Chapter 5 - The Three-Star GeneralStanding in the doorway was a towering figure in a crisp, immaculate Army dress uniform adorned with rows of ribbons, badges, and the three gleaming silver stars of a Lieutenant General on his shoulders.
It was General Marcus Vance, Commander of the United States Army Cyber Command and one of the highest-ranking officers in the entire armed forces.
Grant’s jaw dropped. Cynthia’s smirk vanished instantly, replaced by a look of sheer confusion and intimidation.
General Vance didn't even glance at Grant or Cynthia. His sharp, piercing eyes scanned the room until they locked directly onto me. To the absolute horror of Grant Holloway, the three-star general stepped fully into the room, stood at rigid attention, brought his hand up, and executed a crisp, flawless military salute.
"Colonel Langley," General Vance’s deep, booming voice resonated off the hospital walls. "Reporting in to congratulate you on the birth of your daughter, and to officially commend you on the completion of the Langley Strategic Cyber Directive. The Joint Chiefs are immensely proud of your service, ma'am."
The room fell into a dead, suffocating silence.
Grant’s hand flew to his mouth, his eyes bulging as he stared back and forth between the three-star general and me.
"C-Colonel?" Grant stammered, his voice cracking horribly. "General... there's some kind of mistake. This is Tessa. She’s... she’s just an administrative clerk! She handles filing! She’s my wife—well, soon-to-be ex-wife!"
General Vance slowly lowered his hand, turning his head to look at Grant as if Grant were a particularly repulsive insect crawling across the linoleum floor.
"Wife?" General Vance repeated coldly. "Mr. Holloway, I presume? You are standing in the presence of Colonel Tessa Langley, one of the primary architects of our nation's most classified cyber-defense infrastructure. She holds a top-secret SCI clearance that supersedes your entire corporate existence. Clerk? Filing?" The general let out a dry, chilling laugh. "She commands units that monitor threats you couldn't even begin to comprehend in your wildest, most mediocre dreams."
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Grant stumbled backward, his knees buckling slightly as reality crashed down on him like a tidal wave. "No... no, that's impossible. She told me..."
"She told you what was necessary to maintain operational security," General Vance interrupted sharply. "Which is something a civilian liability like you clearly has no concept of."
