He was looking at Captain Vance, smiling slightly as if preparing to greet an old colleague.

Then his eyes traveled to the head of the table.

He stopped walking.

The smile vanished from his face.

His jaw went slack, and his eyes widened as he looked at the gold stripes on my sleeves.

“Admiral on deck,” Miller barked.

Nathan’s hand rose to his brow in a stiff, trembling salute.

“Admiral,” he stammered.

I did not return the salute immediately.

I let the silence hang in the small room for five seconds.

“Sit down, Commander,” I said, my voice flat.

Nathan lowered his hand and slowly pulled out the chair opposite me.

His skin had gone pale.

“Evelyn?” he whispered.

“You will address me as Admiral, Commander,” I said.

He swallowed hard. “Yes, Admiral.”

“This is a formal military review board,” I said. “We are here to discuss your time with the Pacific fleet, specifically the logs from your tenure on the USS *Hampton*.”

Nathan looked at Captain Vance, then at the JAG officer, as if searching for an escape.