“Halon gas displaces oxygen to put out electrical fires, Daniel,” Margaret said through the speaker, her voice wavering slightly for a fraction of a second before hardening again. “In forty-five seconds, there will be no oxygen left in that room. It will look like a tragic industrial accident. A system malfunction while two trespassers tried to steal corporate data.”
“You would kill your own son?!” Emily screamed, joining Daniel at the glass.
“I am saving my family’s legacy!” Margaret yelled back, her composure finally breaking into fanatical desperation. “Daniel, I gave you everything! Wealth, power, status! And you throw it all away for the daughter of a dead convict! If you die tonight, it is because she dragged you down into her grave!”
Halon gas deployment in 30 seconds…
White gas began to hiss violently from the ceiling vents, pouring into the room like heavy mist.
“Daniel, the drive!” Emily shouted, pointing back at the server rack.
The progress bar on the screen flashed: 100% COMPLETE – DOWNLOAD SUCCESSFUL.
Daniel sprinted back to Rack 12, yanked the external hard drive from the bay, and stuffed it into his inner jacket pocket.
The air inside the room was already growing thin. Emily began to cough violently, her knees buckling as her lungs struggled for oxygen.
Daniel rushed to her side, catching her before she hit the floor. “Hold your breath, Emily! Cover your nose with your sleeve!”
“Daniel…” she gasped, her vision beginning to blur as dark spots swam before her eyes.
Daniel looked around frantically. The vault was airtight, but near the ceiling, above the main server rack, ran an old industrial ventilation pipe used to heat the building decades ago.
“The air duct!” Daniel shouted.
He scooped Emily up into his arms, carrying her over to the top of the server rack. Using his entire body weight, he hauled himself onto the metal frame, dragging Emily up beside him.
Using a metal screwdriver from his tool kit, Daniel jammed it into the rust-eaten seam of the ventilation grate and pulled with all his strength.
With a loud screech of tearing metal, the grate popped open. Fresh air rushed out from the central building duct.
Halon gas deployment complete. Oxygen levels at 0%.
Outside the window, Margaret watched as the room filled entirely with white fog. Seeing no movement inside, she turned to the security chief.
“Clean up the mess,” she whispered, turning her back on the glass. “Make sure the bodies are disposed of quietly.”
Ten minutes later, the security team unlocked the heavy vault door, wearing oxygen masks, carrying heavy body bags.
As they stepped into the thick white fog, a shadow dropped down from the ceiling duct directly onto the first guard!
Daniel slammed the man’s head into the concrete floor, knocking him unconscious instantly. Before the second guard could raise his weapon, Emily—holding a heavy iron fire extinguisher—swung it with all her strength, striking the man across the shoulder and sending him crashing into the server racks.
Daniel snatched the guard’s keycard and security radio, grabbed Emily’s hand, and pulled her out into the main corridor.
“They think we’re dead,” Emily panted, her throat raw from the gas fumes.
“Good,” Daniel said, his eyes filled with a terrifying, absolute resolve. “That gives us the element of surprise. We go straight to Washington.”
They escaped the building through the maintenance shaft, emerging into a quiet back alley two blocks away.
By sunrise, they were aboard a private train heading north toward the nation’s capital.
Emily sat by the train window, staring at the blurred green landscape flying past. The small black external hard drive rested in her lap alongside her father’s old leather binder.
Daniel sat beside her, wrapping a warm hand over hers.
“Your mother tried to kill you, Daniel,” Emily said quietly, looking at him with deep sympathy. “How do you feel?”