The laptop started beeping, hijacking everyone’s attention. Gabriel and Halston jumped into action. Together, they propped Bulgrov’s torso into the wheelchair, then rolled him into a corner out of the way.
The team clustered around the computer. Alarms were beeping. A computer code was self-writing across the page.
Teddy grabbed the laptop, slid it over.
“Teddy, what’s happening?” Greystone barked.
“Give him a second,” Gabriel pushed back.
If anyone could make sense of the situation, it was Teddy, the best hacker Gabriel had ever known. Teddy stared at the screen. The alarm was growing in intensity so much so that Sydney and Sonya covered their ears.
“It’s in Russian,” Teddy shouted over the incessant warning sound.
Halston rushed over. The team moved, so she could sit next to him. Teddy spun the laptop toward her. As Halston translated to English, Teddy’s fingers flew over the keyboard.
“This is bad,” he grumbled.
“Talk to us,” Greystone said.
Remaining silent, Teddy remained focused on the laptop.
“We’re getting there,” Halston said before she continued translating the information on the screen.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Teddy shouted over the ear-piercing beeping.
“Okay.” Halston stared at the laptop. “Roll the cursor over the red button that just popped up and click it twice.”
When he did, the alarms silenced, the lights in the room brightened.
Teddy breathed, raked his hands through his long hair.
“Nice work, Halston,” Teddy said.
“Same,” Halston said as she continued eyeing the screen. “I was right about Bulgrov. He was with them until the end.”
“Well?” Greystone asked.
“Do you want the good news first or the bad news?” Teddy asked.
Gabriel and Greystone regarded each other. This wasalwayshow Teddy approached urgent situations. Good news or bad news? Some things never changed.
“Theodore, just tell us,” Greystone said.
“I was able to reinstate the power in the DMV,” Teddy said. “Just the DMV.”
“And the bad?” Gabriel asked.
“Bulgrov activated a launch sequence code for EMPs.”
Mind-numbing silence while everyone stared at Teddy for several long seconds.
“This is bad,” Greystone growled. “Very, very bad.”
“What. The. Hell,” Gabriel bit out. “This makes ‘bad’ look like an effin’ party.”
“Does everyone know what that is?” Dustin asked. Without waiting, he continued. “An EMP—electromagnetic pulse—is a burst of electromagnetic energy that’s meant to disrupt, damage, or destroy electrical power lines, telecom, even electronicequipment. One of the goals of an EMP is to burn out electronic components, computer systems, even critical infrastructure.”
“So, they were practicing with the power outages across the country?” Gabriel confirmed.
