Chapter 7 - THE ARCHIVE OF SHADOWS
Captain Daniel Reeves set his clipboard down on the corner of the metal table, his eyes locked onto Margaret's calm face. His mind was racing, sifting through years of military intelligence briefings, ordnance safety manuals, and classified incident reports.
"Titanium shear-pins," Daniel murmured, stepping closer to Margaret. "I read a redacted incident file from '04 during my advance armor course at Fort Moore. Three prototype weapons experienced catastrophic upper-receiver blowbacks during live-fire trials in Eastern Europe. The investigation concluded it was sabotage using foreign micro-fragments placed in the bolt guide tracks."
Nathan looked back and forth between Daniel and Margaret, his face turning pale. "Reeves, what the hell are you talking about? That file was classified Above Top Secret!"
"It was," Daniel agreed softly. He looked directly into Margaret's icy blue eyes. "And the lead investigator who identified the sabotage method was a civilian specialist assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency... a woman named Dr. Hale."
Margaret did not confirm or deny the statement. Her face remained a flawless mask of professional composure. She merely tilted her head slightly, acknowledging the Captain's sharp intellect with a faint, imperceptible nod.
"Captain," Margaret said, her voice cool and practical, "if that titanium fragment was placed in this M4, then the individual who placed it had less than fifteen minutes between the armory delivery truck arriving and the start of your qualification cycle."
May you like
She looked toward the perimeter fence where three military supply trucks were parked under the shade of the pine trees.
"The person who sabotaged these weapons is still on this range," she added quietly.
