Page 247 of Broken Oath

“The visible compound is only the administrative and aviation section. The detention facility is built beneath this ridge.”

An underground complex appeared on an older geological survey.

“How do you know?” Rook asked.

“I helped create it.”

The warehouse became very still.

Henry looked toward the Silver Sword emblem.

“Twenty years ago, the Silver Sword established several secure sites for protected witnesses and compromised operatives. Theta was supposed to keep people alive until they could testify.”

“What happened?”

“Warden took control.”

“When?”

“Gradually. Oversight disappeared. Directors changed. The sites stopped protecting witnesses and started keeping them.”

Sarah looked toward Wade’s image.

“You knew he was there?”

“Not at first.”

“When did you find out?”

“Three years ago.”

The pain on her face deepened.

“You found him and didn’t bring him home?”

“I couldn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because the moment Warden realized I knew, they moved him. Every time I got close, another site disappeared.”

Henry looked toward the transfer records.

“The Silver Sword marks on those authorizations are mine. I used people still embedded inside the network to keep Wade and the other survivors away from termination orders.”

“You were protecting them,” Fathom said.

“Barely.”

“Why not release them during a transfer?”

“Because Warden separated the access codes. No single person controlled a complete operation. If one part failed, the prisoners were killed.”

Sarah went pale.

Henry continued.

“I needed enough of the original Silver Sword network to breach the facility, disable the termination system, and extract all four survivors simultaneously.”