Chapter 2 - The Clear Valley
Captain Sterling had declared the valley clear three hours before it erupted.
He stood inside the operations shelter at Outpost 2960 with one hand pressed against a report bearing his signature. According to the document, no organized hostile force remained within the eastern sector. The route was safe. Convoy Copper could pass through at dawn without armored escort.
Staff Sergeant Morgan Vance knew the report was false.
She had spent two days watching enemy movement through a high-powered optic. Trucks entered the valley after dark. Men unloaded crates beneath camouflage netting. Radio traffic increased around the lower ridgeline. Fresh tire marks crossed terrain Sterling insisted had been empty for weeks.
At 1400 hours, Morgan documented an arms delivery eight hundred forty meters from her observation point.
She fired one controlled round into a weapon crate after the hostile team moved clear.
The explosion proved the cache was real.
Sterling arrived at the observation post furious.
Not because enemy weapons had been discovered.
Because Morgan had created evidence against his report.
“You’re seeing ghosts to fill a quota,” he said.
Morgan handed him the data log.
“Times, coordinates, vehicle count, and photographs.”
Sterling tore the page from the book.
Then he shoved her backward.
“The valley is cold, Vance. Your report is an illusion.”
Master Sergeant Miller saw the torn page.
He also saw Morgan recover it from the dirt after Sterling walked away.
That night, Miller slipped a backup radio into her kit.
“Primary net dies, use this,” he said.
Morgan looked at him.
“Expecting trouble?”
May you like
“I’m expecting Sterling.”
By dawn, the valley proved both of them right.
