Chapter 8 · The Key

The first bullet hit the glass above Nolan's head.

The tank shuddered. Blue fluid erupted in a spray of bubbles, and a crack spread across the shell like a lightning strike.

Leia lunged toward him.

"Don't." Kane grabbed the back of her jacket and yanked her behind a fallen server rack. A second round punched through the air where her face had been. "You wanna save your brother? Stop standing in the damn open."

She slammed her elbow into his ribs. "Get off me."

He let go. Didn't take his eyes off the corridor.

Red emergency lights strobed across his face. Cheekbone. Scar. Black eyes. The muzzle of his gun.

Beyond him, the lab had turned into a nightmare.

Blast doors dropping in sections. Automated turrets unfolding from the ceiling. Warning glyphs flooding every wall in three languages, all screaming the same thing.

ORIGINAL HEIR CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL ACTIVE.

In the center of the room, Nolan's tank glowed like a trapped star.

His voice crackled through the speakers. "Leia. West access spine. There's a manual override under the coolant manifold."

"Can you open the tank from there?"

"Not yet. System keeps rejecting my command."

"Why?"

Static swallowed his answer.