Chapter 6 - The Secondary Payload
The countdown on the digital timer froze at precisely 01:59, the glowing red numbers flickering before shifting into a steady, unblinking green. The trap had not been a crude explosive device meant to take their lives, but rather a data-packet burst designed to hijack any nearby military communication frequency.
Loasing lowered her service pistol, exhaling a slow, controlled breath as she holstered the weapon. She stepped back toward the idling staff car, ignoring the General’s warning hand.
“It’s a localized transmission relay,” Loasing said, leaning over the passenger seat to inspect the rigged device. Attached to the lithium-ion battery was a modified flash drive plugged directly into the car’s diagnostic port. “They weren't trying to blow up the vehicle. They were using the secure motor pool network to upload something into the Pentagon’s logistics database.”
The General hurried over, shining his tactical flashlight onto the glowing screen of the rigged device. A scrolling stream of alphanumeric code was rapidly filling the display window, accompanied by a progress bar that had just hit one hundred percent.
“Access granted,” a synthetic voice chimed cheerfully from the car's built-in navigation system. “File transfer complete: Project Ironclad.”
Loasing’s breath caught. Project Ironclad was the classified operational blueprint for the upcoming joint-forces deployment in the South China Sea—an initiative she had personally authored and secured behind three separate layers of quantum encryption. If that file had just been transmitted to an external receiver, every strategic advantage the coalition possessed had been compromised in less than sixty seconds.
“We are exposed,” the General muttered, his face pale under the harsh fluorescent lights. “If the Pentagon detects a data leak originating from your assigned vehicle code, the court-martial will begin before dawn.”
“They won't just court-martial me,” Loasing replied, her eyes narrowing as she pulled the modified flash drive free from the diagnostic port. “They will use this exact breach to cancel the entire modernization program. Whoever framed me isn't just trying to ruin my career; they are trying to sabotage the entire Pacific fleet command structure.”
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Suddenly, the overhead garage lights flickered violently and died, plunging the subterranean parking level into absolute darkness, save for the eerie green glow of the flash drive clutched tightly in her hand.
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