Chapter 12 - Bay 17
Bay 17 had been sealed for nine years.
Official reason: structural damage.
Unofficially, nobody remembered the last time anyone had gone inside.
Olivia, Hale, Ortiz, and Ward entered through a rusted service door just before midnight.
The warehouse smelled of dust and old machine oil.
At first, it appeared empty.
Then Ortiz noticed fresh tire marks.
"Somebody's been here this week."
They followed the tracks to a false wall behind stacked shipping crates.
Beyond it sat a small operations room.
New monitors.
Encrypted radios.
Stacks of copied credentials.
And photographs.
Dozens of them.
Soldiers.
Officers.
Contractors.
Olivia's photograph was pinned in the center.
Below it were eleven days of notes documenting her movements.
Hale stared. "This is the handler room."
Olivia opened a drawer.
Inside sat Pike's missing phone.
Another drawer held Captain Reed's watch.
Ward exhaled. "We have them."
"No," Olivia said. "We have a room."
A monitor blinked on by itself.
General Voss appeared on the screen.
Live video.
He looked directly into the camera.
"Daniel's daughter," he said. "Still opening doors that should remain closed."
Hale reached for the terminal.
Olivia stopped him.
"Where is Lieutenant Shaw?" she asked.
Voss smiled faintly.
"Running."
"From you?"
The smile disappeared.
"From consequences."
Olivia stepped closer to the camera.
"You killed my father."
Voss did not answer.
Instead, he said, "You have six minutes to leave Bay 17."
A red timer appeared on every monitor.
05:59.
05:58.
05:57.
Ortiz looked around the room.
May you like
"Commander... what happens at zero?"
The warehouse doors slammed shut.
