Chapter 4 - THE EASTERN CORRIDOR
Noah had vanished from the mess hall in less than thirty seconds.
His untouched tray remained on the neighboring table.
Sarah moved toward the kitchen doors.
Captain Mercer caught her arm lightly.
“You’re soaked, unarmed, and not assigned to base security.”
Sarah looked at his hand.
Mercer released her.
“I’m also the person Leon recognized,” she said. “That makes me part of whatever just happened.”
Two security officers pushed through the kitchen doors ahead of them.
Sarah followed at a controlled run.
The mess hall kitchen opened into a narrow service corridor lined with industrial refrigerators and stacked supply crates. A metal exit door swung slowly at the far end.
One officer reached it and checked the outside loading yard.
“Clear.”
“Tracks?” Sarah asked.
“Wet shoe prints. Two people.”
Sarah crouched near the threshold.
The concrete beyond the door was streaked with tire marks and spilled water from a recent delivery. Among them were two distinct patterns: standard Navy boots and wide-soled kitchen shoes.
Noah had walked, not been dragged.
That did not mean he had gone willingly.
Sarah rose.
“Which direction?”
The officer pointed toward Logistics Building C.
Mercer’s radio crackled.
“Gate control reports no vehicle departures. Eastern perimeter secure.”
“So Leon stayed inside the base,” Sarah said.
“Why take Noah?” Mercer asked.
Sarah pictured the moment Noah recognized her insignia.
“He knows what I am.”
“That alone?”
“He also may have seen something before lunch.”
They crossed the loading yard.
Wind pressed the wet fabric against Sarah’s shoulders. She barely registered the cold.
Logistics Building C stood two hundred yards away, a low concrete structure with three loading doors and a secured personnel entrance. The breach alarm above the door flashed red.
Sarah slowed before reaching it.
The security officers stacked beside the entrance.
Mercer stayed close behind.
“You think this is bait.”
“I think Leon had a direct route to the outer checkpoint. He ran toward the one building already under investigation instead.”
The officer at the keypad swiped his card.
Denied.
He tried again.
Denied.
Mercer used command authorization.
The screen turned black.
Sarah stepped to the nearest window. Its interior blinds were closed.
“What systems are controlled from inside?” she asked.
“Doors, loading lifts, ventilation, inventory network.”
“Fire suppression?”
“Yes.”
A heavy metallic bang sounded from within.
Then Noah shouted.
“Don’t open it!”
The voice was muffled but unmistakable.
One officer reached for the manual override.
Sarah grabbed his wrist.
“Wait.”
A hiss began behind the wall.
White vapor appeared along the bottom of the closed loading doors.
Mercer’s eyes widened.
“Suppression foam.”
Sarah looked toward the roof vents.
They were sealed.
“If the system discharges fully, anyone inside could suffocate.”
The officer checked the override panel. “We have to breach.”
“That is what they want.”
Mercer studied her. “Explain.”
“Leon took Noah. Noah warns us not to enter. The doors are remotely locked, but the suppression system activates before we breach. Whoever controls this wants either Leon and Noah dead or us trapped inside with them.”
The hiss grew louder.
Sarah scanned the loading yard.
A delivery truck stood unattended near the corner, its rear cargo door open. A cable ran from beneath the chassis toward a maintenance junction box.
She moved closer.
The cable was not standard equipment.
It had been threaded into the building’s external network conduit.
Sarah followed it with her eyes.
“The lockout is coming from the truck.”
One security officer disconnected the cable.
The building lights flickered.
The personnel door released with a click.
The suppression hiss weakened but did not stop.
“Move,” Mercer ordered.
The team entered.
The interior smelled of chemicals, wet cardboard, and machine oil.
Foam covered the floor in a thin white layer.
They found Noah twenty yards inside, sitting against a storage rack with his hands bound in front of him using plastic ties.
Sarah knelt.
“Where is Leon?”
Noah’s breathing shook.
“He didn’t take me.”
“Who did?”
“I followed him. He ran in here, and someone hit me from behind.”
Sarah checked the back of his head. No blood. A swelling was forming above his collar.
“Did you see the attacker?”
“No.”
“What did Leon do?”
“He was scared. He kept saying he needed to find the yellow case before they killed his daughter.”
Mercer cut Noah’s restraints.
“Where did he go?”
Noah pointed toward the restricted storage section.
A door stood partly open.
Beyond it, something scraped across the floor.
The security officers moved ahead.
Sarah helped Noah to his feet.
“Stay behind Captain Mercer.”
Noah gripped her sleeve.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Before they hit me, Leon said the missing equipment wasn’t being taken off base.”
Sarah stared at him.
“Where was it going?”
A gunshot-like crack echoed from the restricted room.
Everyone froze.
Then came Leon’s voice, raw with terror.
“It’s underneath us!”
The floor beneath Sarah’s boots shuddered.
May you like
A narrow seam appeared between two rows of storage racks.
And a hidden section of concrete began to descend.
