Chapter 28 - The Old City of Geneva
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By three in the morning, the rain over Lake Geneva had turned into a thick, blinding snowstorm.
The old town district of Geneva was deserted. Cobblestone streets wound tightly between centuries-old stone buildings, lit only by the dull amber glow of antique streetlights reflecting off the wet pavement.
A dark green Subaru station wagon with snow chains on its tires glided silently into an alleyway near the St. Pierre Cathedral.
Arthur cut the engine. He turned around in his seat to look at Madison and Ethan in the back.
"The master vault sits eighty feet beneath the foundations of the old cathedral," Arthur explained, pulling a paper schematic from his pocket. "It was built by Swiss bankers in 1948 to store black assets. The Architect bought the entire subterranean sector twenty years ago."
Madison pulled a black tactical beanie over her hair and adjusted her night-vision goggles.
"How many guards?" she asked.
"Inside the perimeter? At least fifteen heavily armed contractors," Arthur replied. "Plus Victor Sterling himself. He won't leave until the winter solstice deadline at dawn. He intends to initiate the global data dump the moment the sun hits the lake."
Ethan opened his laptop on his knees, plugging Vance's silver USB drive into the port. His fingers flew across the keyboard with practiced precision.
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"I'm into the cathedral's security network," Ethan reported, his screen flickering with green lines of code. "I can loop the perimeter cameras for twelve minutes. After that, their internal AI will spot the anomaly and reset the system."
"Twelve minutes is all we need," Madison said, checking her knife blade before sliding it into her boot sheath. "Let me take point."
