Chapter 4 - The Brother Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
"Daniel?"
The emergency lights painted the corridor red.
Nobody moved.
Then the man stepped forward.
My knees nearly failed.
He was thinner.
Older.
A scar ran from his temple toward his ear.
But it was Daniel.
Alive.
Rook reached him first.
The dog made a sound I had never heard before.
Half whine.
Half cry.
Daniel dropped to his knees.
Rook crashed into him.
For several seconds my brother buried his face against the dog's neck.
"Hey, partner."
I couldn't move.
Daniel looked up.
"Maya."
I hit him.
Then hugged him.
Four years of grief came out without permission.
I punched his shoulder.
Called him a liar.
Held him tighter.
He let me.
"I'm sorry."
"You were alive."
"I know."
"You let me bury an empty coffin."
"I know."
"I hated myself because I couldn't say goodbye."
His face broke.
"I know."
Brock remained several feet away.
Daniel looked at him.
The warmth disappeared.
"You brought her into this."
"I was out of options."
"You promised me."
"I also promised to keep Rook alive."
Daniel looked at the dog.
That answer mattered.
Mercer's voice suddenly came from the front corridor.
"Daniel?"
My brother stood.
"He's here?"
Brock nodded.
Daniel drew a pistol.
"Then we're leaving."
I grabbed his arm.
"No."
"Maya."
"No more disappearing. No more secrets."
"We don't have time."
"Make time."
Daniel looked at me.
For once, he understood that I wasn't his little sister waiting to be protected.
He nodded.
"Five minutes."
We entered the surgical suite and locked both doors.
Daniel explained Project Orpheus.
It had started as a legitimate classified recovery program designed to protect compromised military personnel and working dogs.
Then someone corrupted it.
Dead identities were reused.
Weapons moved under classified transport orders.
Operators listed as killed could be erased, coerced, or recruited.
Dogs were transferred under false names because their deployment histories connected missions together.
"Rook was evidence," Daniel said.
"Evidence of what?"
"Black Harbor wasn't an ambush. It was an extraction."
"Of whom?"
"Me."
I stared.
"They wanted you alive?"
"At first."
Daniel had discovered financial records linking Orpheus to a private defense contractor.
Helix Strategic Systems.
The company had government contracts worth billions.
Someone inside Naval command had been protecting it.
"Mercer?" I asked.
Daniel shook his head.
"I thought so."
Brock frowned.
"What changed?"
"Romania."
Daniel looked toward the corridor.
"Mercer had a chance to kill me. He didn't."
"Then who?"
Daniel reached into his jacket.
He removed an old memory card.
"I spent four years trying to prove that."
He handed it to me.
"Why me?"
"Because everybody watching me thinks I'm trying to expose Orpheus."
"You are."
"No."
His eyes held mine.
"I'm trying to expose the person who created it."
The clinic intercom suddenly activated.
Mercer's voice.
"Daniel, we need to talk."
Daniel stared at the speaker.
"You always did."
"I'm not your enemy."
"Prove it."
Mercer answered, "Rear parking lot. Blue sedan. Check the trunk."
Daniel looked at Brock.
"Trap?"
"Probably."
We moved toward the security monitor.
Power had partially returned.
One exterior camera worked.
A blue sedan sat near the rear entrance.
Daniel zoomed in.
Government plates.
He swore.
"Recognize it?"
"Yes."
"Whose?"
He didn't answer.
Brock looked closer.
Then went pale.
"No way."
"Whose car?"
Daniel finally said the name.
"Rear Admiral Nathan Vale."
I knew it.
Everyone did.
Vale was a decorated commander.
Television interviews.
Military charities.
Daniel's former commanding officer.
His mentor.
The man who had delivered Daniel's folded flag to me.
My stomach turned.
"Vale told me you were dead."
Daniel nodded.
"He signed the report."
"Is he Orpheus?"
"I don't know."
"Then why is his car outside?"
"That's what Mercer wants us to see."
We reached the rear hall.
Rook moved first.
Brock covered the door.
Daniel opened it.
No explosion.
No gunfire.
The sedan was unlocked.
Inside the trunk sat a metal case.
Daniel examined it before opening.
Inside were files.
Photographs.
Bank records.
And a laptop.
On top lay a handwritten note.
DANIEL—YOU WERE RIGHT ABOUT ORPHEUS. YOU WERE WRONG ABOUT WHO CONTROLLED IT.
Signed:
A. MERCER.
Daniel stared.
Brock said, "He left this?"
"Looks like it."
The laptop required biometric authentication.
A small fingerprint reader waited.
Daniel touched it.
Unlocked.
One video appeared.
Rear Admiral Vale sat in an office.
Timestamp: yesterday.
He looked directly into the camera.
"Daniel, if you're watching this, Mercer finally found you."
Daniel stiffened.
Vale continued.
"Do not trust him."
Brock sighed.
"Here we go."
Vale leaned closer.
"Orpheus was compromised twelve years ago. Mercer discovered it. He tried to stop it. That part is true."
Daniel stared.
"But he never discovered the second network."
My brother whispered, "Second network?"
Vale continued.
"Someone used Orpheus to create ghosts. Men without records. Dogs without histories. Assets who could move anywhere."
The video distorted.
Then Vale said:
"The person responsible is someone you trusted more than Mercer."
Daniel looked confused.
"So who?"
Vale reached toward the camera.
The recording ended.
No name.
Brock slammed the trunk.
"Convenient."
Rook suddenly barked toward the clinic roof.
A red laser dot appeared on Daniel's chest.
I saw it first.
"DOWN!"
I tackled him.
A suppressed shot cracked.
The rear window shattered.
Brock fired toward a neighboring building.
Rook pulled me behind the sedan.
Daniel crawled beside us.
Another shot struck metal.
Then silence.
Sirens appeared in the distance.
Actual police.
The jammer had stopped.
Mercer emerged from the clinic with his hands visible.
"I didn't order that."
Daniel aimed at him.
"Give me one reason."
Mercer pointed toward the rooftop.
"Because the shooter just tried to kill me too."
Blood darkened Mercer's sleeve.
He had been grazed.
Police vehicles turned into the lot.
Brock lowered his weapon.
"This is over."
Mercer shook his head.
"No. Now it starts."
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Daniel looked at me.
"Don't."
I answered.
A familiar older voice spoke.
"Maya."
My chest tightened.
Rear Admiral Vale.
"You need to get away from your brother."
"Why?"
"Because Daniel hasn't told you what Project Orpheus was really protecting."
I looked at Daniel.
He was watching me.
Vale's next words changed his face before I even understood them.
"Ask him why your name is listed as Orpheus Asset One."
Daniel whispered:
"Hang up."
I didn't.
Vale continued.
"Maya, the program was never built around your brother."
May you like
A pause.
"It was built around you."
