Chapter 7 - Inside the Cage
The air inside the underground tunnel smelled of damp concrete, rust, and ozone. We moved in single file—me in the lead with my Glock drawn, Ranger right behind me, and Ben bringing up the rear with a tactical tablet connected to an encrypted satellite uplink.
We emerged into a low-ceilinged corridor lit only by red emergency exit signs. Concrete walls ran in both directions, marked with faded yellow paint lines indicating sub-level floors.
Ranger moved with purpose, his nose close to the floor. He knew exactly where he was. He took a hard left at the first junction, leading us toward a heavy double door labeled SECTOR 3: CANINE TELEMETRY LAB.
I pushed the door open an inch. The room inside was massive, illuminated by flickering fluorescent lights. Rows of empty cages lined the walls—the very cages where dozens of military working dogs had been held for years. The room was empty now, the concrete floor littered with torn paperwork, discarded medical tubing, and broken equipment. Vance's team had already cleared out the live test subjects.
"Where are the other dogs?" I asked Ben in a low whisper.
Ben looked away, his jaw tight. "They moved four of them to an off-site facility yesterday. The rest... didn't survive the final testing phase."
Ranger walked slowly into the center of the room, stopping beside Cage 12. He sniffed the rusty bars, then laid his head down against the floor, letting out a deep, mournful breath. This had been his cage for three years.
"Mason, we don't have time," Ben warned, checking his watch. "Vance's team is finishing the server wipe on Sub-Level 2. If they complete the overwrite cycle, the raw database will be unrecoverable."
I tapped Ranger on the flank. "Up, boy. Show us the way to the control room."
Ranger stood up immediately, shaking the moisture from his coat, and led us down a secondary corridor toward a heavy steel door marked CONTROL & OVERRIDE.
The door was locked with a digital keypad. Ben pulled out his tablet, attached a ribbon cable to the keypad's maintenance port, and began running a brute-force decryption script.
"Give me forty seconds," Ben murmured, his fingers flying across the touch screen.
Suddenly, heavy footsteps echoed from the top of the stairwell behind us.
"We've got movement on Sub-Level 1!" a voice shouted down the corridor. "Check the kennel block!"
They had found the broken hatch outside.
"Ben, how much time?" I demanded, drawing my weapon and taking cover behind a heavy steel desk.
"Twenty seconds!" Ben shouted, sweating despite the chill in the air.
Two guards rounded the corner of the hallway, wearing tactical gear and carrying submachine guns. I fired three rapid shots, forcing them back behind the wall corner. Sparks flew as their return fire slammed into the steel desk and ricocheted down the concrete hall.
Ranger didn't flinch. He stayed low behind me, his eyes locked on the corner of the wall, waiting for my command.
"Override engaged!" Ben yelled as the heavy steel door clicked open. "Get inside!"
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I grabbed Ben by his tactical vest, pulled him through the door, and signaled Ranger. Ranger darted inside just as a burst of automatic fire tore through the doorframe. I slammed the heavy steel door shut and threw the manual deadbolt into place.
We were inside the control room, but the sound of heavy boots hammering against the exterior steel door meant our time had completely run out.
