Chapter 3 - Blood on the Docket
""Get behind the pillar!"" Lucas yelled, throwing Clara behind the reinforced concrete column of the bench just as Eleanor pressed the trigger.
The blast didn't level the building; it was a targeted breach charge placed on the judge's private chambers door. The concussion wave slammed through the courtroom, blowing out the tall decorative windows and showering the gallery with crystalline debris.
Smoke poured through the ruptured doorway. The three mercenaries advanced, laying down disciplined bursts of fire to cover Eleanor’s retreat. Lucas leaned out from behind the pillar, steadying his breathing. Two rounds, center mass—the lead mercenary collapsed onto the spectator benches with a dull thud.
The other two gunmen scattered, returning suppressive fire that chewed through the decorative wood paneling around Lucas's head.
""We can't stay here,"" Lucas muttered, feeling Clara’s pulse. Her heartbeat was erratic, hammering against her chest like a trapped bird, but the gray pallor was receding from her cheeks. ""Can you walk?""
""I have to,"" she said, teeth chattering from shock. ""If Eleanor gets that drive to the server farm downtown, three thousand identities are wiped. Including yours.""
Lucas froze. ""Mine?""
Clara looked up at him, her hazel eyes glistening under the emergency beacons. ""You think you were assigned to escort me today by coincidence, Captain? You were the primary test subject in Kandahar. Everything they did to your unit is on that drive.""
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A sudden burst of automatic fire ripped through the oak bench beside them. Lucas grabbed Clara’s hand, pulling her toward the judge's breached chambers.
Inside the smoke-filled office, Judge Harrison lay face down on his Persian rug, a clean bullet hole drilled neatly into the back of his skull.
