Follow along as the story continues into its next chapter.

-11-

The digital clock on the basement console flashed 11:45 AM in glowing red numbers.

Fifteen minutes until the Janus Protocol automatically broadcast the master ledger to the entire world.

Luka slammed the basement security door shut, engaging the heavy electromagnetic locks that sealed the subterranean bunker from the inside. Above them, the heavy thud of combat boots stomped across the cabin floorboards as the secondary extraction team breached the upper level.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Muffled automatic gunfire peppered the ceiling tiles, raining plaster and drywall dust down into the command center.

Clara rushed to the crib in the corner, scooping Maya up into her arms. The baby was finally crying, her tiny face flushed with distress from the deafening noise.

“Is the upload locked?” Clara shouted over the din of boots and muffled shouts above.

“Locked and encrypted,” Luka answered, his fingers flying across the central console. “They can smash every computer in this room, but once the timer hits twelve-zero-zero, the data packets will replicate across twelve decentralized blockchain nodes simultaneously. Not even a government cyber-command unit can stop the broadcast.”

Above them, the muffled sound of an angle grinder screamed to life, chewing through the heavy iron hinges of the floor grate leading down to the basement.

Sparks rained down through the cracks in the wood.

“They’re cutting the hatch!” Clara yelled, backing toward the far wall with Maya pressed tightly against her chest.

Luka pulled a heavy steel tactical charge from his belt, slapped it against the underside of the main server rack, and turned to her with absolute, unyielding calm.

“We’re leaving through the secondary drainage tunnel,” Luka said, pointing toward a low concrete tunnel opening in the back of the basement. “It leads half a mile down the ridge to an old utility truck parked in the ravine.”

“What about the servers?” Clara asked.

“They’ll burn,” Luka replied coldly, tapping a detonator remote in his palm. “When the operatives breach this room, the thermal charge will melt every silicon chip down to slag. The data lives in the ether now.”

CRACK!

The iron floor grate above blew inward with a cloud of acrid smoke, and two tactical operatives dropped through the opening into the basement, their assault rifles raised.

Luka didn't wait. He triggered the remote charge while firing two rapid shots from his pistol, shielding Clara with his own body as they dove headfirst into the dark, damp concrete drainage tunnel just as a blinding wall of fire erupted behind them.