“Private Carter,” General Vance said, laying the pen back on the desk.

“Do you understand the sentence this command has handed down?”

“I understand, General,” Evan said, his voice hardly audible.

“Lieutenant Colonel Miller could have recommended a formal court-martial,” General Vance said, motioning toward me with an open palm.

“A conviction under Article 89 for disrespect toward a superior commissioned officer carries a bad-conduct discharge and up to a year in a military confinement facility.

Do you understand what she spared you today?”