Chapter 14 - THE BROTHERS GABRIEL COULD NOT CONTROL.
Cassandra raised the blade again
Julian rolled beneath the console.
The knife struck metal.
He kicked her ankle.
She fell against the server racks.
Julian stood.
Blood ran from the cut on his arm.
Cassandra attacked again.
This time, Julian caught her wrist with both hands.
She twisted sharply.
The knife moved toward his throat.
“You were supposed to become Gabriel’s heir,” she hissed.
Julian forced her arm away.
“I already had a father.”
He slammed her wrist against the console.
The knife dropped.
Cassandra struck him across the face.
Julian staggered.
She reached for the blade.
The container door suddenly opened.
Daniel stood there.
He held Vale’s weapon.
His hands trembled.
“Step away from him.”
Cassandra froze.
Daniel’s face was pale from the toxin.
But his aim remained steady.
“You cannot shoot me,” Cassandra said.
“You still need answers.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You built my entire life from stolen answers.”
“I am done asking.”
Cassandra moved toward the knife.
Daniel fired.
The bullet struck the floor beside her hand.
She stopped.
Cole entered behind him.
He forced Cassandra onto her knees.
Federal agents followed and restrained her.
Julian crossed toward Daniel.
“Are you all right?”
“No.”
Daniel looked at him.
“But I am alive.”
The ship shook again.
Gunfire continued above deck.
Cole checked the protocol screen.
“Fifty-three percent.”
“How long until completion?”
“Nine minutes.”
Naomi’s voice came through their earpieces.
“Argent Dawn deployed at least fifty armed personnel.”
“Our naval support is eleven minutes away.”
Julian looked at the server room.
“We need nine.”
Cole nodded.
“Then we hold the ship.”
Daniel picked up the broken collar.
“What happens if they destroy the servers?”
“Protocol Seven fails,” Julian said.
“And the records already sent?”
“Partial.”
“Enough to expose some people.”
“Not enough to restore everyone.”
Daniel looked toward the corridor.
“Then we keep them out.”
Cole stared at him.
“You can barely stand.”
“I spent six months listening to Gabriel tell me my family never wanted me.”
Daniel looked at Julian.
“Then my brother walked into a trap to save me.”
He looked toward the open container.
“I am not sitting down now.”
The word brother hung between them.
Julian felt its weight.
They moved through Cargo Hold Three.
Federal agents had established defensive positions between the containers.
Gunfire flashed near the eastern access stairs.
The alliance forces were advancing from the upper deck.
Cole took command of the team.
“Block both corridors.”
“Do not let them reach the white container.”
Julian looked toward a maintenance panel.
The cargo hold’s automated cranes could move containers remotely.
“Can we access the loading system?”
An engineer shook his head.
“Bridge controls only.”
Daniel pointed toward a ladder.
“There is a secondary station above the hold.”
“How do you know?”
“They made me work here.”
Julian and Daniel climbed the ladder.
Cole remained below.
The secondary control room overlooked the containers.
Its door was locked.
Daniel entered a maintenance code.
The door opened.
Julian looked at him.
“Where did you learn that?”
“Six months as a prisoner teaches you useful things.”
Inside, Daniel activated the cargo-management system.
A three-dimensional map of the hold appeared.
Julian saw the advancing alliance members.
“We can create walls.”
Daniel nodded.
They selected a row of containers.
The overhead cranes moved.
Massive steel boxes shifted across the hold.
The first corridor closed.
Several armed men were trapped on the wrong side.
The second group changed direction.
Daniel moved another container.
The floor shook as it landed.
A new barrier formed.
Below, federal agents gained time.
Protocol Seven reached sixty-four percent.
Naomi’s voice came through.
“Naval support is eight minutes away.”
Cole answered.
“We may not have eight.”
An explosion struck the forward bulkhead.
The alliance had brought shaped charges.
Smoke filled the upper corridor.
Julian saw a group entering through an emergency hatch.
“They are above us.”
Daniel closed the control-room door.
“No other exit.”
Julian looked through the glass.
Five armed men approached.
The leader removed his helmet.
Julian recognized him.
Vincent Hale’s son, Adrian.
Julian had known Adrian for years.
They had attended charity events together.
Adrian had served on the Rossi International legal committee.
Julian had believed him arrogant.
He had not known he was part of Gabriel’s network.
Adrian lifted a radio.
“Julian.”
“You cannot complete Protocol Seven.”
“Too many powerful people will fall.”
Julian activated the room’s speaker.
“That is the point.”
Adrian looked through the glass.
“My father helped build your company.”
“Your father murdered mine.”
“Alexander stole from us.”
“Everyone claims Alexander stole something.”
Julian stepped closer to the window.
“Gabriel claimed he stole his empire.”
“Bennett claimed he stole recognition.”
“Vincent claimed he stole money.”
“None of you ever admit you destroyed yourselves.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
He placed a charge against the control-room door.
Daniel moved toward a storage cabinet.
Inside were emergency tools.
No weapons.
Only a fire extinguisher.
A steel hook.
A flare pistol.
Daniel picked up the flare pistol.
“One shot.”
Julian took the fire extinguisher.
“Make it count.”
The charge exploded.
The door tore inward.
Smoke filled the room.
Julian released the extinguisher.
White chemical fog blinded the first two attackers.
Daniel fired the flare.
It struck the clothing of a third man.
The man fell backward, screaming.
Julian grabbed the steel hook.
He struck the weapon from Adrian’s hand.
Adrian tackled him against the console.
Daniel fought another attacker near the door.
The control screen flashed.
ERROR.
CONTAINER MOVEMENT INTERRUPTED.
Protocol Seven continued.
Seventy-two percent.
Adrian punched Julian in the ribs.
Julian drove the hook between them.
Adrian caught it.
They struggled.
“You could have ruled with us,” Adrian said.
Julian shoved him backward.
“I already had a job.”
Adrian drew a small pistol from his ankle.
Daniel saw it.
“Julian!”
Adrian fired.
Daniel stepped between them.
The bullet struck Daniel in the side.
He fell.
Julian’s face changed.
He slammed Adrian against the window.
The glass cracked.
Adrian dropped the gun.
Julian hit him again.
And again.
Adrian collapsed.
Julian could have continued.
For one terrible second, he wanted to.
Then Alexander’s letter returned to him.
Anger makes you predictable.
Julian stopped.
He turned toward Daniel.
Daniel pressed both hands against the wound.
Blood spread through his shirt.
Julian dropped beside him.
“Stay with me.”
Daniel laughed weakly.
“People keep saying that tonight.”
Julian applied pressure.
“Medical team!”
No one answered.
The fighting below had intensified.
Daniel looked toward the protocol screen.
“Eighty percent.”
“We need to move you.”
“No.”
“You are bleeding.”
“If they take the control room, they can move the containers.”
Julian looked at the approaching shadows beyond the destroyed door.
More men were coming.
Daniel pushed the flare pistol into Julian’s hand.
“Go.”
“I am not leaving you.”
Daniel looked at him.
“I spent my life thinking no one came back for me.”
“You came.”
“That is enough.”
“No.”
Julian’s voice broke.
“It is not enough.”
Daniel stared at him.
For the first time, his expression softened.
“Martha is my mother?”
“Yes.”
“And Cole is my brother too?”
“Yes.”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“That is a complicated family.”
“You have no idea.”
Daniel’s breathing became shallow.
Julian lifted him.
“You can meet them properly after this.”
Gunfire sounded in the corridor.
Cole appeared through the smoke.
He shot one attacker.
Two agents followed.
Cole saw Daniel.
His face went white.
“No.”
He rushed forward.
Daniel looked at the man who had believed they were adoptive brothers.
“Aaron.”
“I’m here.”
Cole knelt beside him.
“I should have found you.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You found me every time before.”
“I just made it difficult.”
Cole pressed a bandage against the wound.
“We are getting you out.”
Protocol Seven reached eighty-seven percent.
Naomi’s voice came through.
“Naval forces are three minutes away.”
Then another voice entered the channel.
Unknown.
Male.
“This is Argent Dawn control.”
“Terminate Protocol Seven.”
“Or we sink Meridian Crown.”
Julian looked through the shattered window.
Argent Dawn floated beside them.
A mounted weapon on its deck pointed toward the cargo ship’s hull.
Naomi answered.
“You fire and your own people die.”
The man laughed.
“Our people are replaceable.”
Gabriel’s philosophy had spread through all of them.
Everyone was a tool.
A role.
An identity that could be replaced.
Julian looked at the cargo-management screen.
The fuel-storage diagram appeared near the stern.
Argent Dawn’s boarding bridge connected close to the emergency fuel lines.
“We can separate the ships,” Julian said.
Cole looked at him.
“How?”
“The stern crane.”
Daniel pointed weakly toward the controls.
“Lift Container C-119.”
Julian found it on the map.
A forty-foot steel container rested beside the boarding bridge.
He activated the crane.
The container rose.
Alliance members on the bridge looked up.
Julian swung it sideways.
The container slammed into the bridge.
Metal collapsed.
Men fell into the water.
The two ships separated.
Argent Dawn’s mounted weapon fired.
The shell struck Meridian Crown near the upper deck.
The entire vessel shook.
Lights went out.
Emergency power activated.
The protocol screen went black.
Julian stared at it.
“No.”
A backup display appeared.
PROTOCOL SEVEN PAUSED.
POWER INTERRUPTION.
NINETY-THREE PERCENT COMPLETE.
Daniel looked toward the engines.
“They cut the main line.”
Julian opened the electrical diagram.
The server container had emergency batteries.
But the network transmitter depended on the ship’s primary communication array.
“We need power for seven percent.”
Cole looked through the broken door.
“The engine room is three decks below.”
Daniel struggled to sit up.
“There is another way.”
“What?”
“The rescue vessel.”
“It has a high-output emergency generator.”
“It is still near the stern.”
Naomi’s voice came through.
“The vessel moved away during the assault.”
Cole checked the external cameras.
The federal rescue vessel remained several hundred yards away.
Too far for a cable.
Julian looked toward Argent Dawn.
Its generators were still operating.
“We use their power.”
Cole stared at him.
“They are trying to kill us.”
“They also want Sovereign.”
“They will not shut down their own systems.”
Daniel pointed toward a heavy power cable connected to the boarding equipment.
The broken bridge had torn most of it loose.
One end still hung between the ships.
“If someone connects that cable to the server grid...” Daniel said.
“The protocol continues.”
Cole looked at the gap between the vessels.
Waves crashed below.
Argent Dawn moved farther away each second.
“No one can cross that.”
Julian picked up a safety harness from the wall.
Cole grabbed him.
“No.”
“Seven percent.”
“The naval team is almost here.”
“The buyers can destroy their generators before the navy boards.”
Daniel’s voice was weak.
“He is right.”
Cole looked at both brothers.
“I am getting tired of your family making suicidal plans.”
Julian attached the harness.
“Keep Daniel alive.”
He climbed through the broken window onto the crane platform.
Wind struck him.
The two ships rolled beneath the dark sky.
The heavy cable swung between them.
Gunfire came from Argent Dawn.
Cole and federal agents returned fire.
Julian moved along the crane arm.
Below him, the Atlantic churned.
He reached the hanging cable.
It was ten feet away.
The gap widened.
Julian jumped.
His hands caught the cable.
His body slammed against the ship’s side.
Pain exploded through his injured arm.
He nearly lost his grip.
Cole shouted from the control room.
“Julian!”
Julian wrapped his legs around the cable.
He pulled himself upward.
Bullets struck the metal around him.
Naval helicopters appeared in the distance.
He reached the damaged connector.
The cable had been severed near Meridian Crown.
He attached a safety line.
Then swung toward the cargo ship’s emergency junction box.
The first attempt failed.
He struck the hull.
The second attempt carried him closer.
He grabbed the railing.
Cole reached through and pulled him onto the platform.
Julian dragged the cable behind him.
They connected it to the server-grid adapter.
Power surged.
The protocol display returned.
NINETY-FOUR PERCENT.
NINETY-FIVE.
Alliance forces rushed the corridor again.
Cole and the agents defended the room.
NINETY-SIX.
The mounted weapon on Argent Dawn turned toward the server hold.
Naomi shouted through the earpiece.
“They are targeting Cargo Hold Three!”
Julian looked through the external camera.
The weapon loaded.
NINETY-SEVEN.
A naval helicopter fired.
The missile struck the weapon mount.
An explosion covered Argent Dawn’s deck.
NINETY-EIGHT.
The server container shook.
Cassandra had escaped her restraints below.
She appeared on the internal camera.
She held a grenade.
Julian’s heart stopped.
She entered the white container.
NINETY-NINE.
Cassandra pulled the pin.
She looked directly into the camera.
Then smiled with Celeste’s face.
Julian ran toward the ladder.
“Cassandra!”
She dropped the grenade beneath the central server.
Daniel lifted himself from the floor.
He reached for the cargo controls.
Julian looked at him.
“What are you doing?”
Daniel selected the refrigeration emergency system.
The white container sealed.
Liquid fire-suppression foam flooded the interior.
The grenade exploded.
The container walls bulged.
Smoke escaped through the vents.
The protocol screen flickered.
Then one final message appeared.
SOVEREIGN PROTOCOL SEVEN COMPLETE.
Daniel collapsed.
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Across the world, millions of hidden records began returning to their rightful owners.
And Gabriel Rossi’s empire lost the power to rewrite a single name.
