On the small desk by the window sat the dark blue velvet box General Vance had sent over by courier an hour earlier.

I unlatched the brass clasp and lifted the lid.

Inside lay the Distinguished Graduate Medal, its blue and white ribbon resting on dark silk next to the heavy gold crest of the academy.

I touched the smooth metal edge of the medal and felt the exact weight of sixteen years spent in granite hallways, cold mud, and distant command posts.

Every hour of that journey had been earned without a dollar of family support or a single word of encouragement from my mother.