Chapter 11
The steel door of the panic room groaned under a massive, concussive blow from the outside. The heavy locking pins bent inward, creating a jagged fracture along the upper seam of the frame. A plume of white smoke from the diamond cutter drifted through the gap, smelling of scorched metal and industrial oil.
Jin-woo stepped back, leveling his service pistol directly at the center of the door. “Step away from the console, both of you. Get behind the server racks.”
Lin pulled Chen by the elbow, guiding her behind the heavy steel shelving unit that housed the backup power batteries. Lin drew her backup weapon with her left hand, dual-wielding with the cold, practiced discipline of an urban tactical officer. She kept her breathing slow and measured, ignoring the adrenaline spiking through her veins.
With a final, earsplitting screech of tearing metal, the entire upper section of the panic room door gave way, collapsing inward onto the floor. Two dark-clad operatives stumbled through the aperture, their weapons raised, expecting a defensive scramble. Instead, they walked into a wall of coordinated gunfire.
Jin-woo fired twice, striking the leading operative in the heavy ceramic body armor, knocking him backward against the steel shelving outside. The second operative dropped to one knee, attempting to bring his submachine gun to bear on Lin’s position.
Lin fired a single, calculated round that caught the attacker’s weapon barrel, shattering the casing and sending shrapnel flying into the dim corridor. Before the operative could recover, Jin-woo closed the distance with a swift, decisive rush, sweeping the man’s legs out from under him and pinning him hard against the reinforced floor.
“Stay down! Police!” Jin-woo commanded, pressing his knee firmly into the operative’s back while his white-gloved hand twisted the man’s arm into a secure compliance hold.
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The hallway outside fell into a heavy, suffocating silence, broken only by the hum of the cooling fans inside the panic room and the steady, automated ticking of the terminal screen displaying the public archive release timer.
Lin holstered her secondary weapon and walked out into the corridor, her dark coat brushing against the scorched remains of the wardrobe. She keyed her radio, the signal now clear of interference. “Dispatch, this is Detective Lin. Unit 4B secure. Two suspects neutralized and detained. Requesting immediate federal backup and medical transport to the municipal precinct.”
