Chapter 18 - THE HEARTBEAT
Konstantin had escaped custody.
Roman grabbed Lena’s phone.
“What happened?”
An agent coughed on the other end.
“He had a device under his skin.”
“It released a sedative.”
“He took the control room.”
Konstantin’s voice entered through the vault speakers.
“The purge ends when my heartbeat stops.”
Daniel examined the control panel.
“If he dies, the system may release the gas.”
“And if he lives, he controls the countdown,” Lena said.
Twenty-three minutes remained.
Children began crying behind the glass.
Maya looked at the little girl opposite her.
The child tapped three times against the window.
Pause.
Two taps.
Pause.
One tap.
Maya frowned.
“She’s counting.”
Sarah looked closer.
“No.”
“She’s giving us a code.”
The little girl repeated it.
Three.
Two.
One.
Then she pointed toward the floor.
Roman examined the tiles.
The third tile.
Second row.
First column.
He lifted it.
A manual release lever rested beneath.
Roman pulled it.
One door opened.
Only one.
The little girl ran out.
She grabbed Maya’s hand.
“Others have levers too.”
Her voice was hoarse.
“Under different tiles.”
Maya looked through the windows.
Each child began tapping a different pattern.
They had memorized their own escape codes.
Valentina had underestimated them.
Federal agents moved from room to room.
They lifted tiles.
Pulled levers.
Opened doors.
Twenty minutes.
Daniel counted the children.
“Thirty-eight.”
Irina looked at the remaining rooms.
“Six are still locked.”
No tapping came from those windows.
The glass was dark.
Roman smashed one with a metal bar.
The glass did not crack.
Valentina appeared at the end of the corridor.
She held a detonator.
Armed guards stood behind her.
“You always ruin beautiful systems,” she said.
Roman moved in front of the children.
Valentina looked at Maya.
“Come here.”
“No.”
“You can stop the purge.”
Maya stared at the detonator.
“How?”
“Your blood opens the central chamber.”
“Inside is the main life-support control.”
Roman shook his head.
“She is lying.”
Valentina smiled.
“Ask Irina.”
Everyone looked at her.
Irina’s silence answered.
Maya looked at her.
“It’s true?”
“The central chamber contains the manual override.”
“Why didn’t you say?”
“Because it also contains the Crown archive.”
“The original archive.”
Valentina lifted the detonator.
“Seventeen minutes.”
“Choose.”
Roman aimed at her.
Valentina held up the detonator.
“If my thumb moves, the dark rooms seal permanently.”
Maya looked toward the six locked rooms.
Small hands appeared against the glass.
The children inside were alive.
She stepped forward.
Sarah grabbed her.
“No.”
Maya looked at her mother.
“You taught me that fear does not decide who we become.”
Sarah began crying.
“I taught you that so you could survive.”
“I am trying to help them survive too.”
Roman looked at Valentina.
“I go with her.”
Valentina smiled.
“Of course.”
Roman and Maya crossed the corridor.
Valentina’s guards surrounded them.
The central chamber opened after Maya pressed her palm to the scanner.
Inside stood a single white chair.
Metal restraints waited on its arms.
Roman stopped.
Valentina pushed Maya forward.
“You said there was a control.”
“There is.”
May you like
She pointed at the chair.
“She is the control.”
