Chapter 38 - The Edge of Reclamation
Director Kane’s eyes narrowed, a dangerous chill settling over his composed demeanor. "Miss Rebecca. You have survived arson, extortion, and an ambush by international extraction contractors. Do not throw your life away over a piece of mountain rock that sits on top of a federal nightmare. Eminent domain will compensate you fairly for the acreage."
"You don't get to buy your way out of fifty years of corporate and government corruption, Director," I replied, standing tall, refusing to yield an inch of ground. "I earned every square foot of Blackwood Ridge. I dug through the ashes with my own hands. Cole’s family paid for your cover-up with their lives and their sanity. You don't get to erase this mountain just because your predecessors were cowards."
"She holds the original 1989 charter, Director," Cole stepped forward, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with me, his eyes blazing with cold determination. "Section Four, Paragraph B: In the event of a civilian discovery of Sector Seven, the deedholder possesses unilateral rights to environmental remediation under independent civilian oversight until a public congressional hearing is convened."
Kane stared at Cole, his jaw tightening. "Your father was a master of bureaucratic landmines, Cole. But you cannot hold that ridge against the United States Government."
"We don't have to hold it against the government," Frank spoke up from the back, holding up his satellite dispatch radio. "Every logger, miner, and rancher in Blackwood County just parked their timber haulers across the north and south highway access points. Your heavy containment convoy is stuck six miles down the pass, Director. Nobody touches that ridge until Rebecca gets her day in front of the state commission."
Director Kane took a long, evaluating breath. He looked at the bruised, determined faces of Cole, Frank, Jason, and the sheriff, and finally back at me.
"You have seventy-two hours, Miss Rebecca," Kane said softly, a dark, ambiguous smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Seventy-two hours before the federal injunction clears the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. If you haven't opened Sector Seven and proved that the vault is stable without federal intervention by then, my tactical teams will breach the perimeter with or without your consent."
Kane turned on his heel and walked out of the station, his agents trailing behind him into the falling snow.
I looked down at the black keycard in my hand, then out the window at the distant, majestic peak of Blackwood Ridge. The smoke from the ruined lodge had cleared, revealing the pristine, wild beauty of the forest we had bled to protect.
"We have three days," Cole said, stepping close, his hand gently covering mine over the keycard. "To go into the deep shaft, face whatever my father left down there, and save our home for good."
"Then let's not waste another second," I answered.
May you like
Suddenly, the sheriff's telephone began to ring shrilly. Miller answered it, listened for three seconds, and his face drained of all color.
"Cole... Rebecca..." Miller stammered, dropping the handset onto the desk. "The seismic monitoring station just registered a major subterranean tremor directly beneath the lodge. The vault door didn't wait for your keycard. It just opened from the inside."
