Chapter 10 - Terminal Velocity
""Clara! Can you override the throttle?"" Lucas shouted over the screaming metal wheels.
""No! The electronic throttle is burned out!"" Clara yelled back, frantically pulling on the manual emergency airbrake lever. Sparks showered from the floorplates as the lever snapped clean off in her hands. ""The lines are dead!""
Lucas shoved Eleanor into the cab corner and stepped to the engine console. The warning lights were flashing a violent crimson. The bulkhead was rushing toward them, looming larger every second. Beyond the barricade lay a sheer forty-foot drop into the harbor’s industrial shipping lanes.
""Lucas, the drive!"" Clara held up the aluminum briefcase, having pulled the primary hard drive from the terminal. ""I canceled the public upload, but the physical drive contains the only raw evidence linking Apex to the Pentagon.""
""Wrap it in your coat,"" Lucas ordered, stripping off his heavy leather utility belt. He grabbed Clara by the waist, securing her firmly to his side with the thick military strap.
""What are you doing?!"" Eleanor screamed, scrambling toward them as terror finally shattered her composed facade. ""You can't jump at this speed! We’ll be crushed!""
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Lucas looked at the woman who had murdered his squad and framed his life. ""Then you better hold on to something.""
With a single, sweeping kick, Lucas shattered the side emergency window of the cab. He pulled Clara tight against his chest, shielding her skull with his arms, and threw both of their bodies out into the rushing darkness just as the front engine struck the concrete bulkhead.
