Chapter 8 - The Confrontation at the Capitol
Three days later.
The grand hearing room at the State Capitol was packed with press, naval officers, and legal teams.
Congressman Edward Sterling sat at the head of the committee table, looking down with icy disdain at the proceedings. His brother, Arthur Sterling, sat beside his high-priced legal team, looking completely relaxed.
"This committee sees no reason to continue these ridiculous allegations against Aether Maritime," Congressman Sterling declared, tapping his gavel. "A tragic industrial accident occurred at Harbor Point. Aether has already pledged ten million dollars to cleanup efforts."
"An accident implies it wasn't intentional, Congressman," Rear Admiral Daniel Mercer’s powerful voice echoed through the marble hall.
Daniel walked down the center aisle in his pristine white dress uniform, flanked by two armed federal marshals. Beside him walked Sarah Vance, carrying a secure briefcase.
Arthur Sterling scoffed. "Admiral, you have no hard evidence. The seabed site was completely destroyed."
"The seabed site was destroyed, yes," Sarah said calmly, stepping up to the witness podium. "But your automated deep-core telemetry servers weren't."
She opened her briefcase, pulling out a sealed forensic tablet connected to the retrieved data modules.
"These drives contain the real-time biological logs from Aether's core drill," Sarah presented, projecting the data onto the massive wall screens. "Three weeks ago, your drill struck a high-pressure prehistoric marine fissure at eight hundred feet. You knew your operation was releasing toxic biological parasites into the Harbor Point coastal shelf."
The room erupted into shocked chatter among the press.
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"You ignored the biological containment alarms forty-seven times," Sarah continued, her voice clear, precise, and completely unwavering. "Because stopping the drill would have cost your company forty million dollars in delay penalties."
Congressman Sterling’s face turned pale as the evidence flashed across the screens, completely unrefutable.
