Chapter 16 - One More Fight
Hale wanted Avery nowhere near the mat. Chen agreed. Reed told her the scheduled match looked like bait.
"It is bait," Avery said. "But it's also evidence that somebody still thinks I can be manipulated."
She refused the match in writing and delivered her refusal through counsel. An hour later, her commanding officer informed her that her assignment had been suspended. The demonstration would proceed with another female soldier.
Her replacement was Private Lena Ortiz.
"They can't do that," Avery said.
Ortiz stood in the hall holding a printed assignment order. "They can write it. Whether it's legal is a different question."
Briggs was under custody, so the event organizers brought in an outside fighter, former Sergeant Julian Cross, twice Ortiz's size and known for televised combat contests. No one could explain why a wellness demonstration needed a contact fight.
"I volunteered to show them I'm not afraid," Ortiz admitted.
"You never had to prove that," Avery told her. "Your courage isn't the problem. Their control is."
Ortiz tore up her voluntary participation form. Hale submitted a safety complaint. Yet the program still listed her name.
On the morning of the showcase, guests filled the observation gallery. Rusk arrived with cameras and donors. Mercer, now under investigation but not yet charged, welcomed him from the platform.
Avery entered with Chen and Reed through the public corridor. Her uniform was pressed; the faint mark beneath her eye remained from Briggs's weighted wrap.
Rusk intercepted her beside a display of polished trophies. "Captain Mitchell. Your brother's story moved a lot of people."
"It moved you into a better contract," she said.
His smile tightened. "Careful. Anger clouds good judgment."
"So does greed."
On the mat, Ortiz stood opposite Cross. The instructor raised his whistle. Hale stepped forward carrying the signed suspension notice.
Mercer took it, read it, and tossed it onto the scorer's table. "Proceed."
Reed's radio crackled: the emergency warrant had just been signed.
Before he could act, the huge screen above the mat came alive with a live feed from Daniel's hospital room.
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Across the image flashed a message.
WITHDRAW THE INVESTIGATION OR HE DIES.
