Chapter 11 - THE AGENT WHO WAS THE TARGET
For several seconds, I just stared at the screen.
The message remained there.
MISSION STATUS UPDATED: HANNAH COLE IS COMPROMISED.
My name.
My mission.
My entire reason for being on the Resolute.
Marked as compromised.
I looked at Reed.
He looked back at me.
Neither of us spoke.
Because we both understood what that meant.
Somebody inside NCIS had changed the mission.
Or somebody inside NCIS had never told me the real mission.
“Who knew you were coming here?” Reed asked.
I didn’t answer.
I started thinking.
The assignment.
The documents.
The orders.
The people who approved my transfer.
Every name.
Every signature.
Every person who had access.
Then one name appeared in my mind.
The person who personally handed me the file.
Special Agent Marcus Hale.
My supervisor.
The man who told me:
“Trust nobody on that ship.”
I believed him.
Now I wasn’t sure.
Reed stepped closer.
“Hannah.”
I looked at him.
“If NCIS thinks you’re compromised, they’re not coming to rescue you.”
“I know.”
“They’re coming to remove the problem.”
The words hit harder than I wanted to admit.
Because I had spent my entire career believing the system protected its own.
But what happens when the system is the thing hunting you?
The door suddenly unlocked.
We both turned.
Colonel Kane stood outside.
Alone.
Again.
“You need to come with me.”
I didn’t move.
“Why?”
“Because in five minutes, this ship changes hands.”
Reed frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Kane looked at him.
“It means Admiral Voss is done hiding.”
My stomach tightened.
“Where is he?”
Kane looked toward the upper decks.
“Command.”
“Then why aren’t you stopping him?”
For the first time, Kane looked tired.
Not angry.
Not powerful.
Tired.
“Because I tried eighteen months ago.”
Silence.
I stared at him.
“You were fighting him?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did everyone think you were protecting him?”
Kane looked away.
“Because sometimes the only way to fight a monster is to stand close enough that everyone thinks you’re one of them.”
I hated how much sense it made.
But I still didn’t trust him.
“Why should I believe you?”
Kane reached into his jacket.
And placed something on the floor.
A small metal identification tag.
Daniel Cross’s.
“I found him before he died.”
My eyes narrowed.
“You said he was dead.”
“He was.”
“Then how did you get this?”
Kane looked at me.
“Because Daniel gave me one last message.”
A pause.
“He told me the next person they would target…”
was me.
Before I could respond, the ship’s alarm changed.
Not emergency.
Something else.
A command alert.
Then the speakers activated.
A calm voice filled the corridor.
“Attention all personnel.”
Admiral Thomas Voss.
“Effective immediately, command authority has been transferred.”
Kane looked upward.
His face changed.
“He started.”
I looked at him.
“What started?”
May you like
He answered quietly.
“The cover-up.”
