The Projection of Truth
Two municipal bailiffs stepped toward Helena, but before they could lay hands on her, Councilwoman Alvarez, the youngest member on the panel, raised her hand.
"Wait," Alvarez said, leaning forward. "This is Helena Cole. She was the lead architect on the original Harbor View design before her sudden resignation. If she has technical objections, this board has an open mandate to hear them under Section 4 of the Public Safety Code."
"She is a disgruntled former employee with an axe to grind!" Richard insisted, his voice rising in panic. "She caused a scene at my family’s private event last night, making wild accusations!"
"I am not here to talk about your family, Richard," Helena said calmly. "I am here to talk about the sixty thousand tons of unreinforced concrete sitting on a fractured seabed."
Sarah didn't wait for permission. She connected her laptop to the central projection system on the press podium.
Instantly, the massive wall behind the council members was illuminated with the seismic soil analysis. Bright crimson fracture lines spider-webbed across the blue seabed map directly beneath the foundation pylons of the residential towers.
"These are the raw logs pulled directly from the monitoring station at Pier 9 twelve hours ago," Helena stated, pointing to the screen. "Over the last six months, the tidal shift has eroded thirty percent of the supporting silt. If those buildings are fully occupied, the combined live load will trigger a catastrophic settlement within ninety days."
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The council members stared at the screen in horrified silence. Henderson pushed his glasses up his nose, his hand trembling slightly. "Mr. Vance... your engineering report filed last Tuesday showed zero foundation degradation."
"The report was falsified," Helena stated simply, placing a stack of signed transfer manifests on the clerk's desk. "And here are the offshore transaction records showing twenty million dollars diverted from the maritime grouting budget directly into Vance Logistics accounts."
