Chapter 4 - The Admiral’s Father
The crew dragged the survivors through the flood toward the aircraft ramp.
Wind tore at their uniforms.
The boy screamed when he saw his mother.
Nash secured him against her chest.
Grace and Ben carried the older man between them.
His pulse was weak.
“His name?” Grace asked.
Ben looked at the man’s face.
“Colonel Everett Preston. Retired.”
“You’re sure?”
“I saw him at the admiral’s promotion ceremony years ago.”
Grace stared toward the C-130.
Rear Admiral Charles Preston stood near the open ramp, partially hidden by rain and aircraft lighting.
He was not moving toward them.
He was watching.
Grace had served beneath Preston for eighteen months.
He was controlled, respected, and feared.
He never issued emotional orders.
Yet he had demanded withdrawal while his own father remained trapped.
The crew reached the ramp.
Medical personnel rushed toward the mother and child.
Grace kept one hand beneath Everett’s neck.
Admiral Preston stepped forward.
For one second, he looked like a frightened son.
Then the expression disappeared.
“Take the family inside,” he ordered. “Leave the older casualty for ground response.”
Grace stared at him.
“The road is gone.”
“That is not your decision.”
“He has a pulse.”
“We have limited capacity.”
The C-130’s cargo bay was nearly empty.
Grace looked around.
“So that’s a lie.”
Everyone froze.
Ben whispered, “Grace.”
Preston’s eyes hardened.
“You disobeyed a direct extraction order.”
“I completed the rescue.”
“You endangered your crew.”
“To save three civilians.”
Preston looked down at his father.
Then at the silver watch.
“Two civilians,” he said.
Grace went still.
“Who is he?”
Preston’s jaw clenched.
“No one connected to this mission.”
Everett’s eyes opened slightly.
“Charlie…”
May you like
The admiral stepped back as if struck.
👉 Grace realized Preston was not ashamed that his father had been found—he was terrified the man might speak.
