Chapter 78 - The Storm on the Horizon
Inside the lighthouse, the air was dry and smelled of ancient parchment and oiled brass. In the center of the circular ground chamber stood a massive control console that resembled the bridge of an old battleship, retrofitted with modern fiber-optic feeds and an analog guidance wheel.
"Timer!" Caleb called out.
Evelyn checked her watch. "Twelve minutes! The Valkyrie is ascending through the secondary depth line right now. If the coastal grid doesn't recognize her, the automated sea mines will detonate!"
Caleb rushed to the central console. On the panel were four distinct biometric indentations, shaped exactly to fit the four titanium transponder rings Leo had pulled from the duffel bag.
"The rings," Caleb realized, breathing hard. "Leo gave me the transponder rings."
He pulled the four small metal bands from his pocket. With trembling hands, he placed each ring into its respective slot on the console.
*Click. Click. Click. Click.*
The control board erupted into brilliant white light. A deep, subsonic hum reverberated through the stone foundations of the tower, vibrating up through Caleb’s boots.
On the central radar scope, a sweeping line revealed the coastal waters. Dozens of glowing green dots illuminated across the map—the automated sonic minefield that Eleanor Vance had secretly anchored along the bay decades ago to protect Riverside Hills from an offshore invasion.
And directly in the center of the minefield, moving at high speed toward the surface, was a massive, triangular sonar signature labeled: **VALKYRIE [SUB-SURFACE ASCENT: 120 METERS AND CLIMBING].**
"It's working!" Evelyn cried. "The minefield is standing down!"
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Before they could breathe a sigh of relief, the heavy steel door of the lighthouse shuddered under the impact of a high-explosive breaching charge.
*BOOM!*
