Chapter 9 - The Last Stand at Pier 4
The subterranean tunnel leading to Pier 4 was cold, dark, and filled with the rushing sound of lake water. Arthur led the way with a powerful tactical light, his rifle raised, moving with terrifying speed despite the heavy load he carried.
Behind us, the concrete walls shook continuously as heavy gunfire and explosions echoed from the main facility above.
"Broadcast status!" Arthur called out, checking a small wrist monitor as we sprinted down the narrow metal walkway.
"Upload complete: One hundred percent," the automated voice confirmed in our earpieces. "Aegis Code successfully distributed to four thousand public research nodes worldwide. Vanguard Dynamics master patent voided."
A sudden, earth-shattering roar detonated deep beneath the shipyard. The ground lurched so violently I was thrown against the damp brick wall, skinning my elbow. The air behind us turned into a howling blast of heat, smoke, and rushing dust as Ethan triggered the warehouse purge system, collapsing the entire subterranean complex beneath thousands of tons of concrete and steel, sealing Sterling's assault team inside forever.
Tears blinded my eyes, but I forced my legs to keep moving, following Arthur as we burst through the final exit hatch onto the covered dock of Pier 4.
Moored in the dark water below was a sleek, dark-grey matte-finish stealth boat. Its twin engines were idling with a low, vibrating hum that bubbled in the water.
"Get aboard!" Arthur ordered, pointing toward the hatch.
Before I could leap onto the deck, a cold, sharp voice echoed from the shadowed rafters above the pier.
"Incredible," the voice sneered. "A trillion dollars of research, wiped out by an eleven-year-old orphan in a dirty hoodie."
A tall, thin man wearing an immaculate grey coat stepped out from behind a stack of rusted shipping crates. He had sharp, angular features, ice-blue eyes, and held a silver-plated pistol aimed directly at my chest.
Victor Sterling.
Behind him stood three surviving mercenaries, their rifles trained on Arthur.
"Put the briefcase down, Arthur," Sterling commanded coldly. "Ethan was a fool. He thought giving the code to the world would stop me. But I don't need the code anymore. I just need the original biological keys."
He gestured toward the travel pod containing Clara and Leo. "Hand over the infants, and I will let the girl live. She can go back to her little apartment in Chicago and pretend none of this ever happened."
I stepped in front of the travel pod, blocking his view of the babies. My heart was hammering, but the terror that had ruled my life for eleven years was completely gone, replaced by a cold, sharp rage that burned brighter than any fire.
"I'm not going back to that apartment," I said, looking Sterling straight in his cold blue eyes. "And you're never touching these babies again."
Sterling laughed—a dry, soulless sound. "And how do you plan to stop me, little girl? You have nothing."
"I have this," I said.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the small silver remote control Ethan had handed me before the doors closed. I didn't hesitate. I pressed the red button in the center.
Above Sterling's head, the massive industrial crane holding a twenty-ton steel shipping container groaned as its primary magnetic locks suddenly released.
"What—" Sterling gasped, looking up just in time to see twenty tons of solid steel crashing down from thirty feet above.
CRASH!
The dock structure shattered in a blinding roar of twisting iron, splintering wood, and splashing water. The shipping container slammed directly onto the pier floor, crushing Sterling's mercenaries and collapsing the front half of the dock into the dark depths of the lake.
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"Harper! Jump!" Arthur yelled over the deafening noise.
I turned and dove off the edge of the collapsing pier, landing hard on the rubberized deck of the stealth boat alongside Arthur and the baby pod. Arthur instantly smashed his hand onto the throttle, and the powerful boat surged forward into the dark, choppy open waters of Lake Michigan, leaving the burning, collapsing ruins of the shipyard behind us in a cloud of thick black smoke.
