Chapter 76
The impact threw Cole violently against the concrete floor beneath the platform. He gasped, the breath knocked from his lungs, his knife skittering away in the darkness.
Standing over him, illuminated by the flashing red emergency lights, was Silas Vance. The young aristocrat had abandoned the console, clutching a heavy, suppressed pistol.
"You always were too predictable, Lieutenant Bennett," Silas sneered, aiming the weapon directly at Cole’s head. "You rely entirely on brute force and frantic heroism."
"And you rely entirely on other men to do your fighting," Cole rasped, pushing himself up onto one knee, his gray eyes burning with cold defiance.
"Not today," Silas smiled, his finger tightening on the trigger. "Today, I kill the ghost."
Before Silas could fire, a massive, blood-soaked hand reached through the darkness and clamped down on his wrist with bone-shattering force.
Silas shrieked in agony as the pistol was violently wrenched from his grasp.
Vincent Moretti stepped into the cramped space beneath the platform, his tactical armor scored with bullets, his face smeared with soot and blood. He looked like an avenging demon from the deepest pits of hell.
"You forget, Silas," Vincent whispered, his voice a low, vibrating hum of absolute death. "I am the one who knocks."
Vincent didn't shoot him. He grabbed Silas by the throat, hauling the struggling man off his feet, and slammed him brutally against the heavy steel support strut of the platform.
Silas gasped for air, his hands clawing uselessly at Vincent’s iron grip.
"Cut the lines, Cole," Vincent commanded softly, not taking his eyes off the choking architect.
Cole scrambled forward, retrieving his knife. He didn't hesitate. He drove the ceramic blade directly through the massive bundle of glowing fiber-optic cables.
The server hub shrieked. The massive digital monitors above them glitched violently, flashing a chaotic storm of red error codes before plunging into absolute, pitch-black darkness.
"Upload terminated!" Sarah roared triumphantly over the comms. "The quantum network is cascading! The global grid is safe!"
Cole let out a long, shuddering breath, dropping the knife. The world was safe.
Vincent slowly released his grip on Silas’s throat. Silas collapsed to the concrete floor, weeping, massaging his bruised neck.
"It's over, Silas," Vincent stated coldly, standing over the broken man. "Your network is dead. Your guards are dead. You have nothing."
"You... you can't kill me," Silas choked out, tears of pain and humiliation streaming down his face. "If you kill me, the localized failsafe activates. The mountain will detonate."
"You are a liar," Cole said, stepping forward. "Sarah already confirmed there are no thermal signatures indicating a self-destruct sequence."
"I don't need a thermal signature," Silas laughed, a weak, wet, hysterical sound. "I just need a dead-man's switch."
May you like
He raised his left hand. Clutched tightly in his trembling fingers was a small, heavy silver detonator.
"If my thumb leaves this button, the geothermal vents overload," Silas smiled, his eyes alight with madness. "We all burn together."
