Chapter 10 - The Unseen Puppet Master
The red emergency lights pulsed rhythmically across Dr. Thorne's terrified face,
casting long,
eerie shadows against the server racks.
I kept my pistol raised,
my front sight focused squarely between his eyes,
my breathing slow and controlled.
"Dr. Thorne,"
I said smoothly,
stepping forward with deliberate,
unhurried momentum.
"My father brought you into this company fifteen years ago.
He paid for your daughter's medical treatments when she was sick.
Why betray everything he built?"
Thorne's lip quivered,
tears streaming down his face as he held the fragile glass vial tighter.
"They have my family,
Claire!"
Thorne cried out,
his voice cracking under unbearable anguish.
"Julian Mercer has my daughter!
He sent me photos of her outside her school this morning!
If I didn't steal the Meridian Core data and deploy the fail-safe toxin to cover their tracks,
they promised to kill her!"
Ethan moved silently along the left flank,
using the tall server racks as cover while Thorne was focused on me.
"Julian Mercer lied to you,
Aris,"
I told him,
keeping his eyes locked onto mine.
"Mercer doesn't leave witnesses.
The moment you drop that vial and hand over the flash drive,
his team outside will liquidate you and your family to erase the connection."
Thorne gasped,
his arm wavering over the open vent.
"No...
no,
he swore..."
"Look at me!"
I commanded in my best military tone,
striking his psychological core.
"I spent twelve years surviving men like Julian Mercer in active war zones!
He operates on fear and leverage!
If you give him what he wants,
you lose everything!
If you trust me right now,
I give you my word as an officer of the United States Army...
I will save your daughter."
Thorne hesitated,
his fingers trembling violently against the smooth glass surface.
In that single fraction of a second of hesitation,
Ethan lunged from the shadows behind the server rack.
Ethan grabbed Thorne's wrist in a vise-like grip,
twisting it upward and snatching the toxin vial out of the air before it could fall into the vent.
I closed the gap in a heartbeat,
disarming Thorne and forcing him down to his knees on the steel floor.
Ethan carefully placed the neurotoxin vial into a padded bio-hazard container,
sealing it tight with a loud latch click.
"Facility Seven is secure,"
Ethan said,
letting out a breath he had been holding for minutes.
Thorne slumped onto the floor,
sobbing hysterically into his hands.
"My daughter..."
he whimpered.
"Where is she?"
I pulled out my secure phone and dialed General Vance's direct line.
"General,"
I spoke clearly into the receiver,
"we have secured Facility Seven and recovered the chemical agent.
We need a Special Forces extraction team sent to coordinates 34-Alpha immediately to rescue Dr. Thorne's daughter."
"Copy that, Captain,"
General Vance's voice crackled through the speaker.
"Team Delta is already moving on that location. We tracked Mercer's signal ten minutes ago."
I lowered the phone and looked down at Thorne.
"Your daughter is being rescued right now,
Aris,"
I said softly.
"Now tell me...
where is Julian Mercer?"
Thorne looked up,
wiping his bloody nose with his sleeve.
"He isn't in hiding,
Claire,"
Thorne whispered,
his eyes filled with pure terror.
May you like
"He is attending the International Defense Strategy Gala at the Capital Grand Hotel tonight.
He is sitting at the head table...
