Still nothing.
That silence, more than anything else, pushed him forward.
“Let’s correct that,” he said.
A pause.
Then, clearly, unmistakably: “Remove your jacket.”
The words landed heavily, like something irreversible.
A few soldiers shifted almost imperceptibly. Others kept their gaze locked forward, though tension crept into their posture. Orders like that weren’t common—not in that context, not in front of that many people.
Keller folded his arms. “That’s a direct order, Lieutenant.”
For a brief moment, Mira Larkin didn’t move.
Then she reached for the buttons.
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