Chapter 8 - The Reclamation of the Cloth
General Ward took a deep, rattling breath. Supported by Elena’s iron grip, he slowly pushed himself up from the concrete floor, his boots dripping with cold chicory coffee. He dropped his salute, his face still pale, his hands trembling as he straightened his uniform.
He turned slowly to face Command Sergeant Major Grant Mercer.
The warmth and grief that had filled the general’s face moments before vanished in a fraction of a second, replaced by a cold, murderous fury that made the two armed Military Policemen at the door subtly shift their carbines.
"Sergeant Major Mercer," Ward said.
The words were spoken so quietly, with such an undercurrent of raw, vibrating lethality, that Mercer’s knees visibly knocked together.
"Sir!" Mercer choked out, his voice cracking, his throat dry as sandpaper.
Ward pointed a gloved finger down at the pool of spilled coffee, where the faded olive-drab M-65 field jacket lay soaked in the muck.
"Pick up that jacket," Ward commanded.
Mercer did not hesitate. The terrifying arrogance that had defined his career was entirely eradicated. He dropped to both knees in the spilled breakfast, his polished combat boots splashing in the grease, and reached into the coffee puddle with trembling hands.
He lifted the heavy cotton-sateen jacket from the floor. The wet fabric was heavy, dripping brown liquid onto his clean trousers, the frayed cuffs smelling of chicory and stale rain.
"Stand up," Ward hissed.
Mercer scrambled to his feet, holding the wet jacket in front of him with both hands as if it were an unexploded bomb. His chest heaved, sweat breaking out across his forehead despite the sub-zero draft howling through the open doors.
Ward took half a step closer, stopping inches from Mercer’s nose. "Do you know who this woman is, Sergeant Major?"
Mercer swallowed the bitter bile rising in his throat, unable to speak.
"This is Colonel Elena Cross," Ward said, his words falling like sledgehammer blows onto the sergeant major’s skull. "Distinguished Service Cross with two oak leaf clusters. Silver Star with three V-devices. Purple Heart with six stars. Former commanding officer of the Special Activities Division’s black compartmentation unit. She has survived more combat deployments behind denied borders than your entire battalion has combined."
The watching soldiers stood motionless, several of them holding their breath so tightly their faces were turning crimson.
"You told her she didn't earn that cloth," Ward whispered, his voice trembling with unbridled disgust. "You kicked her food across my deck. You threatened to throw her into the snow with the garbage."
"General... please..." Mercer stammered, his eyes wide and wild with sheer, unadulterated terror. "I didn't know... there was no record... she was listed as civilian support..."
"You didn't know because you are blind to anything that doesn't wear a shiny pin, Sergeant Major," Ward cut him off, his voice slicing through the hangar like a cold bayonet. "You saw an older woman in a scullery, and you thought you could brutalize her to make yourself feel large in front of your troops."
Ward turned his head toward the two Military Policemen standing by the door.
"Sergeant of the Guard."
"SIR!" the lead MP barked, snapping to attention.
"Strip Sergeant Major Mercer of his duty belt, his credentials, and his sidearm," Ward ordered, his tone flat and absolute. "Relieve him of his post as installation command sergeant major. Place him in administrative confinement at the provost marshal’s compound pending formal charges under Articles ninety-three, ninety-two, and one hundred thirty-three of the Uniform Code of Military Justice."
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Mercer’s jaw dropped. The reality of his complete, irreversible professional destruction crashed down upon him. "General! Thirty years of service, sir! Please—"
"You are fortunate, Mercer," Ward interrupted, his eyes colder than the desert wind. "If we were in the operational theater where Colonel Cross earned that tattoo, you wouldn't be going to the brig. You would be buried behind the latrines."
