Chapter 34 - The Architect’s Seal
Before I could answer, the ship's comms unit beeped sharply. The captain's tense voice came through the overhead speaker: "Sir, we have two private security vehicles blocking the pier gates. Port authority patrol has just been waved off by private security contractors. They're demanding to board."
Arthur didn't panic. He stood up, smoothing the front of his linen jacket with the calm precision of a man who had lived under siege for a quarter of a century.
"Julian works quickly," Arthur muttered. "He must have had a beacon flagged on this harbor the moment my vessel cleared international waters."
"He's here?" I stood up, my pulse pounding in my ears.
"Not Julian," Arthur replied grimly. "Julian is a coward who fights behind lawyers and boardroom proxies. These are his fixers. They want the brass seal, Ava."
Arthur unscrewed the ornate compass handle of his ebony cane. With a soft click, the silver casing parted, revealing a heavy, six-sided brass cylinder etched with microscopic cryptographic coordinates. It was the physical key to the underground vault beneath the old harbor exchange—the original repository containing the foundational survey maps of the entire municipal coastline.
"Take it," Arthur said, thrusting the heavy cylinder into my coat pocket. "Without this, their construction on Marina Bay cannot legally pour concrete into the deep-water trench. If they pour without the original seismic survey, the municipal authority will shut down the entire five-hundred-million-dollar development."
"I am not leaving you," I said firmly, grabbing his sleeve. "I just found you. I spent half my life mourning a phantom. I won't run away while you face them."
May you like
Arthur offered a faint, proud smile, his eyes shining. "You really are my daughter. But you're not running, Ava. You're heading to the one place Julian Vance cannot touch you: the Municipal Oversight Committee. They convene at sunrise."
Suddenly, the heavy glass doors of the salon rattled violently as heavy boots marched onto the gangway outside.
