Chapter 96 - The Fjord's Secret
I rounded the corner to the crew cabin, weapon raised, only to freeze at the sight before me.
Commander Rostova was on his knees, clutching his neck where a sparking live wire dangled from an open junction box. Standing over him, her face smudged with soot and her hands free from their bonds, was Mia. She held a heavy iron maintenance wrench in both hands, her chest heaving.
"Mom!" she cried, dropping the wrench.
I lowered my weapon and swept her into my arms, holding her so tightly I could feel the rapid fluttering of her heart against my chest plate. "I have you, baby. I have you."
"I shorted the emergency grid," Mia whispered against my neck, her small hands clutching the tactical vest. "I knew you were listening on their com-frequencies. I had to stop him from locking the lower ballast."
Rostova let out a ragged, choking laugh from the floor, blood pooling beneath his jaw. "Very clever... Sovereign bitch. But you... you haven't won."
I turned, shielding Mia behind me, and aimed the barrel directly between his eyes. "Where is the rest of your command?"
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"We weren't taking her to Arthur," Rostova wheezed, his eyes rolling back in shock. "Arthur was just... the banker. The distraction. Look at the navigation log... on the console..."
Liam’s voice cut into my earpiece. "Mom! We have a critical issue! Multiple long-range cruise missile signatures just launched from an offshore platform near Svalbard! They're not targeting us—they’re targeting Sovereign financial data centers across Frankfurt, London, and Tokyo!"
