Chapter 18 - The Second Question
The prosecution presented the message only after the court ruled that its authenticity and chain of custody were sufficiently supported. Rusk's testimony was challenged, but the electronic records, Quinn's account, and the aircraft logs corroborated the critical timeline.
Thorne's new lawyer didn't try to make me look like a foolish civilian. She asked hard questions about visibility, radio interference, medication, and my signed report. I answered what I knew and admitted what I couldn't know.
Then Thorne chose to testify.
“I made a battlefield judgment,” he told the panel. “I protected information that could have endangered hundreds.”
The prosecutor put the recovered message on the display. “Did you send this?”
Thorne stared. “Yes.”
“And when you wrote 'let the ridge team take the contact,' did you know three service members were waiting for pickup?”
He said nothing.
“Captain?”
“Yes.”
“You also knew the aircraft had room.”
A long silence. “Yes.”
The room seemed to shrink around those two answers.
After court, Nora found me beside the vending machines. She held the original crayon drawing June had made.
“I heard Owen,” she said. “And I heard you.”
“I should've come to you sooner.”
“You should have. I'm still angry.”
“I know.”
She reached for my hand. “But June wants you to tell her about the time Luke made everybody laugh. Not the way he died. The way he lived.”
Before I could answer, Tess's phone rang. She listened, then her expression changed.
May you like
“The panel has a question,” she told us. “They're asking whether the official rescue was called off because anyone could have survived.”
The missing recovery order had finally been found.
