Chapter 4 - THE STANDING MARINES
Captain Brooks had spent two years investigating continuity operations.
Every soldier who stood had lost someone whose service record no longer matched reality.
A brother declared dead but seen at another base.
A wife whose medical file showed two fingerprints.
A commander appearing in two countries at once.
Brooks chose the mess hall because continuity tests relied on social humiliation and silence.
Public laughter made victims easier to isolate.
Standing together destroyed that variable.
The young Marine who laughed first was Aaron Mills.
His older sister had disappeared after refusing a continuity transfer.
He laughed because Mercer ordered everyone nearby to “keep the scene natural.”
Then he stood because he recognized the phrase.
His shame was real.
So was his choice to stop participating.
The recorder captured Mercer’s threats.
The hidden cameras captured the wall opening.
Evidence now existed outside the continuity system.
Then Daniel gave Brooks a location.
Fort Ashbury.
Nathan kept an archive beneath the old officers’ club.
Inside were the original identities of hundreds of replaced service members.
Mercer offered access codes for protection.
No immunity.
He would answer for Daniel’s shooting.
May you like
Before he could finish, the mess hall service counter exploded.
Read Chapter 5 to discover what Mercer had hidden beneath the coffee station.
