Chapter 9 - The President's WarThe mansion shook under machine-gun fire.
Windows shattered.
Walls cracked.
Admiral Reed shouted orders.
“Everyone underground!”
We moved through the tunnels as explosions tore through the estate.
My father struggled to walk.
Daniel supported him.
Vivian followed me.
Grandmother moved faster than any of us.
At the command chamber, Reed sealed the blast door.
“Report.”
A lieutenant checked the tactical display.
“Six helicopters.”
“Ground forces?”
“Thirty confirmed.”
“More incoming.”
I looked at Daniel.
“How do we get out?”
“We don't.”
He pointed to the main monitor.
“Helix is built into the estate.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“This mansion isn't just a house.”
Grandmother corrected him.
“It never was.”
She pressed a hidden switch.
The floor moved.
A circular platform rose.
Below it was a subterranean command center.
I stared.
“My father built this?”
Grandmother shook her head.
“Your grandfather.”
The room was massive.
Banks of computers.
Communications systems.
Vault doors.
Weapons storage.
Everything.
Reed looked impressed despite himself.
“This place could survive a war.”
Grandmother smiled.
“That was the idea.”
A monitor activated.
A man's face appeared.
President Adrian Cross.
His expression was calm.
“Commander Vale.”
I stared.
“You know who I am.”
“Of course.”
“Why?”
He smiled.
“Because I approved your disappearance.”
The room went silent.
My father looked away.
“You murdered my mother.”
Cross nodded.
“Your mother was a liability.”
“You sent men after me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you inherited something your mother hid.”
“What?”
He smiled.
“Choice.”
I didn't understand.
Cross continued.
“Helix predicted your decisions with ninety-one percent accuracy.”
He paused.
“Until you were exposed to sacrifice.”
The scars on my back suddenly felt heavy.
“You broke the model,” he said.
“You couldn't be predicted.”
I said nothing.
“That made you dangerous.”
“You're afraid of me.”
He smiled.
“Very.”
He leaned forward.
“But you misunderstand something.”
“What?”
“This was never about killing you.”
My stomach tightened.
“Then what?”
“I want you to choose.”
“Choose what?”
“Your family or your country.”
The screen switched.
Images appeared.
Military ships.
Airports.
Nuclear facilities.
Ports.
Then hospitals.
Schools.
Cities.
My breath caught.
“Stop.”
Cross smiled.
“Every one of these locations has a Helix operative.”
Reed stepped forward.
“You're bluffing.”
“Am I?”
A timer appeared.
04:00:00
Cross looked at me.
“Four hours.”
“For what?”
“You will surrender.”
“And then?”
“You will publicly confess to treason.”
I laughed.
“You think I'll do that?”
“I think you'll sacrifice yourself to protect millions.”
He studied me.
“Because that's what you always do.”
My mother had been right.
They feared my inability to choose myself.
Cross continued.
“The difference this time is that I know you.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
I looked at Reed.
“Do you have a secure channel?”
“Yes.”
“Can you trace him?”
“Maybe.”
I smiled.
“Then let's give him what he wants.”
Reed frowned.
“What are you planning?”
I whispered into his ear.
He stared.
“That could work.”
Daniel walked closer.
“What?”
I smiled.
“We let the president believe he's controlling the board.”
Vivian looked confused.
“What does that mean?”
“It means we stop reacting.”
I turned to the monitors.
“Admiral.”
“Yes?”
“Can you put every Helix operative on surveillance?”
“Yes.”
“Then find the connection.”
Reed nodded.
We began.
Not fighting.
Watching.
Waiting.
Minutes passed.
Then one signal appeared.
A communications pulse.
Another.
Then another.
The signals formed a pattern.
Daniel stared.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
“They're not receiving orders from the president.”
“Who are they receiving orders from?”
Daniel pointed at the center of the map.
“Here.”
I looked.
My blood froze.
The signal originated inside the mansion.
“There's someone here.”
Admiral Reed drew his weapon.
“Who?”
We searched the chamber.
Nothing.
Then Vivian whispered:
“Grandmother.”
Everyone turned.
Grandmother stood beside the old computer.
Her face was expressionless.
She looked at me.
“You finally found me.”
My heart stopped.
“You?”
She nodded.
“I built Helix.”
My father stared in horror.
“What have you done?”
She looked at him.
“What I should have done thirty years ago.”
I raised my weapon.
“Explain.”
She smiled.
“I didn't create Helix to control the world.”
“Then why?”
“To destroy the people who did.”
She pressed one final key.
The map changed.
Every red dot vanished.
Replaced by one symbol.
A black circle.
Then the monitor displayed a name.
PROJECT OMEGA
Grandmother whispered:
“Your mother never died for Helix.”
“She died to create something that could destroy it.”
May you like
She looked directly at me.
“And only you can activate it.”
