“The two MPs from the Jeep went and talked to some of the higher-ranking guys in the tents. I didn’t hear what they said, but pretty soon after that, the two of you were taken inside those tents, somewhere out of sight. And around that time, the whole atmosphere around that little command center seemed to change. I could tell, even from outside. There was a lot of activity, a lot of tension. At one point a chopper touched down, and the crew offloaded a bunch of medical equipment cases. Mostly what I remember, though, was the body language of the people in charge. The whole thing just had this panic-mode feel to it. Like a lot of very powerful people were sweating something, and whatever it was, the two of you were in the middle of it.”

Moss drew away from the flames and sat back in his chair. The move darkened his features, putting his face mostly into shadow.

“That’s when I got dragged into it,” he said softly. “One of the senior officers came out to the roadblock and pulled me aside, asked me to repeat my medical credentials. Then he took me to one of the tents, and inside I saw the two of you strapped down in restraints, with all that field hospital gear from the chopper set up and running next to you. You were looking at me like I was some monster, there to kill you.”

Moss’s gaze hardened on the last few words, his eyes fixed on the firepit again. From where Dryden sat, the reflection of the flames made it look as if Moss’s eyes were actually burning.

“I’d heard of witness nullification,” Moss said. “It was like an urban legend in the service, especially among medics. I didn’t think it had been done for years and years—and maybe it hadn’t. But they had the drugs right there, alongside all that equipment they’d flown in. They ordered me to administer them, and then watch over you both in case things went bad.”

Moss looked down at his hands, which were interlaced atop his knees.

“I could have refused the order,” he said. “And if they ordered someone else to do it, I could have gone up the chain of command and ratted them all out. Only … how far up would I have to go? The decision to use those drugs had probably come down from somewhere up there. I thought about picking up a phone, instead, and calling a reporter. But in the end, I didn’t do any of that. I was too chickenshit to step out of line and disobey.”

He breathed out slowly, his eyes still cast down.