Chapter 22 - Shadows of the Alps
Forty-eight hours later, my private Gulfstream touched down on a private, snow-draped airstrip nestled deep in the Swiss Alps. The air was razor-sharp, biting at my lungs as I stepped down the metal stairs into the freezing wind, flanked by Bruno and four elite tactical operatives.
The landscape was blindingly white, framed by towering jagged peaks that pierced the slate-grey sky. A heavy steel-reinforced transport vehicle met us at the tarmac, driving us winding miles up a narrow mountain pass until we reached a sheer cliff face of grey granite.
There were no doors, no windows, no visible signs of civilization—only a massive electronic biometric scanner built directly into the stone wall.
I walked up to the scanner, pulled off my leather glove, and pressed my thumb against the cold glass plate, followed by a retinal scan.
Identity Confirmed: Adrien Moretti. Primary Bloodline Override Accepted.
The granite cliff face groaned. Deep hydraulic locks ground against each other, and a massive thirty-ton stone slab slid slowly inward, revealing a long, brilliantly lit subterranean tunnel lined with modern steel and glass.
"Stay sharp," I murmured to Bruno and the team as we drew our sidearms and stepped inside.
The interior was pristine, humming with the silent, low-frequency thrum of advanced quantum servers and life-support systems. It wasn't a prison or a fortress; it was a sanctuary designed to withstand a nuclear winter.
As we walked down the central corridor, the automated glass doors slid open one by one, welcoming us deeper into the heart of the mountain. At the end of the hall stood a massive glass-walled chamber filled with glowing monitors, technical drafting tables, and a single man sitting in an ergonomic leather chair, his back turned toward us.
He wore a dark wool sweater, his silver hair neatly trimmed. He didn't turn around as we entered.
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"You took your time, Adrien," a deep, gravelly voice echoed across the silent room.
My heart hammered against my ribs. "Father."
