Chapter 6 - The Trap is Sprung
I stared at the blinking red cursor on the screen. ACCESS DENIED.
Arthur Sterling was gone. He had used the Mercer scandal as a smoke screen to escape, leaving Marcus to clean up the digital footprints while he fled with the hospital's remaining liquid reserves.
"No," I whispered. "I won't let you do this."
"You can't stop it, Dr. Cross," Marcus sneered, coughing as Jonathan applied more pressure to his back. "The transfer is encrypted with an 256-bit rotating cipher. Only Arthur’s physical security key can stop it now, and he’s currently on a private jet over the Atlantic."
My mind raced. A rotating cipher. Arthur’s physical key.
Then I remembered.
Two weeks ago, Arthur had complained to me about his worsening arthritis. He had asked me to help him calibrate a new medical-grade biometric ring that he wore on his right index finger—a ring that stored his encrypted digital signature for the hospital's high-security protocols. He had boasted about how he never took it off.
I looked at the server screen. The transfer progress bar was at 74%.
"Jonathan," I said, my voice cold and focused. "Keep him down."
I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I had memorized during my residency—the direct line to the Federal Aviation Administration's emergency medical clearance desk.
"This is Dr. Evelyn Cross, director of pediatric surgery at St. Catherine’s," I said, my voice steady. "I am declaring a level-one medical emergency. We have an active biological containment breach involving a board member who recently departed on private flight N442SP. He was exposed to an weaponized strain of drug-resistant Neisseria meningitidis in our research lab before boarding."
Jonathan looked up at me, his eyes wide with shock. Marcus stopped struggling, his face turning pale.
"Yes, it is highly contagious," I continued, staring directly at Marcus. "He is asymptomatic but highly infectious. You need to ground that flight immediately at the nearest military airfield for quarantine. For the safety of the crew and the public."
I hung up.
"You're insane," Marcus whispered, staring at me as if I were a monster. "That's a federal offense. You lied to the FAA."
"I didn't lie," I said, a dark smile spreading across my face. "I just performed a diagnostic prognosis based on your corrupt behavior. And right now, Arthur’s plane is going to land in Bangor, Maine, in twenty minutes. Where federal marshals will be waiting to 'quarantine' him—and his biometric ring."
I turned back to the console. The progress bar was at 88%.
"Now, Marcus," I said, kneeling down in front of him. "You have exactly five minutes to give me your personal encryption key to pause this transfer, or I will tell the FBI that you were the mastermind who planned the biological hoax to escape."
"I... I can't," Marcus stammered. "They'll kill me."
"And the justice system will protect you in protective custody," Jonathan said, his voice like iron. "But only if you cooperate. Right now."
Marcus looked at me, seeing the absolute lack of mercy in my eyes. He realized he had no moves left.
"The key..." Marcus choked out. "The key is 'RedCrescent772'. It pauses the queue for twelve hours."
I typed the code into the console. The progress bar stopped at 92%.
TRANSFER PAUSED. PENDING BIOMETRIC AUTHENTICATION.
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, my knees going weak. We had stopped them. We had saved the hospital, the children's wing, and Noah's future.
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But as I looked at the screen, a new notification popped up in the corner of the admin panel. An automated alert from the hospital's VIP patient wing.
PATIENT UPDATE: RICHARD MERCER. CARDIAC ARREST. ROOM 402.
