Chapter 13 - The Meridian Archive)
The water treatment facility had been abandoned publicly for fourteen years.
Privately, Northstar still maintained electricity.
That was the first warning.
The second was the security camera tracking their vehicle through the entrance.
Moreno had brought federal agents she trusted personally.
Elena recognized two.
Not the others.
Mark noticed.
"You don't trust them."
"I trust no group larger than three people."
"Comforting."
Caitlyn and Samantha remained at a protected location with Daniel.
Mark hated leaving Caitlyn.
But bringing her to a Northstar facility would have been worse.
The coordinates led to a filtration building.
Beneath a concrete floor they found a sealed access chamber.
Thomas's brass key fit.
Elena's second key fit beside it.
Both turned simultaneously.
A keypad activated.
Mark stared.
"This is where Caitlyn's song goes."
Elena nodded.
He entered the numbers.
The screen displayed one sentence.
SECONDARY VERBAL CONFIRMATION REQUIRED.
Mark leaned toward the microphone.
"Blue lantern."
A green light appeared.
The door opened.
Inside was not an archive room.
It was a server chamber.
Rows of old storage units lined the walls.
At the center sat a terminal.
The screen activated automatically.
Thomas Bennett appeared.
Older than Mark remembered him.
Tired.
"If this message is playing, the Meridian Archive is no longer secure."
Mark swallowed.
Thomas continued.
"The archive contains evidence against Vale Meridian, Northstar Federal Systems, and several government officials."
Names appeared.
Richard Vale.
Malcolm Reed.
Others.
Thomas described illegal surveillance.
Bribery.
Manipulated public contracts.
Deaths disguised as accidents.
Then he said:
"But the archive also contains one mistake I made."
Mark stared.
Thomas looked directly into the camera.
"I helped build the first Meridian node."
Mark closed his eyes.
His father had not merely discovered the system.
He had created part of it.
Thomas continued.
"I believed we were protecting infrastructure from foreign attacks. By the time I understood what it had become, I was already responsible."
Mark felt anger.
Disappointment.
Grief.
All at once.
Thomas did not excuse himself.
"I preserved the archive because someday my family may need the truth more than they need my reputation."
The terminal displayed upload options.
Release to media.
Release to federal oversight.
Transfer to external storage.
Destroy archive.
Elena whispered, "He gave you the choice."
Mark looked at her.
"Why me?"
"Because he knew Daniel would think financially."
Mark almost smiled.
"And me?"
"He knew you'd think about your children."
Moreno stepped closer.
"If this evidence is real, it needs controlled release."
Elena disagreed.
"Controlled by whom?"
The room fell silent.
Then every monitor went black.
Emergency lights turned red.
Moreno reached for her weapon.
Someone had cut external power.
Backup systems activated.
A warning appeared.
REMOTE ACCESS ATTEMPT.
Elena stared.
"They found us."
Mark tried the upload option.
Locked.
REMOTE USER PRIORITY.
"How?" Moreno asked.
Elena looked toward the ceiling.
"Northstar owns the facility."
A voice came through the intercom.
"Mr. Bennett."
Mark recognized it from the recorder.
Richard Vale.
He was alive.
Nearby.
"Your father complicated all our lives."
Mark looked at Moreno.
She signaled agents toward the door.
Vale continued.
"I recommend you transfer the archive."
"To you?"
"To someone capable of understanding it."
"You burned my daughter's room."
"No."
Mark paused.
"Did Reed?"
A soft laugh.
"Now you're learning."
The intercom clicked.
Another voice interrupted.
Malcolm Reed.
"Do not listen to Vale."
Elena stared at the speaker.
Two enemies.
Both connected.
Both watching.
Reed continued.
"Vale intends to sell the archive."
Vale replied.
"Reed intends to destroy it."
Mark looked at the terminal.
A timer appeared.
REMOTE PURGE INITIATED.
Ten minutes.
Elena rushed to the server racks.
"Thomas built redundancy."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Mark searched the desk.
Nothing.
Then he remembered his father.
People don't fight over dirt.
What's underneath it.
He looked down.
A floor panel.
He lifted it.
Inside sat a portable drive protected in a waterproof case.
Thomas's final copy.
Mark grabbed it.
The terminal timer continued.
Nine minutes.
Gunfire sounded outside.
Moreno cursed.
"Both groups are here."
Agents exchanged fire in the corridor.
Mark held the drive.
Elena looked at him.
"If you leave with that, everyone will hunt you."
"They already are."
"Not like this."
The lights flickered.
Mark thought of Caitlyn.
Her bare feet on hardwood.
Smoke beneath the door.
Her tiny hands pulling the boot apart.
Everything had begun with adults trying to use a child as leverage.
He would not let the archive become another weapon aimed at her.
"What happens if I destroy it?"
Elena answered.
"Vale walks."
"Reed walks."
"Probably."
"And if I release it?"
"Your father's crimes become public too."
Mark nodded.
"Good."
Elena looked surprised.
"He said truth mattered more than his reputation."
Mark connected the portable drive to the terminal.
He selected public distribution.
The system asked for final beneficiary authorization.
Caitlyn's voice.
Mark's stomach dropped.
"We need her."
Elena shook her head.
"Not physically. A recorded sample might work."
Mark had one.
A voicemail.
Caitlyn singing Happy Birthday weeks earlier.
He uploaded it.
The system rejected it.
Incorrect phrase.
Mark understood.
The Bennett song.
He did not have a recording.
Then Samantha called.
His phone surprisingly had one bar of service.
"Dad."
"Samantha?"
"Someone found us."
Mark's heart stopped.
"What?"
"Daniel says there are cars outside."
"Get Caitlyn away from the windows."
"Already did."
Then Samantha whispered.
"Dad, Caitlyn says she knows what you need."
A small voice came onto the phone.
"Daddy?"
"I'm here."
"Blue lantern?"
Mark closed his eyes.
"Blue lantern."
Caitlyn began singing the train song.
The terminal accepted her voice live through the phone.
FINAL AUTHORIZATION CONFIRMED.
Mark pressed release.
The screen changed.
UPLOAD STARTED.
One percent.
Two.
Three.
May you like
Then gunfire exploded directly outside the server chamber.
And the heavy door began to open.
