General Carl Gerald's free hand clenched into a fist, his knuckles going white. Sara and Debra both stiffened, their expressions shifting to alarm."Did you save the email?" General Carl Gerald asked, forcing his voice to remain calm despite the rage building in his chest."Yes," Victor said. "I took screenshots too, in case it somehow got deleted. General, I'm scared. Who would send something like that? And how did they get my personal email?""I don't know yet," General Carl Gerald said grimly. "But I'm going to find out. Victor, I need you to forward that email to me immediately. Can you do that?""Yes, of course," Victor said. "What's your email address?"General Carl Gerald rattled off his secure military email address, and he could hear Victor typing on the other end."Sent," Victor said after a moment. "General, do you think... Do you think this is from the same people who attacked the cemetery and carried the dead bodies of Lord Denver and Jason?""It's possible," General Ca

"We have triple the security personnel. We have surveillance systems that we didn't have at the cemetery.”“We have every possible contingency planned for.""And most importantly," Debra Zachs said, "we have the element of awareness. At the cemetery, we were caught off guard. We weren't expecting an attack of that magnitude.”“Tomorrow, we're expecting trouble. We're ready for it. That makes all the difference.""I hope you're right," Mrs. Anna Marcus said, though she still sounded uncertain. "I just... I can't lose anyone else. I can't bury anyone else. I can't..."Her voice broke completely, and they could hear her sobbing again. Victor's voice came through, gentle and soothing."Mom, it's okay. We're going to be okay. General Carl Gerald and his team know what they're doing. We have to trust them.""I'm trying," Mrs. Anna Marcus managed through her tears. "I'm really trying.""That's all anyone can ask," General Carl Gerald said softly. "Mrs. Marcus, I know words are inadequate righ

General Carl Gerald stood frozen for a moment, the phone still pressed against his ear even though the call had ended. The weight of Phineas's cryptic message hung heavy in the air between him and his team."What did he say?" Debra Zachs asked, stepping closer, her expression sharp with concern."He found something," General Carl Gerald said slowly, lowering the phone. "Something he can't discuss over a secure line. Something that requires his quantum setup…whatever that means.""That doesn't sound good," Captain Luke observed, his hand instinctively moving to rest on his sidearm. "If Phineas can't even risk discussing it over encrypted communications...""Then whatever he found is serious," Sara finished, her exhaustion momentarily forgotten as professional alertness kicked in. "Really serious."General Carl Gerald turned to face his team fully, his mind already racing through possibilities. "Alright, let's think this through before we head to Phineas's apartment. What could he ha

"Someone is threatening the family of a fallen Elite Division officer.”“Someone is trying to intimidate them, to prevent them from honoring their daughter's sacrifice.”“If that's not a threat worthy of our full attention and resources, I don't know what is." Captain Luke immediately said, his voice was laced with a mixture of emotions and feelings at the moment, it wasn't anger but something much more emotional.General Carl Gerald understood where Captain Luke was coming from, but he also understood Debra's concern about resource allocation. Military satellite surveillance wasn't something to be ordered lightly.But then again, if something happened to Mrs. Anna Marcus or Victor Marcus…if they were harmed because he hadn't done everything possible to protect them…he would never forgive himself."Do it," he decided. "Captain Luke, contact the Elite Division satellite operations center. Authorization code Gerald-Omega-Seven-Seven-Niner.”“I want continuous satellite coverage of the

"Okay," Phineas said finally, "I've reviewed his communication patterns for the last six months.”“Phone calls are mostly work-related or calls to his wife.”“Emails are boring…work stuff, online shopping, newsletters.”“Social media is minimal…he's barely active on any platform.”“The most exciting thing I found is that he's part of a solar energy professionals' forum where they discuss panel efficiency ratings.""So he's exactly what he appears to be," Debra Zachs said. "A solar engineer who walked out on his family twenty-five years ago and is now trying to make amends by attending his estranged daughter's funeral.""Looks that way," Phineas confirmed. "Unless he's the most careful, most thoroughly covered operative I've ever seen, this guy is clean, General. He's not a threat."General Carl Gerald rubbed his face, feeling the exhaustion of the day catching up with him. "Alright. Keep monitoring him anyway. If anything changes, if he contacts anyone suspicious, if his patterns d