Chapter 5: The Command Deck
I took the long route.
Not to delay.
To think.
By the time I stepped onto the command deck, Kane was standing at the far end with his back to the main viewport.
Two officers flanked him at a distance — Lieutenant Marsh on his left, a man I didn't recognize on his right.
Civilian clothes.
Pressed shirt.
No rank insignia.
No name tag.
The civilian watched me walk in.
Kane did not.
"Petty Officer Cole." Kane's voice was the same tone he used on the flight deck.
Controlled.
Almost bored.
"I want to discuss yesterday's incident."
"Which incident, sir?"
His eyes moved to me.
"You went over the rail," he said.
"It was unfortunate.
I've filed the incident report.
Man overboard, rough conditions, contributing fatigue." He paused.
"That's the official record."
I stood at ease.
Both hands behind my back.
"That's not what happened, sir."
The civilian's chin lifted slightly.
Kane smiled the same smile from the flight deck.
"Be very careful, Petty Officer."
"I am being careful, sir.
That's why I'm saying it clearly while there are witnesses in the room."
Marsh shifted his weight.
The civilian didn't move.
Kane took two steps toward me.
"You are a logistics specialist on temporary assignment.
You have no investigative authority on this vessel.
You have no standing to make accusations against a commanding officer.
And you have no evidence of anything."
He let that last word sit.
He wanted me to react to it.
To show that I knew the packet was gone.
To confirm that he had taken the only copy.
I didn't give him that.
"I'm not making accusations, sir," I said.
"I'm correcting the incident report.
For the record."
"The record is already filed."
"Then it will need to be amended."
Kane stopped two feet from me.
Close enough that I could see the precise line where his jaw muscle was working.
"You have nothing," he said quietly.
"You came aboard this vessel with a story and a cover and a little packet of paper, and now you have nothing.
Whatever you thought you were going to find here — it's gone.
Whatever you thought you were going to prove — it's over." He tilted his head slightly.
"Go home, Cole.
While you still can."
The civilian spoke for the first time.
His voice was unhurried.
Almost pleasant.
"Miss Cole," he said.
"My name is Hargrove.
I work in resource coordination at the Department of Defense.
I'm aboard the Resolute on an unrelated administrative review." He smiled.
"I do hope you're feeling better after yesterday's ordeal."
He knew my name.
Not Petty Officer Cole.
Miss Cole.
The name on my real identification.
The name that did not appear anywhere in my service jacket.
I looked at him for exactly two seconds.
"Thank you, Mr.
Hargrove," I said.
"I'm feeling fine."
I turned back to Kane.
"Is there anything else, sir?"
Kane's smile had gone thin.
"Dismissed," he said.
I walked out.
In the corridor I kept my pace even, my breathing steady, my hands relaxed at my sides.
Hargrove.
Department of Defense.
Resource coordination.
That was the third name.
The one NCIS had flagged.
May you like
*Verify before action.*
He was already on the ship.
