Nathan was amazed, the place was spotless. In the central core, a glass-enclosed control center had a clear line of sight into all the cell blocks. They walked through a common area containing stainless-steel tables and seats that were bolted down to the polished concrete floor.

Admiral Maas addressed them quietly. “We house one hundred detainees here. We work on a positive reward system. Detainees who cooperate and don’t cause problems are moved into less restrictive accommodations and are given more privileges. Each cell is monitored twenty-four-seven with cameras. Guard response time to any given cell is measured in seconds. Follow me, please.” They followed her down a short corridor to a door. “This is one of our interrogation rooms. It has a two-way mirror.”

The room looked plain, nothing fancy. A table and some chairs.

“Armed guards are always present during detainee interrogations,” Maas said. “And of course, an interpreter. Very few speak English.”

Nathan saw a camera mounted on the wall above the two-way mirror.

“Does anyone have any questions at this point?”

Thorny said, “Not a question, a comment. You run a tight ship, Rear Admiral Maas. I’m damned impressed.”

“Thank you, General. I never directly interact with the detainees. We try to create a stress free environment. Having a woman present isn’t conducive to that, especially a woman in a command position. Brigadier General Porras is largely responsible for the successes we’ve had here. He’s well versed in the Muslim culture and traditions. All of our people who interact with the detainees are.”

“I wish we lived in a world where none of this was necessary,” Thorny said.

“Maybe someday, General. This way, please.”

She took them around a corner to another door. Inside, two levels of seating offered eight to ten people ample room to observe the questioning. A small speaker mounted above the mirror allowed the occupants to hear the sessions. Admiral Maas spoke quietly to an MP before closing the door. Not surprisingly, the room became dark. Nathan had a ton of questions, but kept quiet.

“This is a soundproof room, but I recommend we keep our voices low.”

In a way, this felt harder than directly interacting with his former tormentor. Somehow, it seemed… what? Cowardly? No, cowardly wasn’t the right word. Underhanded? That didn’t fit either. He had no reason to be afraid of Montez. Perhaps this was one of those human experiences that words just couldn’t describe. He calmed his thoughts and relaxed his hands. Harv gave him a questioning look and he made sure to nod when Porras wasn’t looking.

The next ninety seconds stretched into a timeless ether of conflicting feelings.