Chapter 10 - The Server Room Stand
The air in the server room grew thick with the acrid smell of ozone and cordite as bullets ricocheted off the heavy steel server racks, sending sparks cascading down like fireworks. Thomas dropped to one knee behind a heavy steel workbench, returning controlled, deliberate shots toward the stairwell doorway where tactical muzzle flashes flickered in the darkness.
"Miller! Get the drive connected to the main terminal!" Thomas yelled, firing another rapid three-round burst to keep the assailants pinned behind the concrete threshold. "If they wipe the local mainframe, our proof goes up in smoke!"
Maya didn't hesitate. She grabbed the encrypted drive from her pocket, slammed it into the primary uplink port of the surviving server console, and began rapidly typing commands into the glowing keyboard. The screen flashed a bright warning orange, demanding a secondary decryption key that only Thomas possessed.
"I need your biometric authorization, Thomas!" Maya called out over the deafening clatter of automatic gunfire. "The system is locking out external inputs!"
Thomas backed away from the workbench, keeping his rifle shouldered as he slid toward the console. An assailant in black tactical gear broke through the stairwell doorway, raising an assault rifle to target Maya. Without thinking, Thomas lunged across the open floor, tackling the operative hard into a row of server racks just as the man pulled the trigger.
The bullets chewed harmlessly into the ceiling tiles as the two men crashed onto the concrete floor in a brutal, desperate grapple. Thomas struck the operative twice with swift, heavy punches to the jaw, ending the struggle before the man could bring his sidearm into play. He scrambled back to his feet, panting heavily, and slammed his thumb onto the biometric scanner beside the console.
The screen flashed from warning orange to a steady, solid green. UPLINK ESTABLISHED.
"Upload progressing," Maya said, her voice tight with tension as a progress bar began creeping across the monitor. "Sixty seconds until transmission hits the Pentagon inspector general's secure server."
From the stairwell, the sound of heavy boots echoed down the steps, accompanied by the distinct metallic click of a heavy breaching charge being armed against the outer door of the server room.
"Forty seconds!" Maya shouted, her fingers flying across the keys to bypass the final firewall.
May you like
Thomas gripped his rifle, turning to face the reinforced door as the timer ticked down, knowing that the final battle for the truth was about to begin right on the threshold.
---
