THEY LAUGHED WHEN SHE MISSED EVERY TARGET — THEN THE GENERAL SAW WHAT SHE WAS REALLY SHOOTING
THEY LAUGHED WHEN SHE MISSED EVERY TARGET — THEN THE GENERAL SAW WHAT SHE WAS REALLY SHOOTING
The laughter started after the third shot.
“Missed again!”
Twenty-five soldiers stood behind the observation line at Fort Hamilton.
Lieutenant Sarah Brooks lowered her rifle.
She hadn't hit a single paper target.
Sergeant Cole Mason shook his head.
“Three shots. Zero points.”
Someone behind him laughed.
“Maybe she forgot to load the scope.”
Sarah heard them.
She said nothing.
Instead, she adjusted the rifle and stared through the optic.
Colonel Daniel Hayes watched her from the control booth.
Something bothered him.
Sarah wasn't looking at the target.
She was looking above it.
“Hold the range,” Hayes ordered.
Mason turned.
“Sir?”
“Just do it.”
Sarah fired again.
CRACK.
Another miss.
Mason laughed.
“Four shots. She's officially the worst shooter here.”
Sarah calmly removed her finger from the trigger.
“I'm not here to score points.”
Mason smirked.
“Then why are you here?”
Sarah looked at him.
“To find out who is lying.”
The laughter disappeared.
Mason stepped closer.
“Watch yourself, Lieutenant.”
Sarah pointed toward the range.
“Look at Target Seven.”
Mason glanced through his binoculars.
“There's nothing there.”
“Exactly.”
Hayes frowned.
“Explain.”
Sarah walked toward the control booth.
“Your electronic targets are registering hits before the bullets reach them.”
Hayes stared at her.
“What?”
She opened a small notebook.
“Three seconds before every shot, the scoring system sends a signal.”
Mason laughed nervously.
“So your explanation for missing is that the computer is cheating?”
“No.”
Sarah looked directly at him.
“My explanation is that someone is using the computer to hide what they're actually testing.”
Hayes' expression changed.
“Show me.”
Sarah pointed toward four target frames.
“I didn't miss.”
She pulled a photograph from her pocket.
“I hit these.”
Hayes examined it.
Tiny holes appeared beneath the target mechanisms.
Each one had been placed exactly beside a small electronic component.
Mason stepped closer.
“Those aren't part of the range equipment.”
Sarah nodded.
“They weren't here last month.”
Hayes looked at her sharply.
“How do you know?”
“Because I installed the original system.”
Silence.
Sarah continued.
“I was assigned to the engineering team before I transferred to field operations.”
She pointed at the photograph.
“These devices are unauthorized signal repeaters.”
Hayes' face hardened.
“What do they do?”
Sarah hesitated.
“They can override targeting data.”
Mason's expression changed.
“Why would anyone do that?”
Sarah looked toward the empty control tower.
“Because this isn't a competition.”
A technician suddenly shouted.
“Colonel!”
Everyone turned.
The main scoring screen went black.
Then one message appeared:
REMOTE ACCESS DETECTED.
Hayes grabbed his radio.
“Lock the control building.”
Sarah froze.
“Too late.”
“What?”
“They're already inside.”
The doors behind them slammed shut.
Soldiers reached for their weapons.
Mason looked at Sarah.
“You knew this would happen?”
“No.”
She stared at the screen.
“I knew someone was watching me.”
The monitor suddenly flickered.
A video appeared.
A masked man stood inside a dark room.
His voice came through the speakers.
“You should have stopped digging, Lieutenant Brooks.”
Sarah's face went pale.
She recognized the voice.
Hayes noticed.
“You know him?”
Sarah whispered,
“He was my brother's commanding officer.”
Mason stared at her.
“Your brother?”
“He died during a training exercise eight months ago.”
Sarah's hands tightened around her rifle.
“His official report said equipment failure.”
She looked at the screen.
“It wasn't.”
The masked man laughed.
“You're too late.”
Suddenly, a red light appeared above Target Seven.
Sarah's eyes widened.
“Everyone get down!”
CRACK!
A bullet struck the concrete beside Hayes.
Soldiers dropped behind cover.
Mason shouted,
“Sniper!”
Sarah looked through her scope.
But instead of searching the hills, she aimed directly at the observation tower.
Mason grabbed her shoulder.
“What are you doing?”
Sarah pulled away.
“Trust me.”
She fired.
CRACK!
The tower window shattered.
A rifle fell from the darkness.
The soldiers stared.
Mason looked at Sarah in disbelief.
“You hit him from here?”
Sarah lowered her rifle.
“I wasn't aiming at him.”
Hayes stepped closer.
“Then what did you hit?”
Sarah pointed toward the shattered window.
“The camera.”
Everyone looked confused.
She pulled another photograph from her pocket.
“There were five cameras watching this range.”
She pointed at the screen.
“Four were decoys.”
Hayes' eyes narrowed.
“And the fifth?”
Sarah looked toward the VIP building.
“The fifth one was transmitting everything outside this base.”
Mason suddenly turned.
A man in a civilian suit was running from the VIP entrance.
Hayes shouted,
“Stop him!”
Security officers chased after him.
The man reached his vehicle.
Then Sarah saw his face.
She stopped breathing.
“No…”
Mason looked at her.
“Who is that?”
Sarah's voice trembled.
“That man was standing beside my brother the night he died.”
Hayes stared at her.
“You're certain?”
Sarah nodded.
“I'd recognize him anywhere.”
The man suddenly turned.
He wasn't running anymore.
He was smiling.
Then he raised a small remote.
Every electronic target on the range exploded simultaneously.
The soldiers ducked.
Smoke filled the air.
When it cleared, Sarah looked toward the VIP building.
The man was gone.
Mason stared at her.
“You said you came here to expose the system.”
Sarah slowly shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at the burning targets.
“I came here to find my brother's killer.”
Hayes' radio suddenly crackled.
A voice whispered through the static.
“Lieutenant Brooks…”
Sarah froze.
The voice continued.
“If you're hearing this, your brother is still alive.”
Sarah's rifle slipped from her hands.
And somewhere beneath Fort Hamilton—
a locked door suddenly opened.
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