“Tom, it’s time.”

Thomas Stone’s green eyes looked up from his seat. He sat in a lounge area, waiting to be summoned by the Quantum Tribunal, the mysterious leaders of the Quantum Group. And now, Marcus Kane had emerged and called his name. Rachel Kim was by his side and she moved away from Marcus.

Tom and Rachel exchanged silent glances. Their eyes lingered for a moment before she broke the gaze and sat in an empty chair. They hadn’t spoken since the incident—not since Rachel had incapacitated him. Tom bore no grudge, though. He hadn’t given her much of a choice, and he knew that. But he also wasn’t ready to talk about it.

Tom stood and left the seating area, joining Marcus. The older agent led him through the corridors of the Quantum Group’s central compound, which was known as the Sanctuary. Marcus didn’t speak to him. It had been him communicating with Tom over comms during the battle, and Tom had ignored his orders. Tom had been with the Omega Knights for just over a year. And though Marcus wasn’t an easy person to get close to, Tom knew enough about him to know that Marcus would not have liked that insubordination.

Yet, he said nothing. One emotion Marcus wasn’t shy about expressing was anger. If he was keeping a lid on things right now, that meant one of two possibilities. The first was that he realized Tom had been correct and didn’t want to admit it. The second was that he was waiting until he felt it was the opportune moment. Tom assumed it was the latter and not the former.

Each footfall brought them closer to what the support staff half-jokingly called the Sanctum. The place where the Quantum Tribunal met with their operatives. Tom was sure that once he met with the Quantum Tribunal, they’d thank him for his service and issue him his discharge notice. It wouldn’t be possible to keep him on after his flagrant disregard of orders and even had a mental breakdown in the field.

Part of him even welcomed it. Michael, Emily…Scott. All gone. All because he wasn’t strong enough to save them. What good was he to the organization now?

They reached the Sanctum’s entrance. Marcus placed his hand on the scanner and after a moment, the door unlocked and slid open. He stepped in first, with Tom following a few paces behind.

Once in the darkened room, Tom saw the single beam of light shining down in the center. Marcus stood by the door, hands clasped at his waist. He gave a simple nod. After pushing his hand through his short, brown hair, Tom stepped toward the light.

As soon as Tom moved into the beam’s path, three holographic screens appeared in a semi-circle around him, the silhouettes of the Quantum Tribunal displayed on each. This was the most anyone ever saw of the Tribunal, just a vague outline, mostly concealed by shadow. And never in person, always through some other means of communication. They had no idea if the members of the Tribunal were even human—for all Tom knew, they could be aliens broadcasting from deep within Area 51.

“Knight Stone,” said one of the Tribunal. “We’ve reviewed the relevant diagnostic data from the incident and spoken with both Agent Kane and Knight Kim.”

“It seemed like a simple, run-of-the-mill breach, the kind of thing we’ve handled dozens of times in the past,” Tom began. “We first thought we were dealing with a simple Level 3, possibly a Level 4, so we summoned the Titans as per protocol. But then things escalated, and it became clear this was a Level 5 situation.”

“If you determined it was a Level 5, why had you not attempted fusion?”

“During the fight, the Phoenix Titan was blown clear of the battlefield.”

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“And how did that happen?”

Tom sighed. “I launched into an attack too early. I became overzealous.”

There was a moment of intense silence. Tom could feel their judging eyes boring into him. But they said nothing and simply indicated for him to continue.

“By the time I could return, things had gone far south. Only Scott—Knight Taylor—was still active.”

“You were ordered to retreat, were you not?”

Tom gave a nod. “I was.”

“And yet, you disobeyed that directive. Why?”

“I didn’t want to leave my—” he hesitated, “—my teammate behind.”

Another uncomfortable silence lingered. Tom and Scott had kept the full extent of their relationship a secret from the Quantum Tribunal. The rest of the team had known, of course. But the leadership was far from what could be termed progressive, and Scott in particular was worried about what it would mean for their positions within the organization.

“I understand that I violated a direct order. Three Knights are dead now because I wasn’t able to marshal an adequate strategy,” said Tom. “I’m willing to accept whatever punishment the Tribunal feels is warranted.”

Another beat of silence. Tom wished he could see the faces of the leadership. Not because he cared about their identities, but he desperately wanted some sort of read on how they were reacting to his statement.

“No punishment shall be forthcoming, Knight Stone.”

Tom couldn’t have heard what he thought he did. He looked up, a quizzical expression etched on his face. “I’m sorry. Could you say that again?”

“You performed as well as could be expected. As team leader, Knight Taylor was responsible for calling for a retreat when the situation turned bad. He did not and so you were simply reacting as best you could.”

“While your own insubordination is far from acceptable behavior, it is understandable, given the extenuating nature of the circumstances.”

“But…I lost it afterwards…Rachel had to—”

“We’re well aware of Knight Kim’s role in incapacitating you. Normally, your actions would be grounds for disciplinary measures, but again, this was a unique situation. She herself spoke favorably of your performance in the field.”

“However, we do believe both you and Knight Kim will benefit from some trauma counseling, which the Quantum Group will happily provide for you.”

“Both yourself and Knight Kim will be retained for active duty and we will begin preparations for new acquisitions to fill in the open slots on the team.”

Open slots? thought Tom. That was a hell of a way to refer to three dead operatives. Heroes who had saved the world dozens of times over. And now they were just swapping them out as if they were broken components.

Expendable. That’s what they all were. But Tom had known that going into this job and he accepted it, anyway.

“And the field commander?” asked Tom.

“That is a discussion for another time. For now, focus on your counseling and you will be informed once a new leader has been chosen and the new recruits located.”

“You are dismissed, Knight Stone.”

Tom gave a nod and stepped back. As soon as he was out of the light, the holographic screens vanished. He turned around to face Marcus, who had already opened the door and walked through it. Tom followed, but then once he set foot outside the door, Marcus grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the corridor wall.

“You’re lucky they didn’t drum your ass outta here,” said Marcus as he jabbed a finger toward Tom’s face. “Let’s get one thing straight, Stone—I have operational command over this team. I’ve been playing this game since you were shitting in diapers. So the next time that I give you a goddamn order in the field, you’d better fucking listen!”

To stress his point, Marcus punched Tom in the stomach. It knocked the wind out of him and he was bent over for a moment. The punch wasn’t as hard as Marcus could have managed, and Tom’s own enhancements from the Omega Force prevented him from feeling too much discomfort. More than anything, he felt shock. But Marcus’s intention was more to make a point than to be detrimental.

“If you ever disobey one of my directives again, then those floating heads are gonna be the least of your fucking worries, kid.” Marcus straightened his jacket and wiped some spittle from his lip. “I trust we won’t have to have another conversation like this again, will we?”

Tom didn’t respond with words. Instead, he just gave a nod of understanding. That seemed good enough for Marcus, because he nodded as well and then stepped a few paces back.

“Glad we could clear that up,” he said. “Now go back to your quarters. Once they have something new to tell you, you’ll be summoned.”

Tom started walking down the corridor. As if he wasn’t feeling bad enough about what had happened, now he had to deal with two physical punishments from the people he was supposed to be working with.

No one ever said this job was going to be easy.