Chapter 10 - Her Father's File
Olivia did not sleep.
At sunrise, she stood in the archive basement with Hale while an old personnel file lay open between them.
Daniel Mitchell's death report had always seemed ordinary.
Chest pain during an inspection trip.
Collapsed in a hotel room.
No suspicious findings.
Except there had been no autopsy.
"My mother requested one," Olivia said. "I remember that."
Hale turned a page.
The request had been canceled by command authority.
Signature: Elias Voss.
Olivia felt something cold settle behind her ribs.
Hale spoke carefully. "Voss was a colonel then."
"And my father's deputy."
Another document showed Daniel had been investigating irregular procurement transfers six weeks before he died.
Same route.
Same contracting network.
Different company names.
Olivia sat back.
"Black Lantern didn't start with the missing modules."
"No."
"It's been running for at least twelve years."
Hale found a sealed memo at the bottom of the file.
Most of it was redacted, but one sentence remained visible.
IF THIS SYSTEM CONTINUES, PEOPLE WILL DIE TO PROTECT IT.
Daniel Mitchell's handwriting.
Olivia closed her eyes for one second.
Then the archive lights went out.
A lock clicked behind them.
Hale reached for his radio.
No signal.
Smoke began seeping under the far door.
"Again?" he muttered.
"Not a fire this time."
Olivia smelled the air.
Chemical suppressant.
Someone had triggered the archive protection system manually.
The room began filling with oxygen-displacing gas.
Hale tried the emergency release.
Dead.
Olivia looked at the ceiling vent.
"They aren't destroying records."
Hale coughed.
"Then what are they doing?"
May you like
Olivia pulled a metal chair beneath the vent.
"Killing the people reading them."
