HE STRUCK HER DURING DRILL — WITHIN MINUTES, FOUR COLONELS ARRIVED AND ENDED HIS CAREER The desert sun hung high over Fort Meridian, casting sharp shadows across the training grounds. Sand danced in the heat haze, distorting the distant mountains into ghostly mirages. The recruits moved through the drill, rifles slung over their shoulders, their boots sinking slightly into the fine sand. Discipline was absolute, or at least it was supposed to be. Private Alexis Kane didn’t flinch. She had been t