Chapter 6
The revelation hit Thomas with the force of a sudden, violent tailwind. A digital breach under his personal clearance code meant only one thing: someone was actively attempting to frame him for industrial espionage. The implications were catastrophic, threatening not only his career and his hard-earned reputation within the aerospace command, but also his freedom. He stood frozen on the porch for a fraction of a second, his military training instantly kicking in to suppress the initial surge of shock and replace it with cold, analytical calculation.
"That's impossible," Thomas stated flatly, his voice hard as tempered steel. "My physical access token was locked in my secure locker at the command center before I left for the elementary school this morning. Nobody else has the biometric override sequence." Agent Vance crossed his arms, his expression devoid of sympathy or preconceived judgment. He was a security investigator; his job was to follow data trails, not to offer blind trust, regardless of Thomas's decorated service record.
"Protocol dictates that we investigate every anomaly, Commander, regardless of who the terminal belongs to," Vance replied evenly. "The system logs show an active session originating from your secondary mobile encryption key at precisely 2:15 PM today—the exact window you were inside the local elementary school dealing with that classroom disturbance. The data packet contained encrypted high-resolution files of the experimental rocket thruster designs."
Thomas felt a cold knot form in his stomach. 2:15 PM. That was the exact moment he was standing inside Mrs. Gable's classroom, listening to her mock his son's drawing and publicly humiliate Leo. He had left his civilian jacket hanging on the hook in the base locker room, but his encrypted secondary comm-pad—capable of remote terminal routing—had been secured inside the interior zippered pocket of that jacket. If someone had physical access to his locker during that specific timeframe, they could have bridged the network connection.
Inside the doorway, Leo listened to the heavy, adult whispers without fully grasping the technical details, but he could sense the profound danger radiating from the conversation. He clutched his rocket drawing tighter against his chest, feeling as though the secure world they had built was suddenly fracturing around them. "Dad?" Leo called out softly, his voice trembling slightly. Thomas immediately turned his head, softening his hardened expression to reassure his son before addressing the federal agent.
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"Vance, my comm-pad was locked inside a restricted military locker at the base during that entire window. The only individuals with administrative override keys to that specific locker bank are base security personnel and the facility quartermaster," Thomas said, locking eyes with the investigator. "Somebody inside the command structure is either severely compromised or actively working against me." Vance narrowed his eyes, considering the strategic weight of Thomas’s assertion. A high-level framing operation required inside access, sophisticated tools, and a deliberate motive.
"That's precisely why I came here personally instead of dispatching a military police detachment," Vance admitted, his tone dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "If word gets out through official channels before we verify the intrusion vector, the command will suspend your clearance immediately, pending a full tribunal. You have less than twelve hours before the morning briefing at zero-six-hundred hours. If you want to clear your name before the tribunal takes control of the investigation, we need to find out who had physical access to your locker while you were dealing with your son's school emergency."
