`STAFF SERGEANT BEN REED & SCOUT`
`UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS // FORCE RECON`
`STATUS: 100% VERIFIED & HELD TRUE.`
The twenty-two third-graders erupted into spontaneous, roaring applause:
*CHEERS-APPLAUSE-STOMPS.*
Clara wrapped her arms around Scout’s neck, burying her face into his fur as the dog’s tail thumped against the floorboards: *thump… thump… thump.*
Ben looked at Captain Morales:
“Captain.”
“Yes, Staff Sergeant?”
“Get the White Hawk ready.”
“Colonel Mercer is waiting in Bethesda.”
“We have an audit to conclude in Washington.”
CHAPTER 6: PROLOGUE TO THE HIGH CAPITOL AUDIT
`23:45:12 EST.`
The subterranean command continuity bunker eighty feet beneath the foundations of the United States Naval Medical Center in Bethesda—accessible only through the high-security hydraulic blast hatch beneath the research laboratories—was completely dark except for the amber glow of thirty encrypted tactical monitors.
Outside, the cold Maryland sleet had turned into heavy, silent snow, cloaking the naval helipads and the dark expanse of the National Mall in three inches of pristine, un-trodden white velvet.
