Chapter 8 - The Device Above Their Heads
Calloway ordered the underground wing evacuated.
Hannah refused to leave.
“If we disconnect it incorrectly, every aircraft and defense system on the base could accept false commands.”
The admiral looked toward the personnel in the corridor.
“How long to shut down the entire network?”
A technician answered.
“Twenty-two minutes.”
The aircraft carrying Ellis had six minutes of fuel.
Calloway turned to Hannah.
“What do you need?”
“A direct line to the device.”
The military police officer lifted her toward the ceiling vent.
Hannah braced one boot against the wall and removed the grate.
Her movements were slow from exhaustion.
Her hands trembled once.
Then steadied.
Inside the duct sat a black rectangular module attached to military wiring.
Not improvised.
Professionally installed.
Hannah examined the serial plate.
The number had been scraped away.
But beneath it remained a procurement symbol.
Calloway recognized it.
“Office of Naval Systems Integration.”
Only senior command staff could request equipment through that office.
Pike looked toward the control room.
“Deputy Admiral Sloane.”
Calloway’s face hardened.
Vice Admiral Richard Sloane served as the installation commander.
He had left the base forty minutes before Hannah’s arrest.
Officially, he was attending a Pentagon briefing.
Hannah touched two wires.
“Nightglass has a mirrored control source.”
“Meaning?”
“If we remove this device, another one activates.”
Calloway asked where.
“Wherever Sloane is.”
The intercom came alive again.
This time the voice belonged to Vice Admiral Sloane.
“Thomas, step away from the system.”
Calloway stared at the speaker.
“Richard.”
“You are compromised.”
“You buried forty-seven sailors.”
“I preserved national security.”
Hannah looked toward the intercom.
“You sold them.”
Sloane paused.
Then spoke her name with quiet contempt.
“You were always difficult to control.”
Calloway’s jaw clenched.
“What do you want?”
“The vault keys and Commander Mercer.”
“No.”
“Then Lieutenant Ellis crashes into civilian airspace when his fuel runs out.”
Hannah studied the aircraft data.
Ellis could not remain airborne.
But a narrow emergency runway sat on an abandoned coastal section of the installation.
It had been removed from modern navigation systems after hurricane damage.
Hannah remembered its magnetic heading.
She pressed the radio button.
“Grant, prepare for a blind landing.”
Calloway looked at her.
“That runway is closed.”
“The pavement still exists.”
“The approach lights are dead.”
Hannah looked through the red emergency glow.
“Then we turn on every vehicle light we have.”
Calloway immediately ordered trucks to the abandoned strip.
Sloane’s voice returned.
“You cannot save both the aircraft and your crew.”
Hannah stared at the intercom.
“You made that mistake before.”
She leaned closer.
May you like
“I won’t.”
👉 Hannah devised a way to save the aircraft—but doing it would expose her location to the people holding the Resolute survivors.
