CHAPTER 9 â The Countdown to Oblivion
00:42...
The glowing red timer reflected in everyone's terrified eyes.
The underground crypt shook as dust rained from the ceiling.
Emma clutched Noah's arm.
"Tell me that's not real..."
Ryan stared at the timer.
"It is."
"The entire church has been rigged for years."
Lucas immediately opened the encrypted hard drive.
Blueprints appeared across the laptop screen.
"There!"
He pointed to a ventilation shaft beneath the altar.
"There's an emergency escape tunnelâbut it was sealed after construction."
Ethan grabbed a rusted crowbar.
"Then we open it."
The countdown continued.
00:31...
Above them, gunfire suddenly stopped.
Silence.
Too much silence.
Ryan looked up.
"They're leaving."
Lucas frowned.
"Why would they stop attacking?"
Ryan answered quietly.
"Because they know the bomb will finish the job."
Ethan slammed the crowbar into the concrete floor.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The slab cracked open.
A narrow tunnel appeared beneath it.
"Emma!"
"You first!"
"Noah, go!"
Lucas helped them into the tunnel.
Ryan stayed behind.
Ethan looked at him.
"Move!"
Ryan shook his head.
"The detonator isn't automatic."
"It needs someone to hold the override switch."
Ethan's face changed.
"What are you talking about?"
Ryan opened an old electrical control box hidden in the wall.
Inside was a single metal lever.
"If I let go..."
"The explosion happens immediately."
"I can give you thirty more seconds."
Emma burst into tears.
"You don't have to do this!"
Ryan smiled sadly.
"I've spent twelve years living with what I did."
"I can't erase it."
"But maybe..."
"I can finally pay for it."
He looked at Noah.
"I'm sorry I stole your father from you."
Then he looked at Ethan.
"You once saved my life."
"Let me return the favor."
Ethan stepped forward.
"We leave together."
Ryan shook his head.
"No."
"For the first time in twelve years..."
"I'm making my own choice."
The timer reached...
00:10...
Lucas dragged Ethan toward the tunnel.
"Ethan!"
"He made his decision!"
The last thing Ethan saw was Ryan saluting him.
Exactly the way they had on their final mission.
Then...
The tunnel door slammed shut.
A deafening explosion shook the earth.
The abandoned church vanished in a tower of fire.
Everyone was thrown to the ground.
When the smoke cleared...
Nothing remained.
Ryan Cole was gone.
But before he died...
He had uploaded every classified file from Project Phoenix to a secure satellite server.
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The truth was finally free.
Or so they believed.
