“That’s when the current lease runs out,” Glenn said.

“September fourteen is the very day of my promotion ceremony,” I said.

“And the day I take command of the base.”

Glenn rolled his shoulders and gazed up at the ceiling.

“Everything’s a military operation with you, Sarah.

To the rest of the world, it’s just some Tuesday in September.

Are you signing it or not?”

I laid my folded hands perfectly still on the counter.