HE FORCED A FEMALE MECHANIC ONTO HER KNEES—THEN THE BASE COMMANDER SALUTED HER AND UNCOVERED A FATAL MILITARY CONSPIRACY!

"Colonel Sterling," Evelyn barked, not breaking eye contact with the terrified Major.

"Ma'am!" Sterling answered instantly.

"Initiate a Level One tactical lockdown of Redstone Air Base immediately. No aircraft takes off. No ground vehicle leaves the perimeter gate. All satellite communications, landlines, and internal servers outside of my direct command channel are to be cut."

Sterling blinked, stunned by the sheer magnitude of the order. "General... a Level One lockdown? That halts all Atlantic sector air operations. The Pentagon—"

"The Pentagon answered to me when they signed my deployment orders this morning, Colonel," Evelyn said, stepping into Sterling's personal space until their noses were six inches apart. "Do you want me to add your name to this indictment as an accessory to treason, or are you going to transmit the order?"

Sterling swallowed hard, his throat dry. "Understood, ma'am. Transmitting lockdown protocol immediately." He pulled his tactical radio from his belt, his hand visibly unsteady. *"All stations, this is Base Actual. Execute Condition Black. Halt all flight ops. Ground all wings. Seal the perimeter gates. Repeat, Condition Black."*

Across the base, sirens began to wail—a deep, undulating howl that vibrated through the concrete floors of Hangar 7.

Major Bradley Vance began to hyperventilate. The arrogant, untouchable golden boy of Redstone Air Base was disintegrating before everyone's eyes. "General... please. You don't understand the whole picture. That video—it doesn't show the context! Apex Aero-Defense had authorized emergency parts procurement! We had a combat readiness deadline to meet! If we didn't keep those birds in the air, the entire wing would have failed inspection!"

"Is that why you took an envelope full of cash while Captain Cole was preparing for his flight?" Evelyn countered, her voice dangerously calm. "Is that why you signed off on the post-crash investigation report and personally signed the affidavit claiming Cole had alcohol in his blood?"

Airman Miller gasped, his eyes wide. "You said Marcus was drinking?! He was three years sober! You bastard!" Miller lunged forward, but the crew chief grabbed him by the shoulders, holding the young airman back.

Evelyn raised a hand, silencing the bay.

"MPs," she ordered, "escort Major Vance to the subterranean detention cells beneath Wing Headquarters. Strip him of all electronics, jewelry, and his uniform. Issue him standard orange detention scrubs. He is to have no contact with legal counsel, family, or command staff until I personally open his cell door."

"You can't do that!" Vance screamed as the two burly military police officers wrenched his arms upward, forcing him into a painful march toward the hangar exit. "My father is General Arthur Vance! He sits on the Armed Services Committee! He will have your stars for this! You hear me, Cross?! My father will destroy you!"

"Tell your father I have a cell waiting for him too," Evelyn said coldly.

As Vance was dragged out, screaming curses into the howling sirens, Evelyn turned her attention back to the six witnesses in the hangar.

The room was deathly quiet except for the distant wail of the alarms.

"Airman Miller," Evelyn said, walking over to the young mechanic.

Miller stood at rigid attention, terrified but resolute. "Ma'am!"

"Where is the original drive that phone recorded to?"

Miller swallowed. "In my wall locker, ma'am. Inside the barracks. It’s an encrypted solid-state drive. Marcus gave it to me two days before the crash. He said... he said if anything ever happened to him, I had to get it off the base. But Vance put me on 24-hour watch. I was trapped here. Every time I tried to contact CID, Vance found out. He threatened to frame me for drug trafficking if I ever spoke."

Evelyn placed a hand on Miller's shoulder. Her touch was firm, steadying. "You held the line, Airman. You did your duty when everyone around you failed theirs. But right now, that drive is the most dangerous object on this continent."

She turned to Colonel Sterling. "Where is the Apex Aero-Defense liaison stationed on this base?"

Sterling wiped a thick bead of sweat from his forehead. "His name is Victor Caldwell. He has an executive office in the Contractor Logistics Facility on the north end of the flightline."

"Does he have private transport?"

Sterling froze. His eyes widened. "His private Gulfstream... it’s parked in Hangar 3. Right on the civilian taxiway."

Evelyn didn't hesitate. She unzipped the front of her grease-stained coveralls and pulled out a tactical 9mm sidearm from an internal shoulder holster, racking the slide with a clean, lethal click.