Page 383 of Broken Oath

45

ROOK

Black Site Theta disappeared behind us.

The mountain burned beneath the storm, taking five years of secrets into the darkness.

But not all of them.

The surviving prisoners were alive.

Fathom had copied thousands of files.

Jack Parker possessed the original Nightfall archive.

Alan Madow and Jonathan Reeves were in custody.

For the first time, we had more than suspicions.

We had proof.

Sam Cutter’s voice broke through the radio.

“Rook.”

The tone sharpened every instinct I possessed.

“Go.”

“You’ve got incoming.”

Every operator immediately went still.

“What kind of incoming?”

“The kind carrying air-to-air missiles.”

Silence filled the helicopter.

I looked toward Fathom.

He was already working.

“Who?” I asked.

“We don’t know,” Sam answered. “Two aircraft appeared on radar east of your position. No identification. No transponders. They’re moving fast.”

“How long?”

“Seventeen minutes before they reach weapons range.”

Fathom brought up a tactical map.

Two red indicators moved toward us.

The pilots were flying a direct intercept route.

They knew where we were.