Page 98

She pushed off him to her knees, wiping water from her eyes. Most of the rest of the team was already assembled under a natural rock shelter ten feet away.

She checked over her shoulder. Zak’s breathing was harsh as he pulled himself over the edge. Muscles bunched in his jaw. “Fuck,” he gasped, rolling onto his back. “Next time we’re taking the helicopter.”

The adrenaline that had carried her up the cliff face faded, exposing the sharp ache of overused muscles.

But as she flexed her fingers, working feeling back into the numb tips, brute will overrode the fatigue. Korolov and maybe Eldridge were here, along with technology that could reshape the world. The exhaustion didn’t disappear, but it no longer mattered. Underneath the physical pain, something stirred. A cold, focused calm she hadn’t experienced in weeks.

Soon she would have answers. Soon she would end this nightmare and clear her name.

The rain continued to lash, but she barely noticed it now. Her entire focus had narrowed to the mission ahead.

Leo’s hand found her shoulder, heavy and solid.

She turned into it, letting herself feel it—for one breath.

“How are you feeling?”

“Ready,” she said, and meant it.

The wind still howled, but up here, the world had narrowed. Just them, the mission, and the secrets buried in the rock beneath their feet. She joined him under the rocky overhang with the others. Water dripped onto the back of her neck. She wiped it away. Let it come. Nothing could shake her now.

Gage met her eyes.You okay?

She nodded and shot him a smile.

Eli had a tablet powered up, satellite imagery of the compound glowing on the screen.

A few scattered surface buildings were window dressing. Underneath was an underground complex carved directly into the limestone cliff. Topped with a massive radio satellite tower, its steel framework sprouting skyward from the rocky ground.

Fox traced the outline on the tablet with his finger. “Three levels deep, as we suspected from our initial surveys.”

Kat studied the schematic. The satellite tower dominated the upper section, its dish and transmission arrays pointing out toward the open ocean. Power cables and cooling systems snaked down through the rock to the buried laboratory levels below.

“How many people?” Leo asked.

“Thermal imaging shows approximately fifty bodies moving through the complex.” Eli’s voice was barely audible above the rain.

Leo dropped to his knees beside his brother. “Guard posts?”

“Four at the main entrance in this small building here, maybe fifteen more patrolling the access tunnels. The satellite array is automated.”

Fox tapped the screen. “The transmission arrays are pointed at specific coordinates across Southeast Asia. They’re ready to transmit.”

Kat pushed her sleeve off her watch, her stomach rolling with acid. “In less than three hours.”

“Let’s make those hours count.” Leo’s mouth thinned to a dark line. “Abe, Griff, Eli, Landon—sat tower’s yours. Locate and neutralize the transmission node. Fast and clean before they can go live.”

“Kat, Zak, Fox. You’re with me. We breach the main entrance, go deep, and extract whatever intel we can before this place goes up in smoke. The lab levels are our priority.”

Her heart settled into a metronome as her training locked in. No fear now—just the mission.

They split into their teams. Kat checked her mag, confirmed a round was chambered, and dropped her NVGs. The world turned green.

“Comms check,” Leo’s voice crackled in her earpiece.

“Clear,” she replied.

They broke from cover and fanned out. Kat’s boots found dark basalt—surprisingly quiet underfoot. Her gun was up, every nerve humming.