I take a breath. "Okay. Let's do it. But I need that intel from your broker first. Who's vulnerable, who's positioned to turn. Without that, I'm building a story that might not hit the right pressure points."
"I'll arrange the communication," Kane says. "Cross won't risk direct contact. We'll use intermediaries. Encrypted channels. She'll send what she has through back channels."
"How long?" I ask.
"Hours. Maybe less. She's been anticipating this. Probably has files ready." Kane starts issuing orders to Stryker about secure communications. The room dissolves into motion—people moving to their assigned tasks, the operational machine grinding into gear.
Dylan stays beside me. "You don't have to do this."
"Yes I do." I meet his eyes. "This is why I started investigating the Committee. Not to get people killed. Not to run forever. To expose what they are and make them answer for it."
"Exposing them might get you killed anyway."
"Then at least it'll mean something." I pull up my research files, start organizing them for the exposé. "Better than dying in a black site where nobody knows what happened."
Dylan's fingers wrap around mine. Squeeze once. "We'll make it count."
"Damn right we will."
A few hours later, Kane appears in the command center where I've set up with Dylan and Khalid. "Cross delivered."
He plugs a drive into my laptop. Files populate the screen—intelligence reports, financial records, communication intercepts. What Victoria Cross has compiled on the Committee's internal structure.
I scan the first document. Detailed analysis of power dynamics within the Committee leadership. Who benefited from Morrison's death. Who's consolidating control. Who's vulnerable.
"This is incredible," I breathe. "She's got dirt on everyone."
"Cross trades in leverage," Kane says. "She documents it all."
"We're not paying her," I point out.
"We're offering her survival. Morrison's death created a vacuum. Webb's trying to fill it but he doesn't have Morrison's reputation or connections. Other players are positioning for power. If we accelerate that process, Cross gets to broker the new arrangement. She makes more from chaos than stability."
"So we're creating chaos," I say.
"We're revealing existing chaos," Dylan corrects. "The Committee's been pretending at unity while everyone jockeys for position. We're just making it public."
I dive into Cross's files. The intel is specific—names of Committee members who opposed Morrison's methods. Generals who thought Protocol Seven was too risky. Defense contractors worried about legal exposure. Politicians who benefited from Committee money but want distance if investigations start.
"These are the weak points," I realize. "People who will turn on Webb and Morrison to save themselves."
"Exactly." Dylan leans closer, reading over my shoulder. "Cross has even identified leverage. What each person is vulnerable to. What threats would make them cooperate with federal investigations."
"She's giving us a roadmap," Kane says. "Not just for exposing the Committee, but for dismantling it. You structure the exposé to hit these pressure points, people start talking to protect themselves. Then it becomes a cascade. Everyone racing to cut deals before there's nothing left to trade."
The strategy is elegant and brutal. Use the Committee's own survival instinct against them. Make staying loyal more dangerous than betraying Webb. Turn their organization into a liability that everyone wants distance from.
"I need time to structure this correctly," I say. "The story has to build. Start with Morrison's war crimes and financial corruption. Establish the pattern. Then introduce Protocol Seven. Then show how Webb continued it all after Morrison died. Make it impossible to claim this was one bad actor. Show it's systemic."
"How long?" Kane asks.
"The rest of today. Tonight. Tomorrow morning at latest." I'm already outlining the exposé in my head. "I need to draft the narrative. Coordinate with journalists. Set up the simultaneous release. Make sure every outlet has enough documentation to verify independently."
"Tommy's working on the dead man's switches," Kane says. "Automated releases if we go dark. Geographic redundancy so they can't shut it down. He'll have it operational by tonight."
"Then we publish tomorrow?" Dylan asks.
"Tomorrow." The word feels both too soon and too late. "Before the Committee finds this location. Before they can stop us."
