The Architecture of a Velvet Frontline

"Stuart," Clara hissed, saying the name like a curse.

"Stuart is in Washington," Elias said, wincing as he holstered his weapon. "He’s the lead systems architect. Why would he betray you to Marcus? He was loyal to David."

"Loyalty has a price tag," Clara walked over to the closet, finding a clean shirt and a pair of dark tactical trousers she had packed. She began stripping out of the ruined evening gown. "Marcus must have offered him a cut of the foreign sale. If Marcus gets these keys, he sells the drone network to a hostile state actor, bypasses the Pentagon, and makes billions."

She dressed rapidly, tossing a dark jacket to Elias. "Bind your shoulder. We can't stay here. If Marcus realizes his extraction team is dead, he’ll send more."

"The comms are still jammed, and the hotel is in lockdown," Elias said, using his teeth to tighten a makeshift tourniquet around his bicep. "We are trapped in a glass box on the ninth floor."

Clara walked over to Lily, kneeling down. "Lily, sweetie, I need you to do something very important for me. Can you give me Mr. Rabbit?"

Lily hesitated, looking at the toy, then handed it to her mother.

Clara felt the soft, worn fabric. She turned the rabbit over, feeling the small, hard rectangular lump hidden deep within the stuffing near the base of its spine. With a quick, precise tear, she ripped the seam open and extracted a tiny, black micro-drive.

She looked at the drive. The fate of global military superiority rested on a piece of silicon the size of a fingernail.

"We don't run," Clara said, her eyes darkening. "If we run, Marcus controls the narrative. He tells the board I fled a terrorist attack. He assumes control of the company."

"So what’s the play?" Elias asked.

"We take the fight to him," Clara slipped the micro-drive into her pocket. She picked up the discarded submachine gun from the mercenary she had killed. She checked the magazine and racked the bolt. The metallic clack was loud and definitive.

"Marcus thinks he’s playing a corporate game," Clara said, her voice echoing in the ruined bedroom. "He forgot he’s dealing with a soldier. We are going to the basement."

"The basement?"

"The hotel vault," Clara explained. "It’s where the actual physical copies of the Department of Defense contracts are being held for the signing ceremony. Marcus has to go there to retrieve them if he wants to forge the transfer of power. We are going to meet him there."

Clara picked up Lily, holding the child tightly with her left arm while balancing the heavy rifle in her right.