Chapter 7 - NINE MINUTES TO MIDNIGHTThe countdown continued.
9:37.
9:36.
9:35.
“What happens at zero?” I asked.
Thomas's eyes opened.
“The Resolute sinks.”
Nobody moved.
Briggs stared at him.
“How?”
Thomas coughed.
“Ballast system.”
Ward understood first.
“Someone has opened the lower ballast intake.”
Shaw looked toward the ship schematic.
“If the system floods simultaneously…”
“The ship loses stability.”
“How long?”
Thomas whispered:
“Ten minutes.”
Briggs pulled up the command network.
“Can we shut it down?”
Thomas shook his head.
“Manual override.”
“Where?”
“Engineering deck.”
“And the red key?”
“Kane needs it.”
“For what?”
Thomas looked at me.
“To activate the fail-safe.”
That sentence made no sense.
“If Kane wants the ship to sink, why does he need the key?”
“Because the fail-safe isn't designed to sink the ship.”
“What does it do?”
Thomas stared at me.
“It kills the program.”
“That's good.”
“No.”
He gripped my wrist.
“It kills everyone connected to it.”
My blood ran cold.
“The people aboard the Resolute?”
“Maybe.”
I looked at Ward.
“Maybe?”
“Meridian embedded failsafe systems into every major logistics vessel.”
Shaw swore.
“What happens if activated?”
Thomas answered:
“All encrypted evidence is destroyed.”
“So Kane wants to erase the records.”
“Yes.”
“And everyone?”
Thomas didn't answer.
I understood.
The lives aboard the ship weren't the priority.
The evidence was.
Briggs pulled me toward the tunnel.
“We have eight minutes.”
I looked back at my father.
“I'm not leaving you.”
“You have to.”
“I've already lost you once.”
He smiled faintly.
“You never lost me.”
Then Kane's voice echoed through the dock.
“You'll lose him again.”
Gunfire erupted.
Briggs shoved me down.
Thomas disappeared behind the SUV.
We ran.
The tunnel was already filling with water.
“Move!”
We sprinted toward engineering.
Every second the alarms grew louder.
The ship tilted.
Metal screamed.
Crew members stumbled through corridors.
Some shouted.
Others prayed.
The emergency lights turned red.
We reached Engineering.
The chief engineer was on the floor.
Blood streamed from his forehead.
I looked at Ward.
“What happened?”
“Security.”
“Where is the override?”
He pointed.
A manual wheel sat behind a steel panel.
Briggs grabbed it.
It wouldn't move.
“Locked.”
I looked at the keyhole.
“Physical key.”
Ward checked his pockets.
Nothing.
I remembered.
Kane had the red key.
Then I noticed a second panel.
It wasn't labeled.
A small inscription was etched into the metal.
MERCER PROTOCOL.
I stared.
My father had designed this.
I reached into my uniform.
The NCIS evidence packet.
I opened it.
Inside was a folded strip of paper.
I unfolded it.
A single sentence.
THE KEY ISN'T THE KEY.
“What does that mean?”
Shaw looked over my shoulder.
Then her eyes widened.
“The packet.”
“What?”
She pointed to the NCIS seal.
“It's not evidence.”
I peeled back the paper.
A thin metallic strip was embedded beneath the adhesive.
A coded device.
Briggs stared.
“Thomas built a second key.”
I inserted it into the hidden panel.
The wall unlocked.
Inside was a narrow corridor.
We entered.
At the end stood Kane.
He held the red key.
And a pistol.
He looked at me.
“You were always your father's daughter.”
I raised my weapon.
“You're finished.”
Kane laughed.
“You still think this is about me.”
He pressed the red key into a console.
The countdown stopped.
For one second, everything was silent.
Then the ship-wide system announced:
MERIDIAN FAILSAFE ARMED.
Briggs whispered:
“How do we disarm it?”
Kane looked at me.
“You don't.”
He pressed another button.
Doors slammed throughout the vessel.
Every compartment locked.
Then he said:
“Now watch what happens when the crew realizes there is no rescue.”
The screen behind him lit up.
A map of the ship.
Hundreds of red dots.
Every dot represented a person.
The dots began disappearing.
One by one.
Briggs stared.
“They're being sealed into compartments.”
Kane smiled.
“The ship won't kill them.”
He looked at me.
May you like
“Someone else will.”
Then the lights went out.
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