Chapter 7 - THE RACE AGAINST THE CLOCK
The heavy steel vault door shuddered violently.
A low, subterranean rumble vibrated through the floorboards, followed by the hiss of a secondary plasma cutter burning through the hydraulic locking mechanism from the outside.
Vance’s men were using high-grade military demolition charges. They were going to blow the vault open within minutes.
“Hurry!” Dr. Yates yelled, frantically securing the unconscious traitor Prescott to a stainless-steel support beam with heavy-duty medical ties. “They’re cutting through the primary seals!”
I didn't wait. I grabbed the encrypted flash drive from Elena’s hand and rushed toward the sub-level bio-synthesizer—a massive, climate-controlled laboratory unit tucked into the corner of the secure shelter that I had originally installed years ago for experimental medical research.
“How do I run this?” I demanded, slamming the flash drive into the main terminal port.
A holographic interface flickered to life, bathing my face in pale blue light, demanding a complex cryptographic decryption key.
“The password isn’t text,” Elena said, rushing to my side and typing rapidly on the glass keyboard. “It’s a genetic sequence. Genevieve’s DNA marker combined with yours.”
“My DNA?”
“Your blood,” she said urgently, grabbing a sterile lancet from a nearby tray before I could protest. She pricked my index finger, squeezing a single drop of blood onto the biometric scanner embedded in the console.
The screen flashed red, then yellow, and finally turned a brilliant, steady green.
ACCESS GRANTED. ANTIDOTE SYNTHESIS INITIATED.
A mechanical hum vibrated through the bulkheads as the internal mixing chambers began to whir to life. Tiny automated robotic arms inside the glass casing of the synthesizer started mixing chemical compounds, filtering them through microscopic centrifuge tubes.
Estimated time to synthesis: Four minutes.
Four minutes.
Outside the vault door, another massive explosion rocked the hallway. Plaster rained down from the ceiling tiles. The reinforced steel door groaned, bowing inward under the pressure of the shaped charge.
“Boss!” Prescott Hale groaned, regaining consciousness, tied to the pillar. He laughed weakly, blood dripping from his chin. “You won’t make it! When that door blows, you’re all dead!”
I didn't even look at him. I drew my Glock, walked over, and pistol-whipped him back into blessed silence.
I turned back to the synthesizer screen.
Estimated time: Three minutes.
“Elena, get over to the kids,” I ordered, keeping my weapon raised toward the vault entrance. “Dr. Yates, prep the intravenous lines right now. The moment that serum is ready, I want it in their veins.”
“Yes, Mr. Mercer!” Dr. Yates shouted, his hands shaking as he readied two butterfly needles.
I stood in the center of the room, my back to the synthesizer, my eyes locked on the groaning steel door. The metal was glowing red-hot along the edges. Sparks showered across the floor.
Two minutes.
The lock mechanism gave way with a deafening snap of metal.
One minute.
The heavy steel door slowly began to buckle outward, pushed by unseen forces on the other side.
Thirty seconds.
The synthesizer screen flashed a brilliant, pulsing blue.
SYNTHESIS COMPLETE. TWO DOSES READY FOR EXTRACTION.
“It’s done!” Elena screamed over the deafening noise.
I lunged forward, pressing the release button on the machine. Two small, glowing blue vials slid out of the extraction port into my waiting hands.
I tossed one to Dr. Yates. I grabbed the other and rushed to Blythe’s bedside, while Yates scrambled to Jonah’s side.
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“Do it!” I shouted.
At that exact second, the vault door exploded inward in a massive sheet of fire and smoke.
