Chapter 11 - The Reversal
Julian moved with cold, mechanical efficiency, eliminating the two approaching shotgunners before they could chamber another round. The concrete around container Charlie was littered with spent brass and smoking debris.
""Emma! To me!"" Julian shouted, sliding on his knees onto the wet asphalt behind a stack of industrial pallets.
Bruno shifted backward in perfect synchronicity, guiding the toddler with his flank until Emma scrambled into Julian’s waiting arms. Julian clutched his daughter to his chest, feeling her tiny heart hammering like a trapped bird against his ribs.
""Daddy! The bad man pushed Mommy!"" Emma sobbed, burying her face into the wet collar of his coat.
Julian looked across the smoking courtyard. Through the rain, he saw Keller dragging Sarah toward a waiting high-speed tactical boat moored at the far end of the floating dock. Sarah was fighting viciously, kicking and twisting, trying to sink her teeth into Keller’s forearm.
""Keller!"" Julian roared, standing up and stepping into the open, his rifle raised.
Keller spun around, yanking Sarah in front of his body as a human shield, pressing the muzzle of an automatic pistol hard against her temple.
""Drop the weapon, Vance!"" Keller snarled, his eyes bloodshot with frantic desperation. ""Drop it or her brain matter stains this dock before you take another breath! You think you've won? Ares has three more strike teams en route! You can't kill an idea, Julian!""
Sarah looked across the twenty yards of rain-slicked dock, her eyes meeting Julian's for the first time in seven years. Tears carved clean lines through the dirt and salt on her cheeks.
""Julian... don't let him take the core,"" she whispered, her voice carrying an eerie, resolute calm. ""He doesn't know the failsafe.""
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Sarah looked down at Bruno, who was creeping forward along the edge of the dock, his belly nearly touching the wood, every muscle coiled like a spring.
""Bruno,"" Sarah commanded in a clear, sharp tone that sliced through the howling wind. ""Veritas.""
