The media galleries connected to the walls were full to bursting, and the space before the dais was crowded with reporters ready to photograph the subpoenaed parties. Nearly all the seats for those with the security clearance to observe the closed session hearing were full. One face stood out as Jamie and the others maneuvered past the crowd to the witness table set with ten chairs this time around to accommodate the director and Alpha Team.
The DOJ’s Special Counsel, Travis Reynolds, had claimed a seat in the audience front and center. While the congressional investigations lacked the ability to prosecute, the DOJ’s did not. Normally, the two separate investigations would communicate through written requests to share reports and evidence. Reynolds being present wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, just unusual.
The man in question caught Jamie’s eye as the group passed, tilting his salt-and-pepper head in their direction. Reynolds didn’t say a word, but him being there spoke volumes. Jamie hoped today’s hearing went a long way toward clearing his and his team’s name.
Jamie ignored the cameras focused on him as Nazari went to confer with their lead JAG representative one more time. His team gathered around him, looking to Jamie to lead them forward one more time. His gaze lingered on where Kyle stood next to Katie, taking in his lover, glad that Kyle was here with him.
“Been a wild ride,” Jamie said in a low voice, meeting their eyes one at a time. “I couldn’t ever ask for a better team or a better family. You all know that.”
“Couldn’t ask for a better captain,” Katie replied, a smile tugging at her mouth.
Jamie looked at her, meeting his second-in-command’s eyes and seeing the same steady gaze reflected back at him. She’d been by his side for ten years and counting, a rock who’d helped him weather every storm that came their way.
“It’s been an honor,” Jamie told them.
“Honor was ours, sir,” Annabelle replied for them all.
As one, the eight members of Alpha Team that Jamie had commanded though the years snapped off precise salutes. Jamie returned the gesture without a second thought before turning to take his seat at the witness table. His team arranged themselves around him, with Katie to his right and Nazari eventually claiming the seat to his left.
Some minutes later, the senators on the United States Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities entered the room. While the committee’s name hadn’t changed, its objective had.
This time around, Senator Jeremy Stroud seemed less annoyed than when Jamie had last appeared before the committee. The senator’s frank gaze swept over the witness table as his fellow senators got situated on the dais. Someone called out for quiet and everyone in the room settled down.
“I’d like to open this hearing to order by asking the witnesses to stand for the oath and raise their right hands,” Stroud said.
Everyone at the table stood up, the cameras carried by the media in the galleries and those reporters on the floor in front of the dais never wavering. Jamie raised his right hand along with the others, his uniform jacket with its medals, ribbons, and braid pulling across his shoulders.
“Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” Stroud asked.
Jamie’s voice echoed with everyone else’s at the table when he said, “I do.”
“Please be seated.” Stroud looked down at his notes on his control screen before continuing with, “As a reminder, this is a closed session hearing and I must now at this time request the removal of all media and press, as well as anyone who doesn’t hold the required security clearance.”
It took several minutes for the room to empty out, the media galleries to be blocked by the sliding panels, and for someone to activate the soundproofing and electronic jammers. When the room was cleared and the doors locked, Stroud leaned forward, giving Jamie his full and undivided attention.
“These are very different circumstances we find ourselves meeting under again, Captain Callahan,” Stroud said.
“I’m aware of that, Senator,” Jamie replied calmly.
“I hope you will be more forthcoming than the last time you sat before this committee.”
“Depending on what questions are asked, I and my team will do our best to answer them.”
“Then I will ask that you start at the beginning. How did the MDF come to learn of the threat perpetuated by the now-deceased Russian precog Stanislav Pavluhkin?”
Jamie flashed back to a summer night in a crowded bar, and the stranger who took the spot beside him and never left. He didn’t need to look at where Kyle sat on the other side of Katie to know his lover was thinking of that night as well.
“The director saw fit to assign my team two new members in ’84,” Jamie began, the words filling his mind, that moment spooling free of memory. “And that decision changed everything.”
NOW
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24
Carry It With You
