Chapter 33
The freezing desert wind howled around the metal gantry, threatening to rip Cole off the precarious platform. He secured his harness to the railing, the heavy EMP casing pulling uncomfortably at his chest.
"I'm on the gantry," Cole yelled over the wind. "Drop it, Sarah!"
"I'm trying, Cole, but the Lazarus hackers are actively fighting me for control of the building's maintenance systems!" Sarah shouted, the sound of her frantic typing echoing over the comms. "I need ten seconds!"
Behind Cole, the heavy fire doors of the penthouse blew inward with a catastrophic explosion.
Lazarus operatives poured into the corridor, their tactical lights cutting through the smoke. They immediately spotted the shattered window and the lone figure standing on the gantry.
"Target acquired!" a harsh voice yelled in Russian. "Open fire!"
Bullets pinged wildly against the metal framework of the gantry, sparking dangerously close to the explosive payload strapped to Cole’s chest.
"Sarah, now!" Cole roared, returning fire with his MP7, desperately trying to keep the operatives away from the window ledge.
With a violent, stomach-churning jolt, the gantry suddenly dropped.
The winch mechanism screamed as the platform plummeted down the sheer glass face of the skyscraper, descending far faster than safety protocols allowed. The sudden drop threw Cole to the metal floor grating, his stomach in his throat as the lights of the city blurred past him.
"I have control!" Sarah announced breathlessly. "Bringing you to a halt at floor sixty!"
The gantry slammed to a brutal, jerking stop, suspending Cole four hundred feet below the penthouse.
"I'm stopped," Cole grunted, pulling himself up. "But I'm exposed. They will just shoot down at me from the window."
"You need to breach the building," Sarah advised. "Floor sixty is a mechanical hub. Minimal security. If you can get inside, I can route you to the secondary service elevators."
Cole didn't hesitate. He pulled his ceramic combat knife and used the heavy hilt to smash the thick, tempered glass window in front of him. He kicked the remaining shards away and hauled himself into the dark, cavernous mechanical floor, surrounded by humming HVAC units and massive water pipes.
He was inside, but he was far from safe.
"The Lazarus team is splitting up," Sarah warned. "Half are descending the stairwells to intercept you. The other half are rappelling down the exterior of the building."
Cole checked his remaining ammunition. Two magazines left. He was carrying a weapon of mass destruction, hunted by an army of elite assassins in a foreign city.
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The ghost of Task Force 9 took a slow, deep breath, centering his mind into absolute, lethal focus. He wasn't trapped in the building with them. They were trapped in the building with him.
"Send them," Cole whispered into the dark.
