Chapter 22 - The Sovereign Override
"Marcus," I whispered, keeping my eyes fixed on the terminal screen. "How long can that blast door hold against thermite?"
"Three minutes at most," Marcus replied calmly, checking his remaining magazines. "If they breach the inner gate, we’re cornered. There’s no secondary exit."
"Then we don't let them breach it."
I slammed the brass key into the master console port on the marble pedestal.
The terminal screen flashed from neon-cyan to blinding gold. A deep, synthesized voice resonated through the vault's high-fidelity speakers:
*SOVEREIGN CIPHER ACCEPTED. BIOMETRIC CONFIRMATION PENDING.*
I placed my right palm onto the glass scanning plate. A crimson beam of light mapped the capillaries and ridge lines of my skin, matching them against the generational bloodline algorithm my father had coded six years ago.
*IDENTITY CONFIRMED: EMILY VANCE. FULL EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY RESTORED.*
"Victoria!" I spoke directly into the console’s broadcast microphone, my voice resounding through the intercom speakers outside the inner door. "You wanted to know what it feels like to be treated like disposable baggage? Watch the screen on your phone."
On the master terminal, I executed three commands in rapid succession:
1. *FREEZE ALL PROXY ASSETS AND CHARTERS UNDER VICTORIA VANCE.*
2. *BROADCAST BLACK-BOX ALLIANCE DOSSIER TO INTERPOL AND THE US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.*
3. *INITIATE LOCKDOWN OF ALL NORTHSTAR FLEETS WORLDWIDE.*
Outside in the corridor, a sudden chorus of emergency alerts and satellite pings erupted from the mercenaries' tactical gear.
Through the monitor, I saw Victoria pull her diamond-encrusted smartphone from her coat. Her face drained of all color, turning as white as her cashmere coat.
"No... this is impossible!" she screamed, dropping her phone onto the cold concrete. "My offshore accounts... the board votes... everything is wiped!"
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"You put me in the last row of Economy, Victoria," I said coldly over the speaker. "Now you don't even have a ticket to leave."
***
