They mocked her civilian attire and even threw water in her face inside a military courtroom, dismissing her claim of being a sniper—until the presiding admiral suddenly stood, saluted her, and silenced the room in an instant.

There was a ripple of quiet amusement from somewhere in the gallery.

Rourke tilted his head slightly, as though considering her, though the skepticism in his eyes had been there from the start. “And you expect this tribunal to accept that you were able to identify specific weapon signatures, firing sequences, and tactical movements from that distance?”

She didn’t answer immediately. Not because she didn’t know what to say, but because she had learned long ago that silence, used correctly, could be more unsettling than any response.

“I saw what I saw,” she said finally.

It wasn’t the answer he wanted.