Page 1 of Rebel

Chapter One

Rio

The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, making my skin crawl.I stood at parade rest, and stared at the blank wall behind Lt.Col.Harrison’s empty chair.Two minutes till the meeting.Two minutes of pretending I wasn’t about to shatter into a million fucking pieces.The office smelled like pine cleaner and stale coffee.Military efficiency.No room for mess.No room for the mess they’d made of me.

The door opened with a metallicclick.I snapped to attention, keeping my eyes fixed on a spot on the wall, listening to the soft squeak of polished shoes against linoleum.A chair scraped back.

“At ease, Private Taylor.”

I shifted my stance, feet shoulder-width apart, hands clasped behind my back.Not quite at ease.Not quite anything, anymore.Harrison shuffled papers on his desk.He was a small man with wire-rimmed glasses and a permanent frown.Twenty-five years in the Army had filed him down to the essentials -- no excess fat on his body, no excess emotion in his voice.

“The two men who assaulted you are in custody,” he said without preamble.

My jaw locked tight.Assault.A sanitized word.Clinical.What they did wasn’t assault.It was destruction.

“Private Ellis and Sergeant Denton will face court-martial proceedings for sexual assault, administering a controlled substance without consent, and conduct unbecoming.”

I stared at the wall.Blinked.Tried to match his detached tone with dispassionate thoughts.Fragments of memory hit me hard -- hands holding me down, the taste of something bitter, the ceiling spinning.

“Do you understand what I’m saying, Private?”

“Yes, sir.”My voice sounded strange, like it was coming from somewhere else.Some other woman’s mouth.

He glanced up at me, then back down at his papers.“Good.Now, regarding your status.”

Here it came.The real reason for this meeting.Not justice for me -- bureaucracy for them.

“The medical board has reviewed your case,” he continued, flipping to another page.“Based on the evaluation by Dr.Hayes and the subsequent psychological assessment, they’ve recommended a medical discharge.”

The bubble in the paint seemed to grow larger, swelling until it was all I could see.Medical discharge.Two words that erased my years of service.Years of busting my ass, of being the best fucking soldier I could be.

“Sir, with respect --” My voice cracked like glass.

“This isn’t a negotiation, Private.”He looked up, his expression softening for just a second before hardening again.“The board’s decision is final.”

I swallowed the argument rising in my throat.What would I say anyway?Please let me stay in this place where I was drugged and raped?Please let me walk past the barracks every day where it happened?Please let me salute men who think what happened to me was just a party that got out of hand?

“The discharge will be processed as honorable,” Harrison continued.“You’ll retain all benefits associated with your service, including education benefits and VA healthcare.”

His words filled me with bitterness.I’d worked so hard for it to fall apart like this.He made a note on his paper.“You’re required to meet with a counselor before separation.I’ve scheduled your appointment for tomorrow at 0900.”

My eyes narrowed.“I don’t need a counselor.”

“It’s not optional, Private.”His tone left no room for argument.“It’s part of the discharge protocol in cases like… yours.”

Cases like mine.Like I was a file to be processed and shelved away.A problem to solve.I wondered how many other women had stood where I was standing, hearing the same clinical words, feeling the same rage burning in their bellies.

“How long?”I asked.

“For the discharge?Two weeks, give or take.You’ll be placed on convalescent leave effective immediately.Your CO has already been informed.”

Two weeks.Fourteen days, and I’d be a civilian again.The thought should have brought relief.Instead, it felt like one more thing being taken from me without my consent.

“And them?”The question slipped out before I could stop it.

Harrison paused, pen hovering over his papers.“Private?”

“Ellis and Denton.What happens to them?”

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