Chapter 10: The Admiral’s Signature
Chapter 10: The Admiral’s Signature
The elevator descended beneath Meridian House.
Arthur kept the gun against Celeste’s ribs.
“You’re lying.”
“About Reed?”
“Yes.”
Arthur laughed softly.
“Your loyalty is almost touching.”
The elevator opened into a vast underground archive filled with servers and steel cabinets.
At the center, Samuel Price remained tied to a chair.
Dr. Keller stood behind him.
Arthur shoved Celeste forward.
“Show her.”
Keller placed a document on the table.
It was a naval procurement recommendation dated fifteen years earlier.
At the bottom was Admiral Reed’s signature.
At the time, he had been a rear admiral responsible for fleet modernization.
The document recommended Vale Meridian as an emergency steel supplier.
Celeste read it twice.
Arthur watched her carefully.
“Your admiral built my defense division.”
The archive doors exploded inward.
Reed entered with tactical officers.
Arthur pointed the gun at Samuel.
“Stop.”
Everyone froze.
Celeste held up the document.
“Is this your signature?”
Reed looked at it.
“Yes.”
The answer struck like a physical blow.
“You recommended Vale Meridian.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know the steel had failed testing?”
“No.”
Arthur smiled.
“Careful, Thomas.”
Reed kept his weapon aimed at Arthur.
“Vale Meridian submitted certified test results.”
“Forged results,” Celeste said.
“We discovered that later.”
“How much later?”
Reed did not answer quickly enough.
Celeste understood.
“Before my mission.”
“Yes.”
The word echoed through the archive.
“Why didn’t you ground the submarine?”
“We had no confirmed evidence that the installed bulkheads came from the compromised production batch.”
“But you knew they might.”
“Yes.”
Celeste’s voice became almost inaudible.
“And you let us sail.”
Reed’s eyes shone with regret.
“I made the wrong decision.”
Arthur laughed.
“A wrong decision? Two sailors dead, seventeen injured, and my daughter burned alive. But call it a decision and keep the uniform.”
Reed ignored him.
“I believed delaying the mission would expose an intelligence operation and allow Northstar to disappear.”
“So you risked ninety-four lives to catch them.”
“I believed the structural risk was low.”
“You believed wrong.”
“Yes.”
Celeste stared at him.
Reed did not defend himself.
That made it worse.
Arthur pulled Samuel upright by the hair.
“Now you understand. Every powerful man chooses the institution over the individual. I chose my company. Reed chose the Navy.”
Celeste looked at Arthur.
“And Mom chose the truth.”
His expression hardened.
Arthur aimed at Samuel.
Celeste moved instantly.
She struck Arthur’s wrist as the gun fired.
The bullet hit a server cabinet.
Samuel fell sideways.
Reed’s officers rushed Dr. Keller.
Arthur grabbed Celeste and slammed her against the table.
Pain tore across her scarred back.
“You should have stayed erased,” he snarled.
Celeste drove her knee into his stomach.
He stumbled.
She twisted the gun from his hand.
For one second, father and daughter faced each other.
Celeste pointed the weapon at his chest.
Arthur smiled.
“Do it.”
Her finger rested against the trigger.
“You want to destroy me? Do it yourself.”
Celeste heard her mother’s voice in memory.
You were always the bravest of us.
She lowered the gun.
“No.”
Arthur’s smile widened.
“You’re weak.”
“No. I’m leaving you alive for the courtroom.”
Federal agents restrained him.
Dr. Keller began shouting.
“I’ll cooperate! I have records! Arthur ordered everything!”
Arthur turned toward him with disgust.
“You pathetic coward.”
Keller pointed at Arthur.
“He told me to increase Eleanor’s dosage. Marcus brought the medication. Victoria delivered it, but she didn’t know.”
Samuel Price coughed from the floor.
“I have the original toxicology samples.”
Everyone looked at him.
Arthur’s face finally changed.
Samuel smiled through a split lip.
“Eleanor knew you’d bribe the coroner.”
Arthur lunged toward him.
Agents forced Arthur to his knees.
Samuel looked at Celeste.
“The lighthouse still burns.”
She knelt beside him.
“You kept your promise.”
“For fourteen years.”
Reed approached Celeste.
She stood and stepped away.
“Not now.”
He stopped.
Arthur was led toward the elevator.
Before the doors closed, he looked at Celeste.
“You think this ends with me?”
She said nothing.
Arthur smiled.
“Northstar has a seat on Vale Meridian’s board.”
The doors closed.
Celeste turned toward the rows of servers.
May you like
One member of the board had been helping Northstar all along.
And that person was still free.
