Chapter 13 - The Price of a Family
“Step away from the terminal,” Mercer said.
Sarah kept one hand near the keyboard.
The upload reached 14 percent.
Daniel’s face was bruised and bloody.
Mercer pushed him forward.
“This man created every tragedy you blame on me.”
Daniel looked at Sarah.
“Keep the upload running.”
Mercer struck him with the gun.
“Quiet.”
Noah moved toward the side wall.
A guard aimed at him.
Mercer spoke to Sarah.
“Daniel signed the original Halcyon contracts. Daniel changed the birth records. Daniel accepted Ethan as a replacement child because he feared losing you.”
Sarah’s eyes remained on her husband.
“Is that true?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Yes.”
Mercer smiled.
“Ask him why Rebecca Sloan was at Halcyon.”
Sarah did not want to hear more.
She asked anyway.
“Why?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Rebecca worked with me.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“We had an affair.”
The room became silent except for the ventilation system.
Noah stared at Daniel.
“My mother knew you?”
Daniel nodded.
“How long?”
“Six months.”
“Were you our father?”
“No.”
Mercer laughed softly.
“Another selective truth.”
Daniel turned on him.
“I am not their father.”
“But you suspected you might be.”
Sarah felt physically sick.
Mercer continued.
“Rebecca became pregnant during the affair. She refused a paternity test. Daniel arranged her admission to Halcyon to keep the scandal hidden.”
Sarah looked at the man she had married.
“You brought your pregnant mistress into the same clinic where I was giving birth.”
“I didn’t know you would go into labor that night.”
“You arranged the ambulance transfer.”
“I was trying to save you.”
“You were trying to control both families.”
Daniel had no answer.
The upload reached 31 percent.
Mercer moved closer.
“Stop the transfer, and I will release Ethan.”
“You will kill him whether I stop it or not.”
“I need him alive for the patent.”
“And Noah?”
Mercer shrugged.
“Less essential.”
Noah’s face hardened.
“What about Subject Seven?” Sarah asked.
“He belongs to Halcyon.”
“He is my son.”
“He is evidence.”
The meaning was clear.
Mercer would never allow him to leave.
Daniel suddenly drove his shoulder into Mercer.
The gun fired.
A monitor shattered.
Noah tackled the guard.
Sarah hit the manual alarm.
Doors throughout the underground ward unlocked.
The upload reached 46 percent.
Mercer and Daniel fought across the console.
Mercer pressed the gun beneath Daniel’s chin.
“You were always weak.”
Daniel grabbed Mercer’s injured shoulder.
Mercer screamed and dropped the weapon.
Sarah kicked it beneath a cabinet.
Noah locked the guard inside a storage room.
Margaret’s voice came through the intercom.
“Sarah, the surgical team is moving.”
The countdown showed 06:12.
Sarah searched the controls.
“The authorization is tied to Mercer’s biometrics.”
Daniel grabbed Mercer’s hand and forced his thumb against the scanner.
ACCESS DENIED.
Mercer laughed through clenched teeth.
“It requires retinal confirmation.”
Daniel dragged him toward the camera.
Mercer shut his eyes.
Sarah picked up a metal surgical clamp.
“Open them.”
Mercer smiled.
“You won’t hurt me.”
Sarah pressed the clamp against his wounded shoulder.
Mercer screamed and opened his eyes.
The scanner flashed.
AUTHORIZATION ACCEPTED.
Sarah pressed RELEASE ALL CHAMBERS.
Somewhere beyond the command room, heavy locks opened.
The upload reached 63 percent.
Then the screen went black.
UPLOAD TERMINATED.
Mercer began laughing again.
“You sent nothing.”
Sarah stared at the dead terminal.
All the evidence remained trapped inside the Halcyon system.
An explosion shook the underground level.
May you like
Smoke rolled beneath the door.
Mercer had activated a destruction protocol.
