Chapter 8 - Hangar Nine
Daniel was rushed into surgery under federal guard.
Eli refused to leave the hospital until the doctors said he was stable.
William remained beside him.
The senator’s staff called repeatedly.
The governor called.
The Senate majority leader called.
The White House called.
William answered none of them.
Lena spread blueprints across a hospital conference table.
“Richards-Gebaur has dozens of abandoned structures.”
Dennis pointed to Hangar Nine.
“The tunnel Daniel mentioned was part of an old emergency command network.”
“Could Mara be down there?” Eli asked.
“Yes.”
“Then why are we still here?”
“Because Vale is expecting us.”
Eli looked at William.
“My mom doesn’t have time.”
William nodded.
“He’s right.”
Lena objected.
“We need tactical teams.”
“A convoy will alert Vale.”
“He already knows we are coming.”
“Then we give him what he expects.”
William took the letters from Eli.
Dennis looked at him.
“You’re not walking in there alone.”
“I am if it keeps Mara alive.”
Eli stepped forward.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“She asked me to deliver the ring.”
“You delivered it.”
“She also told me something else.”
William waited.
Eli reached inside his coat and removed a tiny brass key.
“She said the ring opens the past.”
William examined the ring.
A narrow seam ran beneath the blue stone.
He inserted the brass key.
The stone lifted.
Inside the ring was a tiny rolled strip of film.
Dennis stared.
“Microfilm.”
Lena held it beneath a magnifying scanner.
Names appeared.
Dates.
Exposure levels.
Military identification numbers.
At the bottom was a handwritten authorization code.
C.H.-17.
Charles Harlan.
William’s father.
Lena leaned back.
“This is enough to prove the entire operation.”
“And enough to destroy Harlan Strategic Systems,” William said.
Eli looked at him.
“Do you care?”
William met his eyes.
“No.”
It was the first answer Eli believed immediately.
Lena organized two teams.
One would enter the airfield from the south.
The other would approach the tunnels through a drainage channel.
William would carry copies of the letters.
The original microfilm remained with Lena.
They reached the airfield after sunset.
Snow covered the cracked runway.
Hangar Nine stood at the far end like a dark skeleton.
William walked toward it alone.
A light switched on above the hangar door.
Vale’s voice echoed through a speaker.
“Leave your phone.”
William dropped it.
“Leave your weapon.”
“I don’t have one.”
“Open your coat.”
William obeyed.
“Now enter.”
The hangar door groaned upward.
Inside, Rebecca Sloan stood beneath a single hanging light.
Her face was pale.
Her perfect red blazer was stained with mud.
“Where is Mara?” William asked.
Rebecca looked toward the shadows.
“I made a mistake.”
“You made more than one.”
“You don’t understand Vale.”
“I understand that you raised my stolen child.”
Rebecca’s expression broke.
“I loved Daniel.”
“You lied to him every day.”
“I protected him.”
“From his mother?”
“From your father.”
William stepped closer.
“My father is dead.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No.”
The word echoed through the hangar.
William stopped.
Rebecca’s voice trembled.
“Charles Harlan did not die three years ago.”
“The funeral was staged.”
“Vale moved him into a private medical facility.”
“Why?”
“Because your father still controls the project.”
A motor started beneath the floor.
A steel platform began descending.
Vale appeared below them.
Mara was beside him.
And behind Mara sat an old man in a wheelchair.
His face was thin.
His body was weak.
But William recognized his father instantly.
General Charles Harlan raised his head.
“You were always too sentimental, son.”
May you like
Then he looked at Eli.
“And Mara was always too stubborn to understand that some children are born carrying dangerous truths.”
