Chapter 45 - The Ultimate Leverage
The heavy pneumatic locks of the vault doors hissed as they sealed shut from the outside, locking into place with a series of heavy internal deadbolts.
Liam spun around instantly, rushing to the massive steel door and hammering his fist against the reinforced surface before raising his carbine and firing a controlled burst directly into the electronic keypad. A shower of sparks rained down, but the heavy door didn't budge.
"We're cut off," Liam announced coldly, turning back toward the center of the room. "The outer corridor has been remotely sealed. It's a trap."
Viktor didn't flinch. He simply stood by the open mainframe rack, his hands resting casually inside the pockets of his suit jacket, watching them with the detached amusement of a chess master observing a cornered opponent.
"Not a trap, Liam," Viktor corrected smoothly. "A quarantine. The syndicate realized an hour ago that I couldn't secure the perimeter against your relentless interference. So they decided to tie up loose ends—all of us, in one convenient, bomb-proof tomb."
Erica’s face went white. She scrambled over to a wall-mounted maintenance terminal, plugging her diagnostic cable into the auxiliary port. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, her eyes widening as the diagnostic script populated the screen.
"He's not lying," Erica breathed, her voice trembling. "The exterior blast doors have been welded shut by remote explosive bolts from the access shaft. And... the internal atmospheric scrubbers have been overridden. We have less than twenty minutes of oxygen before the carbon dioxide levels in this sealed vault reach lethal thresholds."
Jason looked from the scrolling numbers on Erica's screen to his uncle, the raw fury in his chest suddenly giving way to a cold, razor-sharp clarity. He walked slowly across the concrete floor until he was standing just inches away from Viktor Vance.
"You think you're sacrificing us to save your syndicate, Viktor," Jason said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "You think you're holding all the cards because you have the titanium drive in your pocket."
Viktor raised an eyebrow, maintaining his serene facade. "And what do I have, Jason? A front-row seat to your failure?"
"No," Jason said, reaching down with lightning speed to grab the titanium drive right out of Viktor's breast pocket before the older man could react. With a swift, fluid motion, Jason slotted the drive directly into Erica's portable terminal interface that she had connected to the master rack.
May you like
"Jason, what are you doing?!" Erica gasped. "If you interface that drive without the master decryption key, it will trigger the self-destruct protocol!"
"Exactly," Jason replied, never breaking eye contact with his uncle as Viktor's calm exterior finally fractured into a flash of genuine panic. "If we're locked in a tomb, Viktor, we're taking the entire foundation of your precious empire down with us. Let's see how much your global banking elites love their debt when the whole thing goes up in smoke."
