Page 5 (1/2)

PART I

Countdown

Garret

I stood before a silent, watchful table, six pairs of eyes onas aited for the charges to be declared Men in uniforray, with the emblem of the Order—a red cross on a white shield—displayed proudly on their jackets Their harsh, lined faces reflected a lifetile Soht for, followed coht Lieutenant Gabriel Martin sat at one end of the table, his black eyes and blank expression giving nothing away I’d known him nearly my whole life; he had molded me into what I was today The Perfect Soldier, asthe relatively short tiy was another word that had been tossed around over the years, and lucky son of a bitch, if they were feeling less generous I owedso him to try harder, to do more To rise above everyone else So I had I’d killed e, and the nuher had the unexpected not occurred this suardless of my situation, I had been one of the best, and I had Martin to thank for that

But the e He, along with the rest of the ht

The room in which I stood was shts, low ceilings and walls with no s Nor, and the long table usually sat in the center surrounded by chairs Except for the main headquarters in London, Order chapterhouses did not have designated courtroo soldiers was expected froly head, full-blown treason was unheard of Loyalty to the cause was soe understood To betray the Order was to betray everything

Theme over the polished wood His name was John Fischer, and he was a respected captain of the Order and a hero in the field The left side of his face was a mass of burn scars and puckered flesh, and he wore thee as he folded his equally scarred hands in front of him and raised his voice

“Garret Xavier Sebastian” He barked my full name, and the room instantly fell silent The trial was officially under way “For disobeying a direct order,” Fischer continued, “attacking a squadthree known hostiles to escape, you are accused of high treason against the Order of St George” His sharp blue eyes fixed on ht against you?”

“I do”

“Very well” He looked at thethe far wall behind me, and nodded “Then ill commence Tristan St Anthony, step forward”

There was a squeak as a body rose from a chair, then quiet footsteps clicked across the floor as my former partner came to stand a few feet from my side

I didn’t look at hiht ahead, hands behind my back, as he did the same But I could see him in my peripheral vision, a tall, lean soldier several years older than me, his dark hair cropped close His perpetual srim line, and his blue eyes were solemn as he faced the table

“Please inform the court, to the best of your ability, of the events that led up to the night of the raid, and what conspired after”