Chapter 10 - Code Black in the Server Vault
Maya and Admiral Grayson rounded the corner just as the heavy reinforced steel door of the central server vault was swinging shut.
Maya threw herself forward, sliding across the slick concrete floor, jamming the heavy steel handle of a carbon-dioxide fire extinguisher into the doorframe. The massive magnetic door slammed shut against the steel cylinder with a deafening metallic CRUNCH, preventing the lock from engaging.
Grayson grabbed the edge of the door, using his immense upper-body strength to haul it open against the pneumatic pistons. “Move!”
Maya slipped inside the server vault.
The room was vast, chilled to fifty degrees Fahrenheit, filled with rows upon rows of glowing black server racks humming like a hive of mechanical bees. At the far end of the central aisle, standing before the main glass-enclosed console, was Arthur Vance.
He had pried open the emergency maintenance panel with a crowbar and was frantically typing commands into the root terminal, while holding a can of industrial industrial-grade electrical solvent over the open master circuit boards.
“Step away from the console, Vance!” Maya commanded, drawing herself up to full height.
Vance spun around, wild-eyed, his hair disheveled, tie undone, looking like a man possessed by madness. “Stay back! I pour this down the bus-lines and trigger the halon gas, and every byte of clinical data burns to ash! Whitfield’s confession won’t mean anything without the digital signatures! You won’t pin this on me! I built this hospital! I made this research division!”
“You poisoned an innocent child for money, Arthur!” Grayson roared, walking down the center aisle, completely indifferent to the chemical can Vance was waving. “You violated the sacred trust of medicine and the honor of this nation!”
“What honor?!” Vance laughed hysterically, tears streaming down his face. “Medicine is a business! The Grayson family has billions! Your granddaughter was just one patient! What is one child compared to a multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical empire that could have dominated global markets for twenty years?!”
“She was Thomas’s daughter,” Grayson said softly, his voice dead and terrifying. “And you are nothing.”
Vance screeched and raised the can of solvent to douse the master terminals.
Maya didn't hesitate.
She launched herself forward, clearing the ten-foot gap between server racks in a blur of motion. She struck Vance with a textbook military shoulder tackle, slamming him against the reinforced glass partition. The can of solvent flew from his grip, clattering harmlessly across the perforated floor tiles.
Vance swung wildly, his fist grazing Maya’s cheek. But Maya didn't even flinch. Utilizing the close-quarters combat techniques drilled into her by four years of elite special operations training, she caught his wrist, twisted it down, and delivered a swift, precise palm strike to his solar plexus.
Vance gasped for air, his eyes rolling back as all the oxygen left his lungs. He collapsed onto his knees on the cold metal floor.
Maya twisted his arm behind his back, pressing her knee firmly between his shoulder blades, locking him in an unbreakable compliance hold.
“System override,” Maya called out calmly to the terminal. She reached up with her free hand, tapping the illuminated blue master key on the console: “Abort emergency suppression. Log security session: Reynolds, Maya. Master Chief, USN.”
The piercing siren stopped instantly. The blinking red emergency lights turned to solid, clear white.
The automated voice spoke softly over the intercom: *HALON DISCHARGE CANCELLED. SERVER LOGS BACKED UP TO SECURE EXTERNAL CLOUD: DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE CLUSTER 4.*
Admiral Grayson walked up to Vance, looking down at the groveling administrator.
May you like
“Arthur Vance,” Grayson said with absolute finality. “You are relieved of duty. Permanently.”
***