She moved forward and sank onto the front edge of the hard wooden chair, too tense to lean back. “I’m sorry, sir. I did my best for you. Please don’t pull Anna and Lily out of Operation Valkyrie because I failed.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but the door opened just then, and Ray Peevy walked into the room in full dress uniform. Whatever Cal had been about to say went unsaid.

Ray surprised her by walking up to the little oak table and stopping in front of it. “Lieutenant Tate,” he said formally, “it has been an honor to work with you.” He reached up to his chest and put his hand over his gold SEAL insignia in what looked like some sort of informal salute.

Without warning, he slapped his hand down hard on the table with a sharp crack of noise. Sherri jumped about six inches off her chair before landing on the hard seat again.

She stared down at the table where Ray had slapped it. His gold Budweiser was planted in the oak desktop. The pin swam in her vision as tears of gratitude filled her eyes. The Navy might be evicting her from the boys’ club, but this show of respect by one of its legendary heroes meant the world to her. Her struggle and suffering hadn’t been entirely in vain. This SEAL had seen her, measured her, and in some small way, judged her worthy.

She could live with that.

Stunned speechless, she looked up at Peevy. She had no words to express the depth of her gratitude and nodded mutely at him in thanks.

He nodded back tersely and stepped around the table to take a seat in the back of the room.

Chief Vidmeyer and two more of the senior instructors strolled into the hearing room. They stopped abruptly as a trio and stared when they saw that trident planted on the table. They looked up at Peevy conspicuously not wearing his SEAL pin, down at the Budweiser, and back up at her.

Vidmeyer nodded very slowly, as if to himself. Then he walked up to the table, solemnly took his SEAL insignia off his chest, and slapped his hand down on the table. She was ready for the crack of noise this time. But the shock of his show of support was no less overwhelming.

He withdrew his hand, and a second pin had joined the first in front of her.

Without speaking, both of the instructors with Vidmeyer did the same. One by one over the next few minutes, every single instructor who had worked with her BUD/S training class walked into the room, spied the table gradually being covered in gold SEAL insignia, and added theirs to the rows of Budweisers.

Only one SEAL was notably absent today. Griffin.