Chapter 12 - RACE AGAINST TIME
The Admiral’s face turned deathly pale as he felt his daughter collapse into his arms.
"Marcus, get the medical transport up here right now!" the Admiral roared across the courtyard.
"She's going into early labor!"
Marcus scrambled to his feet, pulling his encrypted comms unit from his tactical vest.
"Medic One, move to the front courtyard immediately!" Marcus barked into the radio.
"Priority Alpha, high-risk pregnancy emergency!"
"Sir, the road leading out of the estate has been blocked by fallen timber!" the radio operator responded through static.
"Vice Admiral Vance's men dropped two heavy pine trees across the main access route before they breached!"
The Admiral looked down at his daughter, whose face was contorted in agonizing pain.
"Dad... the baby..." Rachel gasped, her knuckles turning white as she squeezed his arm.
"It's too early..."
"Look at me, Rachel," Admiral Miller said, his tone instantly shifting into absolute, calm military authority.
"Focus on my voice."
"You are going to be fine, and your baby is going to be fine."
"I have never lost an objective, and I am not starting with my own grandchild tonight."
The Admiral scooped Rachel up into his arms, carrying her swiftly back toward the shelter of the house.
Rain washed the blood and dirt from his uniform as he crossed the ruined doorway.
He laid her gently down onto the plush sofa in the dry living room.
Little Lily ran out from the hallway, crying as she saw her mother lying down.
"Mommy! Mommy!" Lily sobbed, hugging Rachel's arm.
"Lily, sweetie, come here," the Admiral said gently, pulling the young girl close for a brief moment.
"Your mom is just tired."
"I need you to be a brave soldier right now and help Agent Marcus guard the hallway."
"Can you do that for me?"
Lily wiped her tear-streaked face with her sleeve and nodded bravely.
"Yes, Grandpa," she whispered softly.
The Admiral turned back to Marcus, who was standing by the broken doorway with his weapon lowered.
"How long to clear the road?" the Admiral asked in a harsh whisper.
"At least twenty minutes with heavy equipment," Marcus replied grimly.
"We don't have twenty minutes," the Admiral said, looking at the silver flash drive in his hand.
"And Vice Admiral Vance isn't the only officer involved in this conspiracy."
"The moment Vance's failure registers at Headquarters, they will initiate a scorched-earth protocol."
Suddenly, the encrypted satellite phone sitting on the dining table began to ring again.
The ringtone was sharp, repetitive, and filled the quiet room with immense tension.
The caller ID displayed no numbers, only a single word: UNKNOWN.
The Admiral walked over to the table and picked up the heavy device.
He slid the screen open and brought the receiver to his ear.
"Speak," Admiral Miller commanded coldly.
A voice on the other end answered, calm, distorted by a synthesizer, and deeply sinister.
"Congratulations on surviving the evening, Vance," the voice said smoothly.
"You proved far more resilient than our analysts predicted."
"I know who you are," Admiral Miller stated, his voice flat and deadly.
"I have the ledger in my hand right now."
A dark, amused chuckle came through the speaker.
"You have a drive, Admiral," the voice corrected him.
"But you don't have the decryption key."
"And without that key, the data self-destructs in sixty minutes."
"If you want that key to save your family's name, you will bring the drive to the shipyard dock forty-two alone."
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"Come in thirty minutes, or watch everything you fought for turn to ashes."
The line went dead with a harsh, flat tone.
