were right.”
Samantha lowered her head.
Adrian felt anger, grief, and humiliation, but none of them was stronger than his need to protect Chloe.
“Did they ever ask questions about her?”
“Not until she was four.”
“What changed?”
“I don’t know. Hale became interested in her school records and medical history.”
“Why?”
“He said it was routine family profiling.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“Nothing about this was routine.”
Samantha reached toward him, then stopped before touching his hand.
“There is one thing I never told them.”
“What?”
“The tablet recorded their voices too.”
Adrian remembered the old device Chloe had used to call him.
Samantha had installed monitoring software at the organization’s request. Later, after realizing the application could not be fully removed, she modified it to create a second hidden archive.
“I wanted proof in case they threatened Chloe,” she said.
“Where is the archive?”
“Inside a cloud account under Chloe’s first spelling test.”
Technicians accessed the account.
Hundreds of audio clips appeared.
Some captured routine family life. Others recorded Samantha’s secret calls with Gertrude, Voss, and the unidentified supervisor.
One clip dated from the night before the driveway incident.
Hale’s voice was distinct.
“Atlas must land at the alternate field.”
Voss responded, “Samson will recognize the diversion.”
“Then use the wife.”
“She is unstable.”
“Use the mother.”
“She is reckless.”
“Then use the child. Samson’s judgment changes when Chloe is involved.”
Samantha whispered, “You promised she would never be part of this.”
Hale replied, “She has always been part of this.”
A second voice entered the conversation.
It was older and quieter than Hale’s.
“Enough. The girl is not to be harmed. She must reach Phase Two intact.”
Adrian looked at Ortiz.
“Phase Two of what?”
No one knew.
The archive contained one final recording made at 4:03 that morning.
The older voice spoke directly to Hale.
“If Samson discovers the Kestrel connection, accelerate the extraction.”
“Of Vale?”
“No.”
May you like
A pause followed.
“Of Chloe.”
