Chapter 3 - THE VANGUARD CONSPIRACY
The InterrogationThe interrogation room was cold, lit by a single overhead LED panel that made the bare concrete walls look blue. Daniel sat with his hands flat on the steel table. They hadn't handcuffed him, which meant they were either trying to play nice, or they knew handcuffs wouldn't hold him if he truly wanted to leave.
The door clicked open. A man in his late fifties with a military bearing and a tailored grey suit walked in, carrying Daniel’s old laptop.
"Four years, Daniel," the man said, setting the computer down. "You vanished into thin air. A master sergeant with a Distinguished Service Medal, working for twelve dollars an hour delivering circuit boards in Ohio."
"Fourteen dollars an hour, Colonel Vance," Daniel corrected him flatly. "And I didn't vanish. I submitted my resignation through proper channels. It was approved."
"It was approved because we thought you were broken after Sarah’s accident," Vance said, leaning against the table. "We didn't think you took a copy of the Vanguard diagnostic kernel with you."
"The kernel I used today is a standard commercial translation tool," Daniel said. "It has no military application anymore. The only reason it flagged your system is because Asteron’s new civilian jet is using a modified version of the Vanguard flight control array. Which is interesting, considering Vanguard is supposed to be classified military tech."
Vance didn't blink, but a muscle in his jaw twitched. "Asteron Aviation bought the blueprints for that array through a legitimate technology-transfer program."
"No, they didn't," Daniel said, leaning forward, his voice dropping an octave. "The Vanguard array uses an experimental automated terrain-masking protocol that we developed for low-altitude stealth insertion. It's too unstable for civilian use. If a commercial pilot encounters a specific type of atmospheric icing while that protocol is active, the system doesn't just error out—it locks the control surfaces. It crashes the plane."
Daniel stood up, the chair scraping loudly against the floor. "That’s why the system didn't want to initialize today. It wasn't just a typo in the software, Vance. The system was trying to reject a corrupted piece of corporate espionage. Who sold Asteron that code?"
Before Vance could answer, the glass of the observation mirror rattled. The door to the interrogation room burst open, and a woman in a sharp navy blazer stepped in, flanked by two high-ranking federal lawyers.
Victoria Lane had arrived.
Corporate Warfare"This interview is over," Victoria stated, her voice cutting through the room like a blade. "Mr. Carter is a private contractor for Asteron Aviation. Your warrant was for the inspection of unauthorized software on a corporate network, not the illegal detention of a civilian."
Colonel Vance smiled thinly. "Ms. Lane, you are out of your depth here. This involves Department of Defense property."
"It involves my aircraft," Victoria countered, stepping directly into Vance’s space. "An aircraft that your agency’s approved consultant, Conrad Harding, has been trying to sabotage for six days. Do you think I’m stupid, Colonel? The moment Mr. Carter fixed that plane, my security team did a deep dive into Harding’s personal accounts. We found a three-million-dollar wire transfer from a shell company registered in Panama—a company owned by your primary defense contractor, Obsidian Systems."
Daniel looked from Victoria to Vance. The puzzle pieces were falling into place. "Obsidian wants the Asteron contract to fail," Daniel realized aloud. "If Asteron defaults on the Seattle delivery on Friday, the company goes under. Obsidian buys Asteron’s assets for pennies on the dollar, including the civilian rights to the Vanguard array."
Victoria turned to Daniel. "They didn't just want the plane broken, Daniel. They wanted it to fail after delivery. If the plane crashed with the Seattle chairman on board, Asteron wouldn't just be bankrupt—I’d be facing criminal negligence charges."
Vance straightened his tie, his face expressionless. "This is wild speculation."
"It’s a federal paper trail," Victoria said, tossing a manila folder onto the steel table. "And right now, my legal team is filing an emergency injunction. Mr. Carter is coming with me. If you try to stop us, the entire documentation of Project Vanguard hits the New York Times before the market closes."
Vance stared at the folder, then at Daniel. He knew when he had lost the high ground. "You’re playing a dangerous game, Lane."
"I play to win," Victoria said. She looked at Daniel. "Let’s go. We have a little girl to pick up, and then we have an empire to save."
As they walked out of the building into the cool evening air, Daniel looked at Victoria. "Where is Emma?"
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"She’s at my estate," Victoria said, unlocking her SUV. "I have 24-hour private security there. But Daniel... Harding knows you found the glitch. He knows you can expose what they did to the code. You and Emma aren't safe at your apartment anymore."
Daniel felt a familiar, cold determination settle over him. "They targeted my aircraft. They threatened my daughter. Let them come."
