Chapter 10 - The Satellite Signal
The sharp, unfamiliar chime of the priority satellite alert echoed through the dining room, cutting short any potential response from the assembled board members. Evelyn picked up her phone immediately, her dark eyes scanning the encrypted numeric string scrolling across the screen.
Thomas Sterling and the remaining directors watched her in tense silence, acutely aware that the power dynamic in the room had shifted entirely in her favor, yet sensing a new, unseen threat hovering on the horizon.
"Read it aloud if it requires our attention, Evelyn," Thomas suggested quietly, leaning on his cane as he waited.
Evelyn didn't answer immediately. She decoded the alphanumeric sequence in her head, recognizing the proprietary routing signature instantly. It wasn't from the federal prosecutor, nor was it from any domestic banking institution. It originated from an orbital communications satellite controlled by Vance Global’s long-dormant European research division.
"The European quantum research lab in Geneva just came online," Evelyn announced, her voice dropping into a low, serious register. "An automated diagnostic sweep was triggered thirty seconds ago."
"Geneva?" one of the other board members asked, frowning in confusion. "That facility was mothballed five years ago after your father’s passing. Julian told us the assets there were liquidated to pay off our tax liabilities."
Evelyn’s gaze hardened into absolute ice. "Julian lied. The facility wasn't liquidated—it was repurposed."
She walked swiftly back to her laptop, plugged in Clara’s hard drive alongside her master authentication token, and typed a rapid sequence of commands into the terminal. The screen flickered violently before transitioning from red alert status to a live, high-definition architectural schematic of an underground subterranean installation located deep beneath the Swiss Alps.
Thomas stepped closer to the screen, his eyes widening in sheer disbelief. "Good God... that’s not a research lab. That’s a decentralized cryptographic reserve containing the entirety of Vance Global’s intellectual property and hidden liquid reserves—over three billion dollars in digital bearer assets."
"And right now," Evelyn said, her fingers dancing across the keyboard with blinding speed, "someone is attempting to wipe the primary server core from an external terminal."
On the screen, a progress bar flashed in bright, pulsing yellow, indicating that forty-five percent of the quantum ledger had already been transferred to an unidentified receiver located in Zurich.
"Who has the secondary master encryption key?" Thomas asked urgently, gripping the edge of the mahogany table. "Only two people on earth possessed the physical passphrases: your father and..." He stopped abruptly, his eyes widening as the terrifying realization struck him.
"And Julian," Evelyn finished his sentence calmly, her voice entirely devoid of panic. "He created a secondary backdoor trapdoor months ago, synchronized with his biometric status inside the federal holding facility."
"If his biometric pulse drops—or if he initiates a legal distress plea within the next hour—the system automatically executes a scorched-earth protocol, transferring every cent to an offshore account controlled by Victor Sterling’s hidden beneficiaries," Thomas realized, his breath catching in his throat.
Evelyn stood up straight, her black fitted dress smoothing out as she locked eyes with the senior board members.
"Which means we have exactly forty minutes to intercept Julian at the federal holding facility before he signs away the entire empire under duress," Evelyn declared, grabbing her coat from the back of the chair.
"The federal marshals won't allow a midnight visitation without a court order," Thomas warned, shaking his head.
"I am the primary shareholder and chief executive of the corporation whose assets are currently being stolen," Evelyn replied coldly, walking toward the heavy iron doors. "I don't need a visitation slip. I need my car."
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As she pushed open the doors and stepped out into the grand hallway, the estate's main security monitors flashed red simultaneously, revealing an unexpected convoy blocking the front gates.
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