Chapter 5 - THE COLLAPSE OF THE ILLUSIONIf someone had dropped an artillery shell in the center of the ballroom, the reaction couldn't have been more explosive.
My mother let out a high-pitched, breathless shriek that sounded like tearing metal, her knees buckling as she grabbed onto a nearby floral arrangement to keep from collapsing onto the floor.
Elowen’s face turned the color of spoiled milk. Her eyes bulged as she stared at me, then at the general, her mouth opening and closing like a fish stranded on a dock. “C-Colonel…? No… no, that’s impossible! Maren is a desk analyst! She’s three years younger than me! She can’t be a Colonel! I’m the Major! I’m the star of the family!”
I didn't smile. I didn't gloat. I simply stepped out from behind the ivy planters, smoothing down the lapel of my dark blazer, and raised my hand to return General Vance’s salute with mathematical precision.
“At ease, General,” I said quietly.
General Vance lowered his hand, his eyes cold as glacier ice as he turned back to face the stunned crowd of senators and executives.
“For the past six months,” General Vance announced, his voice carrying effortlessly across the silent room, “this command has been conducting a deep forensic audit into systemic logistics fraud, ghost-contract allocation, and rank-impersonation syndicates operating within the Atlantic regional procurement sector.”
Elowen let out a terrified whimpering sound, taking a blind, stumbling step backward until the back of her legs hit the edge of the stage.
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“And who was running the syndicate, General?” a prominent defense senator asked, his voice trembling as he stepped forward.
“A corrupt network of civilian contractors and rogue administrative officers,” General Vance replied, gesturing toward Elowen with a stiff, gloved finger. “Officers who systematically intercepted classified promotion packets, forged signatures of senior commanders, and swapped personnel identification codes to elevate unqualified junior lieutenants to high-ranking operational status—all while pocketing millions in diverted federal supply funds.”
