Chapter 14
The harsh glare of tactical flashlights swept across the damp concrete floor as the three heavily armed operatives fanned out in a synchronized breach formation. Their weapons were raised, sights locked directly onto Julian, who stood planted firmly between them and the children.
“Drop the weapon! Drop it now!” the lead operative shouted, his voice distorted through a combat helmet modulator as he advanced a cautious step into the room.
Julian didn't drop his sidearm, but he lowered the barrel an inch, his eyes darting from the operatives to Commander David Vance, who was slowly pushing himself up from the concrete floor, wiping a streak of dark blood from his split lip. David’s expression had turned venomous, any pretense of corporate diplomacy completely stripped away.
“Kill him,” David rasped, pointing a shaking finger directly at Julian. “Take the children and secure the package. Leave no traces.”
The lead operative’s finger tightened on the trigger of his assault rifle. The red laser dot danced across the fabric of Julian’s ruined, soot-covered dark gray suit, right over his heart.
Before the trigger could be pulled, a blinding flash of electric blue light erupted from the control console behind Evelyn. The main transformer box, overloaded by Evelyn’s frantic firewall bypass, exploded in a shower of brilliant white sparks and cascading electrical current. The overhead emergency lights flickered, died, and then instantly shifted to a pulsing, low-frequency backup hum that disabled the operatives' helmet optics and weapon targeting systems simultaneously.
“Now, Julian!” Evelyn screamed over the roar of the electrical discharge, yanking Leo and the swaddled newborn toward the open drainage tunnel behind the console.
Julian didn't hesitate. With explosive athletic speed, he fired three consecutive rounds into the electrical junction box above the operatives’ heads, shattering the heavy glass housing and plunging the entire room into total, pitch-black darkness punctuated only by blinding arcs of live electricity.
Shouts of disorientation echoed through the gloom as the operatives fired blindly into the empty air, their high-tech visors flashing error codes. Julian grabbed Leo’s hand, guiding the boy through the dense smoke toward the dark opening of the drainage tunnel where Evelyn was already waiting with the baby.
May you like
As they dove headfirst into the safety of the narrow brick conduit, a deafening explosion shook the filtration plant behind them as the remaining server racks gave way under the electrical surge, sealing the entrance behind a wall of heavy debris and falling masonry.
Crawling through the freezing, ankle-deep water of the drainage tunnel, Julian kept one arm around Leo’s small shoulders, his breathing steady and controlled despite the stinging pain in his side. They crawled for what felt like miles, until the stagnant smell of old iron finally gave way to the crisp, clean scent of salt air and open morning light pouring through an iron drainage grate ahead.
