Chapter 7 - THE BETRAYAL WITHIN
The barrel of Vice Admiral Vance’s pistol remained locked dead on Agent Marcus's chest.
The dim emergency lighting of the hallway cast long, jagged shadows across the walls.
"You chose the wrong side of history, Marcus," Vice Admiral Vance said, his voice terrifyingly calm.
"The old guard is finished."
"Admiral Miller built this command with honor," Marcus replied, his jaw clenched tight.
"You sold it out to the highest bidder."
"Honor doesn't balance budgets, Marcus," Vance sneered, tightening his grip on the grip of his weapon.
"And it certainly doesn't protect us from the shifting tides of global defense contracts."
Inside the reinforced panic room, Rachel stared at the secondary monitoring screen built into the console.
The low-resolution monochrome feed displayed the hallway clearly.
She watched in absolute horror as Vice Admiral Vance prepared to pull the trigger on Marcus.
Little Lily sat curled up on a storage crate, clutching a small blanket to her chest.
"Mommy... what's happening out there?" Lily whispered, her eyes wide with fear.
"Nothing, sweetie, keep your eyes on me," Rachel whispered back, blinking away hot tears.
Her hand swept across the metal command desk, searching frantically for a manual override.
Her fingers brushed against an old tactical control panel covered in dust.
A small red toggle switch labeled Interior Defense Grid caught her eye.
If she flipped it, it would cut the power to the hallway sector, plunging Vance into total darkness.
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Outside the panic room, Vance's finger began to squeeze the trigger.
Rachel slammed her palm down hard onto the red toggle switch.
