Chapter 13 - The Brother Marcus Never Knew
Marcus fired at the locked corridor door until his weapon clicked empty.
“Open it!”
The steel barely showed damage.
Amelia searched the wall panel.
“This system predates modern controls. There must be a manual release.”
Elias opened the electrical cabinet.
“Voss designed independent lockdown zones.”
Grant listened to the loudspeaker.
“Father, let the children go.”
Commander Grey’s voice returned.
“You still call me that after all these years.”
“You died in prison.”
“A useful administrative error.”
Grant’s face hardened.
“What does Adrian have to do with you?”
“He is Voss’s son, but I raised him.”
Marcus stepped beneath the speaker.
“Why?”
“Because your mother rejected him.”
Robert shook his head.
“Helen would never abandon a child.”
The speaker crackled.
“You know very little about your wife.”
Amelia found a mechanical cable behind the control box.
“Elias, help me.”
Together, they pulled.
The door lifted several inches.
Soldiers forced wedges beneath it and raised it enough for Amelia to crawl through.
Grant caught her shoulder.
“You cannot go alone.”
“My children are above us.”
“It is a trap.”
“Then stop explaining it.”
She crawled beneath the door.
Marcus followed before anyone could stop him.
They ran through the classroom and up the circular stairs.
Smoke filled the ruins above.
The armored vehicle was gone.
Tire tracks crossed the frost-covered ground.
Torres emerged from another exit with her team.
“They disabled our communications.”
Marcus looked toward the road.
“They cannot be far.”
Amelia found a small transmitter beneath the stroller’s discarded blanket.
Olivia wanted them to follow.
A map coordinate appeared on its screen.
Robert climbed from the lower house.
When he saw the empty vehicle, he covered his face.
“This is my fault.”
Marcus rounded on him.
“You and Mother lied about everything.”
“I did not know about Adrian.”
“You knew enough to hide Blackridge under our home.”
“I was afraid.”
“You taught me that fear was weakness.”
Robert stared at his son.
“And you learned the lesson too well.”
Amelia walked toward the remaining SUV.
Marcus followed.
“You are not coming.”
“They are my children.”
“You denied them.”
“I was angry.”
“You accused me of becoming pregnant by another man.”
“Olivia showed me medical records.”
“You chose to believe her.”
“Yes.”
The simple admission stopped them both.
Marcus looked toward the tire tracks.
“I chose every lie that made me feel superior. I cannot change that. But I will help bring them back.”
Amelia wanted to refuse.
Then the transmitter displayed a second message.
BRING BOTH BLOODLINES.
They needed Marcus.
“Get in,” she said.
Grant, Elias, Marcus, Amelia, Torres, and two soldiers followed the coordinates deeper into the mountains.
The signal led to an old hydroelectric station.
Water thundered through concrete channels beneath the building.
The entrance stood open.
Inside, Olivia waited beside a bank of old monitors.
Her wounded shoulder was bandaged.
Grace and Ethan lay inside transparent medical bassinets connected to scanners.
Adrian stood between them.
Marcus stopped.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
Adrian smiled.
“You really are my brother.”
“Half brother.”
“That distinction mattered greatly to our mother.”
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“Did you take her?”
“No. Helen came willingly.”
A side door opened.
Helen entered.
Robert made a broken sound behind them.
Helen looked at Marcus.
Then at Adrian.
“I’m sorry.”
Marcus stared at her.
“You knew he was alive.”
“I learned three months ago.”
“When Olivia contacted you?”
Helen nodded.
Amelia understood.
Helen had recognized the silver wolf because she was already communicating with them.
“You gave Olivia the security code,” Amelia said.
Helen began crying.
“She said Adrian would be killed if I refused.”
“You endangered my children to protect yours.”
“I thought they only wanted the files.”
“You have used that excuse before.”
Helen looked at the bassinets.
“I did not know they would take the babies.”
Adrian touched the scanner beside Ethan.
“No one intends to harm them.”
Amelia raised her weapon.
“Move away.”
Olivia lifted a remote control.
“The bassinets are connected to the station’s power core. A bullet in the wrong location shuts down life support.”
“They do not need life support.”
“No. But the chambers can be sealed.”
Amelia lowered the weapon slightly.
“What do you want?”
Adrian looked at Marcus.
“The Vale authorization.”
Then he looked at Amelia.
“The Brooks authorization.”
“And the twins?”
“The succession scan.”
“For the Orion ledger.”
“Yes.”
“What happens after it opens?”
“Every name Voss protected becomes visible.”
“You work for Voss.”
Adrian laughed.
“No. I intend to destroy him.”
Commander Grey entered from the rear platform.
He carried no weapon.
He was almost eighty, but his eyes were sharp.
Grant stepped forward.
“You raised Adrian for Voss.”
“I raised Adrian against him.”
“Then why attack us?”
“Because none of you would come willingly.”
Amelia looked at the twins.
“Release them, and we will discuss the archive.”
Grey shook his head.
“Once the archive opens.”
“You expect trust after kidnapping newborns?”
“I expect priorities.”
Marcus moved toward the blood scanner.
“I’ll do it.”
Amelia grabbed his arm.
“You do not know what it will release.”
“I know what happens if we refuse.”
He placed his hand on the device.
The machine drew blood.
VALE LINE CONFIRMED.
Adrian placed his own hand on a second scanner.
A light flashed.
SECOND VALE LINE CONFIRMED.
Marcus looked at him.
“Why does it need both of us?”
Grey answered.
“Because one of you is Robert’s heir.”
“And the other is Voss’s.”
The system requested BROOKS AUTHORIZATION.
Amelia approached slowly.
Elias stepped in front of her.
“No.”
“You created this.”
“I tried to destroy it.”
“Then help me finish it.”
She placed her hand on the scanner.
BROOKS LINE CONFIRMED.
The bassinets illuminated.
Grace began to cry.
Ethan kicked beneath his blanket.
The system processed their genetic data.
SUCCESSION PAIR ACCEPTED.
A massive door opened behind the turbines.
Rows of servers activated for the first time in decades.
Names began scrolling across the monitors.
Military officials.
Judges.
Corporate leaders.
Foreign agents.
Then a final category appeared.
ACTIVE ORION CONTROLLERS.
Only three names were listed.
CONRAD VOSS
ADRIAN VOSS
AMELIA BROOKS
Amelia stared at the screen.
“I am not an Orion controller.”
Grey looked equally shocked.
Elias whispered, “That is impossible.”
The system displayed a new message.
PRIMARY CONTROLLER BIOMETRIC PRESENCE DETECTED.
Amelia stepped away from the scanner.
“I did not activate anything.”
Grey looked toward Grace’s bassinet.
“It isn’t detecting you.”
The message changed.
PRIMARY CONTROLLER: GRACE BROOKS-VALE.
Every light in the station turned green.
Deep beneath the floor, machinery began to move.
May you like
A countdown appeared on the monitors.
ORION GLOBAL RELEASE IN 24:00:00.
