Chapter 18 - Fire on the Water
I slammed the digits into the keypad: 0-5-1-9.
Access Granted. Biometric Scan Required.
Sarah leaned forward against her restraints, pressing her hand against the interior scanner panel. The scanner flashed green.
Override Accepted. Vault Purge Aborted.
The red emergency lights turned to clear white. The heavy vault door unlocked with a deep pneumatic sigh.
I threw open the heavy steel door, rushed inside, and ripped the IV line from Sarah's arm. I pulled her up into my arms, holding her fragile body against my chest as she wept hysterically.
"I've got you," I whispered, lifting her up. "I've got you, Sarah."
Suddenly, the secondary heavy iron blast door behind us slammed shut with a deafening metallic clatter.
Standing at the control console outside the vault, his face covered in blood and bruises, was Frank. He held a manual detonator in his left hand.
"You really thought it was that simple, didn't you, Charles?" Frank laughed maniacally through the speaker. "The digital override stopped the chemical purge, but it activated the mechanical demolition charge! The whole foundation goes down in three minutes!"
Frank raised his thumb to press the manual trigger.
BANG.
A single gunshot echoed through the concrete hallway outside.
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Frank gasped, dropping the detonator as a dark red spot bloomed in the center of his chest. He collapsed face-first onto the concrete floor.
Standing behind him, holding a smoking service weapon, was Dr. Harrison—escorted by a full squad of heavily armed Federal Marshals and Federal Bureau investigators.
