Chapter 11 - The Zurich Infiltration
Twenty-four hours later, the snow over the Swiss Alps fell in dense, silent curtains, muffling the roar of the mountain winds. Diana stood on the balcony of a private chalet overlooking the Lake Zurich basin, clad in a sleek, tailored black wool coat over tactical thermal gear. Her red hair was braided tightly against her scalp, her features sharpened by focus. Lily was safe inside, under the watchful protection of Arthur’s most trusted domestic guard—men who had sworn fealty to the family before Diana was even born.
Arthur walked onto the balcony, his heavy boots crunching against the fresh powder. He handed Diana a small titanium keycard and a suppressed 9mm sidearm.
“The Consortium’s primary server room is located four floors beneath the historic bank on Bahnhofstrasse,” Arthur said, checking his watch. “It is protected by biometric locks, private Swiss security, and a kinetic vault door that seals automatically if power drops.”
“I don't plan on dropping the power,” Diana said, checking the magazine of the weapon with practiced ease. “That alerts the cantonal police. We use the service intake tunnels from the river limmat.”
“You’re going in alone,” Arthur said, his voice unusually quiet. “My men will create a diversion at the front entrance, but the internal system is yours to navigate. If Alexander Vance has already deployed his fixers inside, you will have no backup.”
“I work better alone,” Diana said coldly. She slipped the gun into her holster. “If anything happens to Lily while I’m down there—”
“I am a monster, Diana,” the old man interrupted, looking her dead in the eye. “I have ruined lives and built an empire on blood. But she is my flesh. I would burn Switzerland to the ground before I let Vance lay a finger on her.”
Diana held his gaze for a long moment, then nodded once. She turned and descended the stone steps into the waiting transport.
Thirty minutes later, Diana slipped through the frigid waters of the Limmat river, emerging through an intake grate into the subterranean labyrinth beneath the Bahnhofstrasse. The air smelled of ozone and filtered air. She shed her wet rebreather suit, revealing sterile black tactical clothes beneath, and moved like a ghost through the concrete corridors.
She reached the perimeter of the primary server vault without raising a single alarm. But as she rounded the final corner toward the biometric console, she found the security checkpoint already silent.
Three Swiss guards lay face down on the polished linoleum, pools of dark blood spreading from precise headshots.
May you like
Standing in front of the massive titanium vault door was a woman in a slate-gray trench coat, her blonde hair cut into a sharp bob, holding an encrypted data drive. She turned, revealing cold blue eyes that Diana recognized instantly.
Elena Vance. Alexander’s daughter, and Julian’s twin sister.
