Chapter 11 - Sub-Level Seven
A loud metallic clang echoed through the server room, cutting through the hum of the machines. The heavy reinforced doors they had just locked began to groan under the force of a hydraulic breaching ram.
"How much longer on the download?" Elara demanded, drawing a stolen security baton from her belt.
"Two minutes!" Julian yelled back, his hands frantically typing to block the incoming firewall attacks from Victoria's remote IT team. "85%... it’s moving as fast as it can!"
"We don't have two minutes," Elara said, watching the hinges of the steel door begin to buckle and warp. "When that door gives way, we are entirely trapped in here."
"There is an emergency ventilation shaft," Julian said without looking away from the monitors. "Behind rack number four. It leads directly to the old steam tunnels beneath the hospital. If we can get the drive, we can crawl out."
"Get the grate open," Elara ordered. "I'll hold them off."
"Are you insane?" Julian gaped at her. "They have firearms, Elara!"
"Just do it!" she screamed.
Julian abandoned the keyboard and sprinted toward the server racks. Elara positioned herself by the doorway, her heart pounding a frantic rhythm. She reached up and smashed the glass casing of the room's fire suppression system. The emergency alarm began to blare, a deafening siren accompanied by flashing strobe lights that plunged the room into chaotic, disorienting flashes of red and black.
CRASH.
The reinforced door finally gave way, flying inward and slamming against the concrete floor. Three armed mercenaries charged into the room, their weapons raised, blinded by the sudden strobe lights and the deafening noise.
Elara didn't hesitate. She swung the heavy baton with all her might, striking the first guard squarely on the wrist. He dropped his rifle with a shout of pain. She kicked his knee, sending him crashing into his partner.
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"Transfer complete!" Julian roared from across the room. He yanked the USB drive from the terminal. "Elara, move!"
Elara threw a heavy fire extinguisher at the third guard, giving herself a two-second head start. She sprinted through the maze of servers, diving headfirst into the open ventilation shaft just as a hail of bullets shattered the glass booth they had been standing in moments before.
