Overview
Carter Clemens is an American civil servant in Burn Zone. He previously worked with Rupert Brunn at Raytheon on networked drone swarm control and later serves as a senior staffer in the wartime administration’s Pacific Branch.
Carter is married to Sara Clemens and has two sons, Carl and Flynn. He is detained after the American defeat and questioned by Lorianna Blackstone about his role in the May 28, 2045 Brunn meeting.
Role
Carter attends Brunn’s meeting because he believes President Avett is betraying national autonomy to the Coalition. He contributes technical and administrative knowledge about missile defense, nuclear exchange models, wartime command, and the president’s access points.
When the meeting turns toward a domestic nuclear deterrent plan, Carter initially frames it as a way to deter a landing army rather than to launch a weapon abroad. He later objects that the plan cannot proceed without full civilian evacuation and rejects the others’ willingness to accept hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths.
Kelly Pearson, Scott Hallman, and Rupert Brunn threaten Sara and the boys to force Carter’s silence. Carter leaves the meeting believing the others will probably carry out the plan, but he does not stop them because he fears for his family.
Tribunal
At the tribunal, Carter is pressured by Blackstone, shown survivor testimony from Walter Bride, and misled by Ray Bishop, who poses as his appointed counsel. Blackstone later reveals that Bishop is a COFOR officer and that the tribunal has the accidental May 28 recording.
Carter admits that he believed the plan was likely to be carried out and that fear for Sara and the boys kept him silent. He is convicted of negligently failing to prevent crimes against humanity. Because his family was threatened, he receives a mitigated sentence of ten years in military prison without visitation, parole, or correspondence, with possible release in summer 2059.
Carter is last seen at an airfield saying goodbye to Sara, Carl, and Flynn before being taken away toward prison.