Chapter 6 - The RecordingThe hospital's old records room had no windows and a lock that rarely worked properly.
Annie chose it because nobody came there unless they needed archived paperwork. Linda followed her inside, carrying a laptop and two cups of coffee.
"You don't have to do this alone," Linda said.
Annie set the memory card on the table.
"I know."
"Do you?"
Annie looked up.
Linda's expression was gentle but firm.
"You've spent seven months acting as if needing help is a personal failure. Whatever happened before you came here, it doesn't mean you have to keep punishing yourself."
Annie looked away.
"I don't know how to stop."
"Then start with one thing. Let somebody sit beside you."
The simple kindness almost broke her composure.
She pulled out a chair for Linda.
They connected the card to the laptop using an adapter Mercer had provided. For several minutes, nothing happened. Then a password prompt appeared.
Annie entered her old callsign.
ANGEL6.
The screen went black.
A recording began.
Static. Wind. The sound of someone breathing hard.
Then Daniel's voice.
"Annie, if you're hearing this, something went wrong."
She covered her mouth.
His voice sounded tired, but unmistakably alive in the way memories could make the dead seem close.
"We found the discrepancy in the evacuation logs. The extraction route was changed after the mission was approved. Someone gave our position to the wrong people."
A burst of static interrupted him.
"Mercer thinks it's a communications failure. I don't. I found a second authorization code on the order. It belongs to a civilian contractor working under a medical support agreement."
The recording skipped.
"There's a doctor involved. I don't have the full name yet. But the file was routed through a hospital system in Maine. Pine Harbor is in the access trail."
Annie stared at the screen.
Linda whispered, "Oh, my God."
Daniel continued.
"If they realize I've copied the records, they'll come for me. Don't trust the first report. Don't trust the closed case. And don't let them use what happened to you as proof that you can't remember."
The recording ended.
For a long time, Annie could not move.
Linda placed a hand over hers.
"He's talking about you."
Annie nodded slowly.
Seven months earlier, she had awakened in a military hospital with shrapnel wounds, a concussion, and fragments of memory that seemed to belong to someone else. She remembered the operation, but not every minute. She remembered Daniel's voice, but not the final exchange they had shared.
The official inquiry had repeatedly questioned her recollection.
At first, she had fought back.
Then the questions became accusations. Her medical decisions were scrutinized. A routine delay in evacuation was reframed as a possible error. The report said she had been disoriented and had made contradictory statements.
She had eventually requested reassignment.
She had wanted silence.
Now she understood that silence had been useful to someone else.
The door rattled.
Annie and Linda looked up.
Danny stood outside, breathing hard.
"Someone's in the server room," he said. "They're wiping files."
Annie grabbed the memory card.
"Who?"
"I don't know. Security says they're authorized maintenance."
"Where's Teague?"
"Not here."
Linda's face tightened.
"Of course he isn't."
Annie slipped the card into her pocket and hurried down the corridor. Danny and Linda followed.
The server room door stood ajar. Inside, a technician in a gray uniform was disconnecting a storage drive.
"Step away from the equipment," Annie ordered.
The man spun around.
He was holding a small black device attached to the terminal.
"Maintenance," he said.
"Then show me your authorization."
He bolted.
Danny lunged after him but slipped on the polished floor. Annie reached the doorway in time to see the man shove through an emergency exit.
By the time hospital security arrived, he was gone.
On the terminal, the screen showed a list of deleted files.
One entry remained visible.
MORROW INCIDENT — SUPPLEMENTAL MEDICAL RECORDS.
Annie opened it.
A single scanned page loaded.
It contained a transfer order for Daniel Morrow, dated two days after the official report listed him as dead.
Destination: unknown.
Status: Alive — under restricted custody.
Annie stared at the screen until the words blurred.
May you like
Then she saw the authorization signature.
It belonged to Captain Elias Mercer.
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