Chapter 14 - THE BRIDGEThe launch pod struck the water hard.
Waves crashed over the hull.
I couldn't see the Resolute.
Then lightning illuminated it.
A massive silhouette.
Tilting.
Smoke rising.
I boarded through a damaged access hatch.
The corridor was flooded to my knees.
I moved upward.
Every deck was chaos.
Sailors carried the wounded.
Marines fought fires.
Medical staff worked in hallways.
But the crew was moving.
Together.
Kane had lost his greatest weapon.
Fear no longer belonged to him.
I reached the bridge.
The door was open.
Venn was lying against the console.
Alive.
Barely.
Kane stood over him.
He turned when I entered.
“Hannah.”
I raised my weapon.
“Drop yours.”
He laughed.
“You think you can arrest me?”
“No.”
He looked confused.
“I came for the server.”
Kane's smile disappeared.
“Too late.”
He pointed toward a black case.
The final Meridian server.
“It's already been copied.”
“How many buyers?”
“Enough.”
“Who?”
He said nothing.
Then the bridge doors opened.
Marines flooded in.
Kane raised his weapon.
I fired first.
The bullet struck his shoulder.
He fell.
The Marines surrounded him.
Venn looked at me.
“You came back.”
“You knew I would.”
He smiled faintly.
“Maybe.”
I walked toward the server.
“Where is the shutdown?”
Venn pointed.
“Behind the command console.”
I opened the panel.
A manual switch.
MERIDIAN FAILSAFE
Thomas's voice came through my radio.
“Do not activate it.”
“Why?”
“The server will release every emergency command protocol.”
“And?”
“It could take control of every connected asset.”
I froze.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you could stop the program.”
“Or?”
“Become it.”
I looked at Kane.
He was smiling.
“You think this ends because you found a server?”
He laughed.
“You don't understand what you've become.”
I turned toward him.
“What do you mean?”
“Your father built the architecture.”
“He built the network.”
“No.”
Kane's smile faded.
“He built you.”
I stared.
He continued.
“Your entire career was designed.”
“Your assignments.”
“Your evaluations.”
“Your placement here.”
“Everything.”
“You're lying.”
“You think NCIS chose you because you were curious?”
He laughed.
“They chose you because your biometric signature is the only one capable of controlling the original Meridian system.”
I looked at the server.
Thomas had never told me.
Kane whispered:
“You're not the investigator.”
“You're the master key.”
The bridge fell silent.
I looked at Venn.
He didn't deny it.
I called my father.
No answer.
“Dad?”
Static.
Then his voice.
Weak.
“Hannah.”
“Is it true?”
Silence.
“Dad?”
“Yes.”
My hands began shaking.
“You made me the key.”
“I made you the only person who could end it.”
Kane laughed.
“Same thing.”
The ship shook again.
The server alarm activated.
DATA PURGE IN 00:47
I looked at the display.
Forty-seven seconds.
“How do I stop it?”
Thomas answered:
“You already know.”
I looked at the control panel.
The system required my biometric authorization.
I placed my hand against the scanner.
The screen opened.
Three options.
COMMAND
PURGE
RELEASE
I chose RELEASE.
The system warned:
GLOBAL AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.
Kane stared at me.
“No.”
I pressed my hand harder.
“Do it.”
The system began counting.
3%.
7%.
15%.
Kane shouted:
“Stop her!”
The Marines restrained him.
20%.
35%.
50%.
The ship lights turned white.
Every communications channel opened.
Across the world, encrypted systems began receiving the archive.
No government could stop it.
No company could bury it.
No officer could rewrite it.
The truth was moving.
Then the final message appeared.
ORIGIN AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.
Thomas whispered through the radio:
“Hannah.”
“What?”
“You have to choose.”
“Choose what?”
“Your father.”
I stared at the screen.
Two biometric signatures appeared.
THOMAS MERCER
ETHAN MERCER
The system required one to authorize the release.
Ethan.
The architect.
Or Thomas.
The whistleblower.
I looked at the bridge.
Ethan was nowhere.
Then I heard footsteps behind me.
I turned.
My uncle stood in the doorway.
He raised his hands.
“I'll authorize it.”
Thomas shouted through the radio:
“No!”
Ethan smiled.
May you like
And pressed his palm against the scanner.
The entire system went black.
