Chapter 10 - The Override
I grabbed the titanium flash drive from the box, my hands shaking so violently I nearly dropped it into the wet muck at the base of the pillar.
I scrambled back into the driver’s seat, slamming the door shut.
“Mommy, is that James on the radio?” Chloe asked from the back seat, her voice small and frightened.
“Yes, baby. He’s going to be fine. We just need to open this gate,” I lied smoothly, forcing every ounce of panic out of my voice.
I reached down beneath the steering column, locating the car’s auxiliary diagnostic port. I slid the titanium drive into the slot.
For a terrifying three seconds, nothing happened. The dashboard screens flickered black, then flashed a brilliant, blinding crimson.
WARNING: EXTERNAL ENCRYPTION OVERRIDE DETECTED. UPLOADING SECURE PAYLOAD TO DOJ SERVERS.
A progress bar appeared on the central console, creeping forward at a agonizingly slow pace: 10%... 45%... 80%...
Behind us, echoing down the long, vaulted brick tunnel, came a sound that made my blood freeze.
The heavy roar of heavy-duty truck engines.
Twin beams of blinding white headlights suddenly cut through the darkness at the far end of the corridor, bouncing off the damp brick walls. They had found the tunnel entrance.
“Come on, come on,” I whispered, staring at the progress bar as it hovered stubbornly at 95%.
In the rear-view mirror, two massive black tactical vehicles rounded the curve of the tunnel, their tires hissing against the wet stone, accelerating directly toward the back of our car.
100%.
UPLOAD COMPLETE. MUNICIPAL GATE DISENGAGED.
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With a loud, metallic clank, the heavy iron gate in front of us unlocked and slowly retracted upward into the ceiling.
I slammed the gear shift into drive, stomped my foot down on the accelerator, and the sedan shot forward through the opening just as the lead tactical truck slammed into our rear bumper with a deafening crash of crunching metal.
