Chapter 12 - The Admiral With Two Faces
The prisoner aboard the yacht wore prosthetics, dental replacements, and Vale’s biometric contact lenses.
Eleanor had prepared a perfect distraction.
The real Vale had entered the facility using Arthur’s old clearance.
We moved through the lower corridor.
Time remaining:
10:22.
Audrey whispered, “What happens if he removes the weapon core?”
Arthur answered, “Containment collapses.”
“So the countdown is meaningless?”
“No. It is how long the magnetic suspension can remain active without the core balanced.”
Vale was not stealing a weapon.
He was creating a coastal bomb.
We reached the hostage observation room.
Dr. Rourke and the two engineers were visible behind reinforced glass.
Vale stood with them.
His Navy uniform was gone.
He wore tactical clothing and held a pistol against Rourke’s head.
“Captain Vance,” he said through the intercom. “Still surviving other people’s mistakes.”
“You changed my mission roster.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Eleanor needed someone with command authority near the failure. Your death would have closed the investigation.”
“But I lived.”
“You always were inconvenient.”
Admiral Thorne stepped forward.
“You disgraced the uniform.”
Vale smiled.
“You signed her confinement order, Marcus. Don’t pretend your hands are clean.”
Thorne did not deny it.
“I will answer for my failure.”
“Men like us never answer. We retire.”
That was the difference between them.
One believed power erased guilt.
The other had finally accepted accountability.
Vale demanded the medal.
I removed it slowly.
Arthur grabbed my wrist.
“Don’t.”
I looked at him.
“Those engineers are alive because they trusted your company.”
“They will die if the archive opens.”
“Why?”
“Because Meridian includes names protected by multiple governments. They will destroy anyone who sees it.”
Audrey whispered, “Including us?”
Arthur did not answer.
That frightened her more than anything before.
I held the medal toward the biometric transfer slot.
Vale moved closer to the glass.
At the same moment, Dr. Rourke dropped to the floor.
One engineer struck Vale with a metal restraint bar.
The pistol fired.
The glass cracked.
I inserted the medal into the slot.
Not to unlock Meridian.
To activate the facility’s emergency flood system.
Seawater thundered through the lower tunnels.
Vale screamed as alarms erupted.
But the countdown accelerated.
05:00.
04:59.
Arthur stared at the screen.
“You flooded the cooling chamber.”
“You said the emergency system could stop a fire.”
“It can.”
“Then why is the timer faster?”
“Because Trident’s core is no longer inside it.”
Vale had already removed the core.
May you like
And someone was carrying it toward the ballroom.
📖 The weapon core had left the underground facility, meaning Eleanor’s true attack was unfolding among the gala guests above. 👇
