Novels by Shawn Frost

Every radio in the vehicle turned on at once.Static filled the cabin then a child’s voice said:“Rachel, open your eyes.”Rachel slammed on the brakes.The vehicle skidded across the wet road. Ethan’s shoulder struck the door. Victor hit the side panel, while Cross caught the overhead rail with one hand.The radio went silent.For several seconds, nobody moved.Rachel stared at the dashboard.Ethan reached for his weapon.“Why did you stop?”Rachel’s hands remained locked around the steering wheel.“Because I knew what she was going to say next.”“What?”Rachel swallowed.“I don’t know.”The silence that followed was worse than the voice.Behind them, the burning communications station sent a column of smoke into the grey morning. Ahead, the road disappeared into mist.Victor looked at Rachel.“Was that the protocol?”

The machine asked for Ethan’s consent.He stared at the screen.> **ORIGINAL IDENTITY RECOVERY PROTOCOL** > **LIVE CONSENT REQUIRED** > **PROCEED?**Below it, two options waited.**YES.****NO.**Behind him, the communications station groaned around its old machinery. Dust drifted from the ceiling. The emergency generator coughed beneath the floor, struggling to power a system that had been buried for years.Rachel stepped closer.“We don’t know what it will do.”“I know what not knowing has done.”“That isn’t an answer.”“It’s the only one I have.”Elena stood near the wall, pale beneath the monitor light.“The protocol may not restore memories in order,” she said. “It could trigger command conditioning first.”“Could it kill me?”“Yes.”Victor looked at her sharply.“You could have led with that.”Ethan kept h

The vehicle moved through the city before dawn.Rain blurred the lights into long, trembling streaks across the windows. Somewhere behind them, Kane’s medical facility continued to burn. Smoke climbed above the southern district, turning the sky the color of old bruises.No one spoke.Victor sat in the rear compartment with his back against the wall, one hand pressed to his side. Cross occupied the seat opposite him, pale beneath the blood drying across his temple. Rachel sat nearest the doors, weapon resting across her thighs.Elena was beside Ethan. She'd said she knew who killed Darius. Then she had gone silent.Ethan watched the city pass beyond the glass.At last, he turned toward her.“Who killed Darius?”Elena’s eyes remained on the road ahead.“Marcus Reeves.”Victor shifted.Rachel’s hand tightened around her weapon.Ethan felt something inside him go still.For five years, Reeves had been the name beneath every unanswered question. The man who had redirected the operation. T

The lights died.For one breath, the facility disappeared.Then the speakers came alive.A woman’s voice moved through the darkness, cool and familiar.“Ethan, if you want to know what happened to Darius, kill the woman standing beside you.”Ethan did not raise his weapon.Elena stood three steps away, her face barely visible in the emergency glow. Rachel had Victor behind her. Somewhere beyond the corridor, Kane’s security team was closing in.The voice returned.“She is not the woman you remember.”Elena’s expression did not change.“That part is true,” she said.Rachel looked at her. “You’re admitting it?”“I’m admitting that memory is not proof of identity.”The lights returned.The security team entered.Ethan moved first.The nearest guard raised his rifle. Ethan caught the barrel and forced it aside as the shot tore into the ceiling.

The capital had learned Ethan’s face again. His image covered every public screen as the team left the Council district: Ethan kneeling beside Darius, weapon in hand, smoke behind him and blood across his sleeve. No context. No explanation. Just the photograph. People stopped beneath the screens. Some pointed. Some shouted. One man threw a bottle at the armored vehicle ahead of them. It shattered against the road, spraying glass across the rain. Rachel sat opposite Ethan in the back of the van. She watched the image disappear behind them, then return on another screen farther down the avenue. “Someone timed the broadcast well,” she said. Ethan pressed one hand against his ribs. “Reeves.” “Kane benefits from it.” “So does Reeves.” “Then perhaps they’re not fighting as much as they want us to believe.” Elena

The command chamber began to suffocate. A thin white mist leaked from the vents overhead, spreading across the floor in slow curls. The old system had not been designed to kill intruders quickly. It had been designed to make them helpless first. Ethan pulled his sleeve over his mouth. “Gas,” Elena said. Rachel was already at the nearest console. “The doors are sealed.” A figure stood beyond the chamber glass, half hidden by the emergency lights. Tall. Still. The old Directorate insignia on his coat caught the red glow. He raised one hand. “Give me Elena,” he said through the intercom. “The rest of you can leave.” Ethan fired at the speaker. The bullet shattered the glass around it. The figure did not move. “You’re still chasing the order,” he said. “Elena already knows who wrote it.” Elena’s face tightened