Chapter 10 - The Voice in the Wire
Clara stared at the blinking red warning, panic constricting her chest. "Override code... Julian never gave us a code!"
The timer ticked down mercilessly: 52... 51... 50...
Lily stepped closer to the terminal, her eyes scanning the scrolling text. Among the lines of data was an audio output window labeled: TRANSIT SECURE LINE - LIVE.
Trembling, Lily tapped the audio icon. A burst of static filled the room, followed by the faint sound of heavy, rhythmic breathing. A voice came through the speaker—Julian’s voice, raspy, fractured, but alive.
"Lily... Clara... if you are listening to this... you reached the vault," Julian whispered, coughing violently. "They are holding me at Berth Nine. Not Warehouse Four. It was a trap. The code... the code is the day we planted the dogwoods."
"The dogwoods," Clara gasped. "May fourteenth! Zero-five-one-four!"
She slammed the numbers into the mechanical keypad. The screen flashed amber, the red countdown freezing at six seconds. The system disarmed, transferring the encrypted ledger onto Julian’s personal mobile device docked inside the safe.
May you like
Julian’s voice returned over the speaker, weaker this time. "They know you accessed the terminal. They are coming up the service shaft right now."
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