“40%. It needs more time.”
“We’re out of time.”
I step back inside the room and grab the detonator.
“Ghost,” I say. “Hostiles at the door. I’m sealing the breach.”
“Do it,”Ghost says.“We’ll dig you out when the dust settles.”
I look at the Phoenix squad rushing the door. They’re setting up a breaching charge of their own.
“Not today,” I whisper.
I trigger the detonator.
BOOM.
The explosion isn’t a shattering blast; it’s a shaping charge. It liquefies the hinges and the locking mechanism, fusing the heavy steel door to the frame in a twisted, molten scar.
The concussion knocks the Phoenix team back; their own breaching charges are useless against a door that is now part of the wall.
Dust rains from the ceiling.
“We’re sealed,” I say.
Talia looks at the door, then at me. “You trapped us.”
“I bought us a fortress.” I move to her side. “Now finish it.”
She turns back to the screen. “60%. Almost… I need to secure this evidence. I’m copying the Admiral’s directory to the drive.”
Suddenly, she freezes.
“The cursor stopped.”
I look at the screen. The upload bar is frozen at 62%.
A message flashes on the center screen.
REMOTE SESSION DETECTED. USER: A_REED.
“Someone’s in the system,” she says. “Reed. He’s on the Executive Floor. He sees the intrusion.”
The progress bar starts to tick backward. 61%. 60%.
“He’s purging the upload,” she shouts. “He’s fighting me.”
“Fight back.”
A second explosion rocks the door behind me. The metal buckles inward. They are cutting through.
She types furiously. “I’m trying to reroute… He’s cutting off the nodes. He’s cutting off the limbs to save the body. Anticipating my commands before I execute them.”
“Fix it.”
“I am. I’m rerouting through the cooling system protocols.”
The bar stops falling. Holds at 60%.
