Chapter 13 - THE PURGE
The subterranean chamber vibrated with a deep, low sub-audible hum that made the teeth in Marcus's jaw ache.
On the main terminal, a massive progress bar filled in solid white:
UPLOADING: 12%... 45%... 88%... COMPLETE.
DATA DISSEMINATED TO: OSLO // LONDON // BERLIN // WASHINGTON.
Immediately following the confirmation text, a siren began to pulse through the concrete corridors—not loud, but a steady, rhythmic chime accompanied by flashing amber strobe lights.
THERMAL PURGE IN 180 SECONDS. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY.
Above them, through the live video feed on the console, they watched as Dr. Vance’s thermite lance finally burned through the heavy steel plate of the compass rose. The marble floor collapsed inward, dropping a shower of molten slag and stone onto the iron spiral stairs below.
Vance stepped up to the edge of the smoking hole, looking down into the dark abyss with his gold-rimmed spectacles reflecting the orange glow of the fire.
"He's coming down," Marcus said.
"He's too late," Lily replied.
She grabbed Marcus by his sleeve and led him toward the rear of the mainframe room, where a heavy, circular steel hatch was set into the concrete floor—a secondary emergency escape tunnel built into the mountain slope.
Lily spun the heavy iron locking wheel, breaking the ancient rubber seal with a loud hiss of pressure release. She threw the hatch open, revealing a steep metal ladder descending into a dark, concrete pipe that sloped downward toward the fjord.
"Go first," Lily told Marcus.
"Not without you," Marcus insisted.
"I'm right behind you! Move!" she shouted over the rising roar of the thermal generators behind the computer banks.
Marcus swung his legs into the hatch and began descending the iron rungs at top speed.
Lily turned back one last time to look at the central console. Through the glass window of the mainframe room, she saw Dr. Vance step into the subterranean chamber, his gray wool coat singed, his face pale as he stared at the red flashing screens displaying the completed data transfer.
Vance looked across the room, his eyes meeting Lily’s through the thick glass window.
He realized instantly that he hadn't just lost the blueprints—he had just been broadcast to every intelligence agency on earth as the chief architect of a global conspiracy. His network was dead. His freedom was gone.
May you like
Lily offered him a small, cold, final smile, then stepped into the escape hatch and slammed the heavy iron door shut behind her, spinning the internal locking wheel until it clicked into place.
A second later, a dull, thunderous boom shook the concrete pipe as the thermite charges inside the mainframe room detonated, unleashing a three-thousand-degree furnace that vaporized every circuit board, every server, and every secret hidden beneath Blackwood Manor.
