Commanded To Kneel By My Ex Husband
I urgently radioed the Operations Room, requesting immediate extraction. The order that came backfrom the Commander, who also happened to be my ex-husbandwas a punch to the gut:
Hold your position. Fight to the last man.
My voice was raw with desperation in the comms unit. Were being overrun! If we dont pull back now, the whole team will be wiped out!
His reply was chillingly detached.
Didnt you leave me standing alone at the altar three years ago, without so much as a backward glance, running off to that foreign hellhole?
Now you get to find out if the grass you ran to was truly greener, or just a blood-soaked grave.
Mark my words, Nova. Any retreat without my explicit order will be treated as treason.
I clenched my fists, a spasm of absolute despair, and directed my team to hold the line in a storm of gunfire. Every second felt like a year.
It was an eternity before his voice returned. Ive seen enough. You are cleared for extraction.
A sudden, dizzying wave of relief washed over me, only to be immediately replaced by a plunge into a freezing black void as he delivered his next sentence:
Before you evacuate, Captain Reed, you will kneel before every civilian you rescued and publicly confess to your betrayal. One hundred loud, ringing kowtows. Not one less.
1
Ops, I require a confirmation of the last command!
The artillery was deafening, shrapnel screamed past my helmet.
I was practically shouting into the microphone, my voice lost in the continuous roar of explosions. Behind me, the cries of the hundred-plus rescued civilians twisted around my heart like a garrote.
Lexi, my second-in-command, a sharp young woman in her early twenties, pressed close, wiping blood and grime from her face. Her voice was a strained whisper of fear.
Captain, were down to the last belt for the heavy machine gun, less than thirty rounds per person for the rifles. We wont survive the next wave
It was then that the cold, clinical voice of Elias Barrett cut through the encrypted channel.
Command confirmed, Captain. Hold the position until the last man falls. This is the Commanders final order.
Commander
The title felt like a bullet through my chest. Sitting in that secure, underground center thousands of miles away, in the highest seat of authority, was the man I had abandoned at the altar.
Now, he watched us bleed out via satellite feed. There was no tremor of feeling in his voice.
Nova, what what is he doing? Why? Lexis face was ashen.
The hostages are secure. We should be getting the highest level of extraction support! Why is he leaving us to die?
I didnt answer.
My gaze was locked on the horizon where the enemy vehicle lights were tearing open the nighta black tide pressing in. I gripped the comms, the stench of gunpowder and desperation in my hoarse voice.
Elias Barrett, I repeat. Civilians secured, we are nearly out of ammunition. Requesting immediate withdrawal!
Two seconds of dead silence, followed by a soft sighone that carried a faint, almost amused, note.
Request?
Did you listen when I grabbed your sleeve and begged you to stay at our wedding five years ago? You walked away without looking back, Nova. Not even a single glance.
I slammed my fist into the scorched earth in front of me, the sharp pain in my knuckles barely registering beneath the boiling rage. This was not the time for settling old scores. The lives of my team, and the hundred-thirty-one terrified faces behind us, depended on my next move.
Elias, you need to be professional! Every word was forced out through gritted teeth.
You are the Commander of this operation, not the man settling a personal vendetta! Do you not see the critical danger were in?!
Professional?
His cold, quiet laugh resonated in the earpiecea sound that made my marrow freeze.
I am perfectly professional, Captain Reed. Im simply enjoying this foreign moon with you. See for yourself. What did this place, the one you sacrificed everything to run to, give you in return?
If we dont retreat, were all going to die! My eyes were bloodshot. I screamed the words.
And so what if you do?
His voice was flat, cold as permafrost.
You threw away three years of our life together to come here. I imagine paying with your own life now... is something youre perfectly willing to do.
The last thread of my control snapped.
Elias Barrett! You are a psycho!!
Tearing the radio from my ear, I smashed the handset into the mud.
Lexi lunged forward, grabbing my arm, her voice tight with a suppressed sob. Nova! Calm down! Please, Captain, calm down!
I took a deep, ragged breath, snatched the mud-caked radio, and resumed command.
All teams, report on ammo and casualty status.
Team Alpha, contract to Bunker Two. Team Beta, set the last of the claymores on the southeast breach. Snipers, prioritize the enemy MGs and RPGs.
My team continued its desperate, disciplined resistance. But a support-less team trying to hold off an overwhelming assault was futile.
Our ammunition was depleting fast. Every trigger pull was a grain of sand dropping faster in an hourglass.
A medics choked voice broke into the internal channel. Captain, the civilians theyre breaking down. Theyre asking if weve been abandoned. If were ever going to get out of here?
I glanced down at the two remaining magazines on my belt, my throat dry. I swallowed hard and replied hoarsely.
Tell them we have not abandoned them. We will take them home. We just need to hold on a little longer.
Inhaling the mix of smoke and copper, I pressed the button for the encrypted comms channel again. This time, all fury was gone, replaced by a deep, weary submissiona sound I barely recognized.
Commander Barrett, I used his rank.
I have never begged anyone in my life.
Please, consider this a plea. Do whatever you want to me. Ill accept it. But let these one hundred-plus innocent lives survive.
The channel went dead silent, only the faint static hiss and the sound of his suppressed breathing. A ridiculous, fleeting thought crossed my mindhad I finally broken through? Had he hesitated?
2
Just as that fragile hope flickered to life, his voice returned.
Fine.
The word caused my heart to leap.
Then, his tone shifted, the sound of a man relishing his madness.
You can withdraw your people. But before I give the official command, Captain Reed, you must go to all those you saved and kneel.
You will confess, to their faces, how you betrayed and cheated on your husband.
And then, you will perform one hundred kowtows. Every single one has to ring. I need to hear the impact.
Do that, and I will be merciful and allow your extraction. What do you say?
Hes murdering us! Hes using them to kill you! Lexi screamed in rage beside me.
Nova! He never planned on letting us live! Hes forcing you to
I raised a hand, stopping her.
I understood perfectly.
Elias knew me too well. He knew that honor and dignity were my last sacred boundaries. His goal was to utterly dismantle me, to reduce everything I fought forin front of my team, the people I protected, and any possible recordingto dust.
Five years ago, in front of all our loved ones, I had shattered his dignity and his dreams. Now, he intended to collect that debt a hundredfold, at the precipice of death.
Nova Reed, have you decided? Eliass voice cut in again.
Let me guess how much ammo do you have left? Three minutes? Or will it be over in the next second?
The final wall of my sanity crumbled. I roared into the radio:
Elias Barrett! Do you know what you are doing?! This is murder! A court-martial is waiting for you!
The response was a brief, dismissive chuckle.
Yes. But only if someone manages to survive to testify against me.
A freezing clarity gripped my heart. I stood there, rooted, finally understanding his unspoken assurance. He was absolutely certain we wouldnt walk out of this alive.
Nova, dont listen! We can contact the High Command directly, bypass him! Lexi pleaded.
I shook my head slowly, an unbearable weariness settling over me.
It wont work. This mission is classified. Hes the direct Commander. Our plea wont get through unless a top-level override is issued.
The only passable route for us to slow them down is here. If we retreat without air support, we become targets in the open desert.
He calculated every move.
Lexis voice was a choked sob of despair. So theres no other way? We just have to
I pulled the last crumpled cigarette from my pocket and lit it with a shaky hand, the faint glow flickering in the cold night, much like the memory of that airport five years ago.
Id lit a similar cigarette then, too. With my gravely ill mother unconscious on a stretcher, I had turned from his tear-streaked face.
Nova, if you walk away now, Ill never forgive you!
I thought the ashes of our three years together were the full price of that choice. I never imagined his five years of simmering hatred would be levied like this, staking the lives of a hundred strangers against me.
Captain! A civilian was hit in the arm by shrapnel, bleeding badly! We need to evacuate them immediately!
The medics tearful voice tore through the tense silence.
It was the final straw. All calculation ceased.
I took a deep drag on the cigarette, the last light in my eyes extinguished.
Lexi.
Take over the command. Hold for three minutes. Ill get us home.
Lexi grabbed my arm, her fingers digging through my armor plate. Captain, no
Thats an order.
I shook her off, not looking back. Under the stunned, anguished, disbelieving stares of my team, I turned and walked, step by slow step, toward the terrified civilians huddled in the shadow of the bunker.
3
In the comms, Eliass voice was suddenly there, trembling faintly with excitement.
Good.
Start. Captain Reed. Ive been looking forward to this.
I silently switched the radio to public broadcast volume.
I knew what was coming. The civilians would be bewildered, then disgusted. My teammates would be shocked and humiliated. My name would be ruined, and the dignity I cherished would be annihilated by my own hands, in the full light of the war-torn landscape.
But none of it mattered anymore. Any personal honor was dust compared to one hundred-thirty-one lives.
I stood before the crowd, facing the bewildered, fear-filled, dependent faces.
The noise and crying subsided. All eyes, confused, were fixed on me.
Fellow citizens, my voice, amplified through the comms, was clear and steady. I am the mission commander, Nova Reed.
After a brief pause, I spoke the words that would end my life as I knew it.
Five years ago, I betrayed my husband.
At our wedding, in front of all our family and friends, I abandoned him, unilaterally breaking our vows and leaving.
This was all my fault. I formally apologize for my actions.
The second the words were out, the silence broke into gasps and an audible wave of confusion and outrage.
I didnt look up. I didnt look at a single face. I slowly, deliberately, bent my knees.
Thud.
The first kowtow. My forehead slammed against the hard, cold earth, the dull sound briefly louder than the distant cannon fire.
Thud.
The second. Dust mingled with the pain searing my brow bone.
Thud. The third, the fourth, the fifth My movements became faster, more mechanical, as if my body was no longer mine, but simply executing a brutal, cold program.
The murmuring faded into silence. Perhaps they were too stunned by the desperate, self-destructive spectacle, or maybe they simply couldnt grasp the meaning behind this madness.
The only sounds were the distant artillery, the whine of incoming bullets, and the monotonous, sickening thudding of my head hitting the ground.
Warm blood streamed from my forehead, blurring my vision and running into the corners of my eyes, tasting like rust.
I didnt stop.
Thirty, forty, fifty The world faded to muted color and sound, leaving only the bone-jarring impact that traveled through my skull, and the cold, numb heart in my chest.
A century passed. Or maybe just a few moments.
Finally, Eliass voice returned to the comms.
It was a voice of utter, languid satisfaction, with a strange, fleeting softness.
Thats enough.
Considering your sincerity I grant you permission to withdraw.
4
A faint tapping of a keyboard could be heard through the channel.
Rendezvous will be in Sector E-7. Extraction route take Route Three.
Route Three.
The moment she heard the extraction order, Lexi was nearly in tears of relief. Were saved!
But I cut her off, my voice hoarse and cold.
Route Three is the emergency plan for Catastrophic Failure or Total Exposure.
That route is completely open ground, exposed for its entire length. Taking one hundred-plus slow-moving civilians down that route is sending everyone to a firing squad in an open field.
I grabbed the comms, roaring with the last of my strength.
Elias Barrett! This isnt an extraction route! This is a slaughter route! What is your purpose?!
My purpose?
He chuckled, his tone light, as if discussing the weather.
The order and the route have been issued. Captain Reed, you are the legendary Raven Lead. Surely, getting a few people out of open ground is a basic skill? Whether you can bring them home well, thats your problem now.
He paused, then delivered the final, devastating line.
After all, you werent so concerned about the route when you left me alone five years ago.
Lexi was shaking with impotent fury.
We faced two dead ends: bleed out on the position, or walk into the naked death trap of Route Three.
Captain, what what do we do? Lexis voice was strained to the breaking point.
I didnt answer immediately. Instead, I reached into the deepest pocket of my gear and pulled out the small, black satellite terminal used for absolute emergencies.
My fingers flew across the cold keys, typing in a sequence of scarlet-lit code: Confirm, Send.
Lexi saw the code flash on the screen and her face went white, her voice shattering.
That thats Raven Protocol 3-1-3 the highest level, All-Hands-Lost Pre-Code
Yes.
My voice was unnaturally calm.
I tossed the terminal onto the ground, spun around, and faced the terrified, bewildered civilians and my bloodied, yet still standing, teammates.
I drew a deep breath, forcing my voice to cut through the roar of the artillery.
Fellow citizens! Hear me!
The statement I was forced to make was false and coerced!
My ex-husband, Commander Elias Barrett, has abused his authority, maliciously vetoed all standard extraction plans, cut off all our support, and forced us onto a lethal retreat route!
I have just sent the Raven Teams Final Annihilation Code to High Command. This is our last report before we are wiped out!
I, Nova Reed, and my team, will use our bodies as your final shield, drawing all fire, to rip open a path to safety!
If none of us survive, remember his name.
Elias Barrett.
He is responsible for the deaths of us all.
The final charge signal was sounded.
All hands!
Prepare to charge! Open the path for our people!
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