The shout snapped through the air like a switch.
"Director on deck."
Every soldier within earshot straightened. Conversations cut off mid-word. A medic with a clipboard froze, pen hovering just above the page. Even the drones seemed to pause, rotors humming in place.
Sera watched the change before she looked at the door.
People were always more interesting than titles.
Boots hit the metal walkway outside the yard with a steady, unhurried rhythm. Not the heavy stomp of someone trying to prove authority, not the quick clatter of someone late. Just a walk, measured and certain, as if the man behind the sound had never once considered not being obeyed.
He stepped through the doorway a moment later.
