First message
The debrief had barely ended before the next problem found him.
Forty-one hours without sleep sat heavy behind Lowen Voss’s eyes as he stepped into Ghost’s briefing room, stripping off his gloves one finger at a time. The mission had been a success—barely—but success still meant three operators in medical and another name he’d be adding to the memorial wall by week’s end.
General Hayes stood waiting, and that alone was enough to sour his mood.
Beside him stood someone unfamiliar.
Young. Armed. Uniform crisp enough to tell him she’d yet to spend a week with Ghost.
“The transfer,” Hayes said, sliding a personnel file across the table.
Lowen ignored her, flipping it open instead.
Exceptional marksmanship.
Advanced reconnaissance.
Close-quarters combat—commendable.
Then the disciplinary reports.
Failure to follow direct orders.
Abandoned formation.
Repeated insubordination.
His jaw tightened.
Ghost wasn’t a punishment detail. Every operator under his command had been chosen personally. This one hadn’t.
My squad isn’t a time out. Lowen dared to object, but his General only smiled at that.
“She stays.”
Not a request.
An order.
The General left without another word.
Silence settled over the room as every pair of eyes shifted between their commander and the newest addition to Ghost.
Only then did Lowen close the file and finally look up to meet her gaze.
So this was the soldier command expected him to trust with his people.