Chapter 44 - Bloodline Override
Muzzle flashes strobed through the subterranean mist like lethal strobe lights.
The ricochet of high-velocity rounds screamed off the limestone walls, showering us with stone shards and sparks. Jason shoved me hard behind a thick granite outcropping just as a burst of suppressed fire shredded the iron railing where I had been standing.
"Cole, cover the right flank!" Jason bellowed. He leaned out from the rock, pumping two heavy buckshot rounds directly into the gantry deck, the sheer concussive blast forcing the mercenaries to duck behind their barricade.
Cole fired three disciplined, single shots, his rounds punching through the thin steel plating of the transceiver housing. One of the contractors screamed, dropping his weapon and tumbling backward over the low railing, plunging four hundred feet into the turquoise abyss below.
"The timer!" I screamed, catching sight of the digital display through the smoke: *04:22... 04:21...*
Kane had overridden the remaining time. He was triggering an emergency dump sequence.
"I have to get to the console!" Cole shouted over the roar of the rushing water. He tried to sprint across the exposed catwalk, but a burst of automatic fire forced him back, chipping the stone at his boots.
"You can't reach it from here!" Jason yelled. He looked at Cole, then turned to me. His eyes were wide, clear, and completely devoid of fear for the first time since I had met him. "Cole... take care of Rebecca. Rebuild the lodge."
"Jason, no!" Cole shouted, reaching out to grab his brother's tactical harness.
Jason was already moving. He didn't take the catwalk. He leaped onto the rusted steel gantry cable overhead, his gloved hands clamping down on the grease-coated wire, swinging his entire body across the open chasm like a pendulum.
The remaining two mercenaries turned their weapons toward the cable, but Cole leaned out into the open, firing relentlessly, suppressing their line of sight. Jason dropped like a stone directly onto the steel platform, crashing into Kane with the force of an avalanche.
The two men tumbled across the wet grating, trading brutal blows in the dark. Kane pulled a combat knife, slashing across Jason’s shoulder, but Jason locked his arms around Kane’s torso, slamming him violently into the transceiver pillar.
"Cole! The override switch!" Jason roared, his hands pinned against Kane’s throat, blood pouring from his torn shoulder. "It’s hardwired to the Sterling biometric lock! Dad’s old thumbprint scanner! Use your hand!"
Cole sprinted across the bridge, dodging the dying mercenary's stray fire. He lunged onto the platform, slamming his bare hand down onto the scarred glass plate of the console just as the digital counter hit *00:09*.
A sharp crimson beam scanned Cole’s palm.
*“BIOMETRIC MATCH CONFIRMED: STERLING, PRIMARY SUCCESSOR,”* an automated mechanical voice announced through the cavern speakers. *“DETONATION SEQUENCE ABORTED. GEOTHERMAL VENTING DUMP COMMENCING.”*
With a deafening shriek of hydraulic pressure, four massive relief valves behind the platform swung open. A colossal blast of superheated steam, pressurized at thousands of pounds per square inch, erupted across the catwalk.
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The blast hit Kane square in the chest, lifting him off his feet and throwing him against the outer safety rail. His weapon clattered over the edge, swallowed by the darkness.
The timer flashed green: *00:00 – SYSTEM SECURED.*
