Chapter 34 - the steel labyrinth
Every second that ticked past felt like sand slipping through an hourglass. Clara and Roman moved swiftly up the central companionway, clearing ladder wells and staging platforms as they ascended toward the ship’s superstructure.
Behind them, deep within the ship's bowels, muted thuds reverberated through the hull plates. Eleanor was systematically detonating the lower ballast tanks, slowly flooding the lower cargo bays to drag the ship down once her escape was secured. The ship listed slightly to the starboard side, the metal decking groaning under the shifting weight of thousands of tons of lake water.
"She’s leaving no witnesses," Roman muttered, reloading on the fly. "Not the crew, not her hired guns, and certainly not the containers."
"She thinks money can buy her a clean slate," Clara said, her boots ringing against the steel treads as they pushed through the officers' mess. "She took my father’s name, burned his legacy to ashes, and made the entire city believe I was an unstable, impoverished orphan clinging to his coattails."
They reached the heavy reinforced door leading to the bridge deck. It was barricaded from the inside with an electronic security lock. A reinforced steel viewport showed the expansive bridge beyond: radar consoles glowing blue, navigation monitors flickering, and beyond the forward windows, the endless expanse of Lake Michigan blanketed in thick fog.
Standing in the center of the bridge, framed by the instrument panels, was the woman from the screen.
Eleanor Sterling was untouched by time. Her silver hair was pinned with diamond barrettes, her pristine white trench coat unblemished by the chaos tearing through the lower decks. In her manicured hand, she held a satellite uplink terminal.
Beside her, kneeling on the bloodstained floor with his hands bound in zip-ties, was Gregory Vance—the attorney who had orchestrated Clara’s eviction. His face was swollen, bruised, and pale with terror.
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"Gregory was supposed to be her partner," Clara murmured, peering through the reinforced glass.
"To Eleanor, everyone is fuel for the fire," Roman said. He attached a breaching charge to the electronic door hinge. "Step back, Clara. Time to introduce ourselves."
