Chapter 11 - The Dead Man's Switch
Inside the heated cabin of Lin's SUV, the smell of antiseptic and wet wool replaced the stench of the river. Lin skillfully pushed an IV needle into Ava’s arm, running warm saline to counter the hypothermia, while Marcus used zip-ties to secure Viktor Sterling to the rear roll-cage.
""The Pentagon issued a Directive 99,"" Lin said, keeping her eyes fixed on the narrow mountain backroads as she drove without headlights, using night-vision goggles. ""Full domestic authorization to neutralize you, Marcus. They told the press you suffered a psychotic break at the ball, took Sterling hostage, and murdered two private security officers.""
""And the girl?"" Marcus asked, wrapping Ava in an emergency space blanket.
""According to Hayes's press conference, Ava Vance doesn't exist,"" Lin replied flatly. ""They scrubbed her social security record, her rental lease, her employment at the naval foundation. You're officially a lone-wolf terrorist.""
Ava gave a dry, raspy laugh from the back seat, holding her battered face. ""They erased me on paper. How convenient.""
""Not completely,"" Marcus said, handing the flash drive to Lin. ""Look at this.""
Lin plugged the drive into a hardened military-grade field terminal mounted on the dash. Lines of decrypted code poured down the screen in green ribbons. Lin’s eyes widened as she scrolled through the logs.
""My God, Marcus,"" Lin whispered. ""This isn't just bribery. Sterling wasn't just paying Hayes. He was selling naval supply-chain navigation codes to foreign conglomerates. Half the Seventh Fleet’s logistics were being routed through Sterling's shell corporations.""
Sterling groaned in the back, spitting blood onto the carpet. His eyes fluttered open, full of venomous hatred. ""You... you think... anyone will believe you?"" he wheezed through his ruined jaw. ""The media... is owned by my board. Hayes... controls the evidence.""
Marcus turned around, grabbing Sterling by the hair and pulling his face close to the terminal screen. ""They don't need to believe me, Viktor. We aren't sending this to the media. We're uploading it directly to the automated secure servers of the Judge Advocate General’s global terminal.""
Lin frowned, tapping the keyboard. ""We can't. The JAG intranet requires a hardline military authentication terminal. If we upload from a commercial network, Hayes's firewalls will scrub the packet in three seconds.""
Marcus stared at the horizon. ""There's an operational terminal at Naval Station Norfolk. In Hayes's personal office.""
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Ava sat upright, staring at him. ""You want to walk back into the mouth of the beast?""
""They're looking for me in the mountains,"" Marcus said calmly. ""The last place they expect me is the Admiral's desk.""
