Chapter 15 - The Treason of Boys
Miller’s hands shot up into the air, trembling violently as the harsh beam of my tactical flashlight hit his eyes.
"Colonel—ma'am! I can explain! It’s not what you think!" Miller stammered, his voice cracking with sheer terror as he backed up against a stack of steel drums.
Vance stepped forward, grabbing Miller by the collar of his hoodie and slamming him hard against the metal drums with a metallic clang. "You stupid, arrogant little rat! You were going to burn the supply cache just to sabotage the battalion's inspection? Are you out of your goddamn mind?"
"I didn't want to burn it!" Miller cried out, tears of panic spilling down his cheeks. "Thorne’s friends... they told me to do it! They said if the unit failed the inspection tomorrow, the investigation into the logistics logs would get buried in the chaos! They said my career was already over anyway because I insulted you at the bar!"
I walked slowly toward him, my boots crunching on the gravel. I didn't raise my voice. I didn't need to. The quiet, deadly stillness in my posture was ten times more terrifying than any scream.
"You think because a couple of disgraced officers promised you protection, you could commit sabotage against the United States Army?" I asked, my face inches from his.
"Please, Colonel! I'm sorry! I was just following orders—I mean, I was drunk, I didn't know—"
"A fighting man’s bar, Miller," I whispered, throwing his own words back in his face with surgical precision. "Isn't that what you told me? You said I had wandered into a place where I didn't belong. Turns out, you were the one who didn't belong in an army uniform."
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Vance pulled out a pair of heavy tactical zip-ties from his belt. "Shall I call the military police, ma'am? Or take him straight to the stockade?"
"Call the MPs," I said, turning my back on the shivering, broken boy. "And make sure the charge sheet includes conspiracy to commit sabotage in a time of active operational readiness testing. Let's see if his friends in Congress want to defend an act of domestic terrorism against a military installation."
