Chapter 10 - The Digital Counter-Strike
The back window of the study shattered inward with a deafening crash as a heavy wooden stool was hurled through the glass. Shards of sharp glass rained down onto the hardwood floor as a gloved hand reached in to unlatch the frame.
"They're coming through the back!" Arthur shouted, pushing Clara behind a heavy filing cabinet.
Dr. Holloway didn't hesitate. She aimed the shotgun toward the broken window frame and fired a warning blast into the ceiling rafters, sending a rain of drywall dust and splinters down upon the intruders. A startled shout echoed from outside the shattered window, followed by the sound of rapid footsteps retreating toward the treeline.
"That bought us thirty seconds," Dr. Holloway panted, rushing back to the amber-glow terminal. "Arthur, give me the flash drive! I'm routing the encrypted archive directly to the federal cybercrime division through an encrypted satellite uplink hidden in the attic."
Arthur pulled the MicroSD card from his pocket and handed it over. Dr. Holloway slotted it into the terminal, her fingers flying across the mechanical keyboard with practiced speed. A progress bar appeared on the screen, crawling forward at an agonizingly slow pace—*10%, 25%, 40%...*
"Come on, come on," Arthur urged, keeping watch by the shattered window with a heavy metal fire poker in his hand.
Suddenly, the front door gave way with a violent crash. The heavy iron deadbolts ripped straight out of the rotting wooden frame as three men in dark tactical gear and plain black face masks flooded into the hallway.
"Freeze! Drop your weapons!" one of the guards shouted, leveling a non-lethal stun rifle directly toward the study door.
Dr. Holloway slammed her palm onto the keyboard's enter key just as the progress bar hit 99%.
"Transmission complete!" she yelled triumphantly.
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Before the guard could pull the trigger, Dr. Holloway grabbed a heavy ceramic lamp off the desk and hurled it directly at the study’s electrical fuse box on the wall, short-circuiting the entire house in a blinding flash of blue sparks and plunging the room into absolute darkness.
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