Chapter 7 - THE FILE THAT WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO EXIST
They locked me inside a small holding room near the command section.
No charges.
No paperwork.
Just a door.
And a message.
Stay quiet.
That was how people like Kane worked.
They didn’t always need violence.
Sometimes fear did the job for them.
I sat alone for twenty minutes.
Then the door opened.
I expected Kane.
Instead…
it was Commander Elena Brooks.
I knew her reputation.
Twenty years in naval intelligence.
The kind of officer who could walk into a room and make everyone straighten their backs.
She closed the door behind her.
“You need to stop digging.”
I laughed quietly.
“That’s your advice?”
“Yes.”
“After Kane threw me off a ship?”
Her expression didn’t change.
“Careful with your words.”
“My words?”
I stood.
“Commander, five hundred people watched him attack me.”
She looked at me.
“And five hundred people are still alive because they stayed quiet.”
That sentence bothered me.
Because I understood what she meant.
But I hated that it was true.
“What happened on Deck Four?”
Brooks stayed silent.
That was enough.
“You know.”
She looked away.
Finally she spoke.
“Eighteen months ago, Deck Four was used for an unauthorized operation.”
“By Kane?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
She didn’t answer.
“Commander.”
Her jaw tightened.
“Some questions are dangerous.”
“And some secrets kill people.”
That got her attention.
For the first time, her calm expression cracked.
She walked closer.
“Listen carefully, Hannah.”
Her voice dropped.
“The official report about Deck Four is fake.”
I waited.
“The accident never happened the way they said.”
“What really happened?”
She looked toward the camera in the corner.
Then whispered:
“Someone on this ship was moving illegal equipment.”
I frowned.
“Military equipment?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
A pause.
“People.”
The room suddenly felt colder.
“What does that mean?”
Before she could answer, the door opened.
A security officer appeared.
“Commander Brooks.”
She turned.
The officer looked nervous.
“Colonel Kane wants to see you.”
Brooks looked at me.
And I saw something I never expected.
Fear.
Not respect.
Not concern.
Fear.
After she left, I noticed something on the table.
A small piece of paper.
She had left it behind.
Three words were written on it.
TRUST NO ONE.
And underneath…
a name.
The person she believed was controlling everything.
May you like
Not Kane.
Someone higher.
