And standing on my right flank…
Wearing his full service dress blue uniform bearing the four silver stars of the **Chief of Naval Operations**, his service bridge coat unbuttoned to reveal ten rows of decorations including the Navy Cross and the Silver Star…
Was my great-uncle.
**Vice Admiral David Mercer**.
Beside Admiral Mercer stood **United States Attorney Marcus Cooper**, Chief Federal Prosecutor for the Southern District of Georgia, holding an unsealed, four-hundred-page federal grand jury indictment bound in dark-crimson silk ribbon:
`CRIMINAL DOCKET: 2026-CR-00914-TREASON`
`THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA & THE MERCER SOVEREIGN ESTATE`
`v. THADDIUS ARTHUR BROMEL, ADELAIDE VANCE-BROMEL,`
`MARISOL BROMEL, AND CHIEF JUSTICE ARTHUR M. STERLING-VANCE.`
`CHARGES: EIGHTY-FOUR COUNTS OF CAPITAL HIGH TREASON UNDER ARTICLE THREE,`
`TRANSNATIONAL TRAFFICKING OF CONTRABAND BIOLOGICAL SPECIMENS,`
`PREMEDITATED SABOTAGE OF CLASSIFIED STRATEGIC NUCLEAR DEFENSE ASSETS,`
`AND SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY TO USURP SOVEREIGN ADMIRALTY ESCROWS.`
`EXTRAORDINARY CAPIAS BENCH WARRANT: IMMEDIATE ARMED ATTACHMENT.`
And standing on my left flank…
