THAT IS TO SAY, THE SOLDIER’S COIN

THAT IS TO SAY, THE SOLDIER’S COIN

THE SOLDIER’S WORK
CHAPTER 1 — SOUND ON MARBLE

The coin fell before Elena could stop it.

It hit the marble floor of the military administration building with a sharp, metallic ring.

Once.

Twice.

Then, it spun on its edge.

Elena Vargas bent down immediately.

“I’m sorry, General, I didn’t mean to…”

She had accidentally bumped into one of the officers accompanying a high-ranking delegation.

Captain Ramírez glared at her, annoyed.

“Are you blind, soldier?”

Elena stiffened.

“No, Captain.”

“Then watch where you’re—”

“Wait.”

The voice came from the man standing in the center of the group.

Major General Arturo Salcedo.

Sixty-eight years old.

Gray hair, nearly white.

Decades of service.

One of the most respected figures within the military hierarchy.

Salcedo did not look at Elena.

He looked at the floor.

The coin had stopped spinning.

The general crouched down.

Ramírez took a step forward.

“General, allow me—”

Salcedo raised his hand.

No one spoke.

He took the coin between his fingers.

It was not currency.

It was a military challenge coin.

One of those pieces passed around within certain units as a symbol of belonging, remembrance, or recognition.

It was worn down.

There was an insignia on one side.

On the other, a mark that was barely visible.

Elena watched the color drain from the general’s face.

“Where did you get this?”

His voice no longer sounded like that of a man accustomed to barking orders.

It sounded heavier.

More human.

Elena swallowed hard.

“It belonged to my father, General.”

Salcedo slowly raised his eyes.

“What was his name?”

Elena hesitated.

“Sergeant Daniel Vargas.”

The general caught his breath for a moment.

The officers exchanged glances with Ramírez.

“General?”

Salcedo didn’t answer.

He looked back at the coin.

His fingers were trembling.

Elena had never seen a general’s hands shake.

“My father died when I was six years old,” she said.

Salcedo closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, they were glistening with unshed tears.

A chill ran down Elena’s spine.

“Did you know him?”

The general gripped the coin tightly.

Then he said:

“It’s me, Carter.”

Elena didn’t understand.

“Excuse me?”

But Salcedo no longer seemed present in that hallway.

For a moment, he appeared to be staring at something that had taken place thirty years ago.

CHAPTER 2 — THE NAME THAT DID NOT EXIST

The general urged everyone to go on without him.

Ramírez looked taken aback.

“General, the committee briefing begins in ten minutes.”

“Start without me.”

“Sir, but—”

Salcedo pinned him with a glare.

“That is an order.”

Ramírez stepped back and withdrew alongside the other officers.

Elena remained frozen at attention.

“Am I in trouble, sir?”

Salcedo glanced down at the coin.

“No.”

“My captain said that—”

“Forget the captain.”

Elena couldn’t simply do that.

Ramírez was her direct commanding officer.

Even so, she nodded.

Salcedo pointed toward an adjoining office.

“Can we speak?”

She stepped inside.

The room held a table, four chairs, and a tall window.

Salcedo shut the door behind them, leaving it unlocked.

He pulled out a chair opposite Elena.

He placed the coin between them.

“Did your father ever mention this to you?”

“No.”

“Did he ever speak of a team? An operation? A call sign?”

“My father died when I was just a child.”

“I know.”

Elena furrowed her brow.

“How do you know when he died?”

The general remained silent.

She felt her pulse quickening.

“General?”

Salcedo looked up.

“Because I was there.”

Elena froze.

“Where?”

The general took a beat before answering.

“During your father’s final operation.”

Elena felt a suffocating tightness in her chest.

Her entire life, the official account had been brief:

Training accident during a mission.

Active duty.

Fallen in service.

That was all.

Her mother had always refused to speak of it.

“You were with him?”

“Yes.”

“And ‘Carter’?”

Salcedo stared down at the piece of metal.

“It was a call sign.”

“Whose?”

“Mine.”

Elena let out a tense, nervous laugh.

“Your name is Arturo Salcedo.”

“I am aware.”

“Then why Carter?”

“Because during that mission, none of us used our real names over the radio.”

Elena felt the room closing in on her.

“What mission?”

Salcedo leaned back.

“I cannot disclose everything in this room.”

“Why not?”

“Because several of those files remained classified for decades.”

“Remained?”

The general picked up on her sharp catch.

“Yes.”

“They aren’t anymore?”

Salcedo didn’t answer.

Elena’s gaze dropped to the coin.

“My father held onto this until the day he died.”

“No.”

She snapped her head up.

“What?”

“He did not have it when he died.”

Elena felt a surge of cold dread.

Salcedo picked up the coin.

“Daniel was not carrying this coin when he died.”

“How could you possibly know that?”

“Because I had it.”

The room went dead silent.

Elena stared at his hands.

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“I know.”

“My mother explicitly told me it was found among his personal effects.”

“Then someone handed it over to her afterward.”

“Who?”

Salcedo said nothing.

“Who, General?”

The man glanced toward the door.

Then, he dropped his voice to a whisper:

“That is the exact question I haven’t been able to answer for thirty years.”

CHAPTER 3 — DANIEL VARGAS

Elena left the room an hour later.

She hadn’t found any answers.

She only had far too many questions.

Salcedo had promised to pull the records.

Nothing more.

“Don’t breathe a word of this to anyone just yet,” he had warned her.

That order gnawed at her.

“Is that a direct order, sir?”

The general looked at her.

“No.”

“Then I am speaking to my mother.”

Salcedo gave a slow nod.

“You should.”

That very evening, Elena took the bus to Ecatepec.

Her mother, Rosa Vargas, was still living in the same home where Elena had grown up.

When Rosa opened the door and saw her daughter in uniform, a soft smile appeared on her face.

“You didn’t tell me you were coming.”