The room fell silent.
Not because no one had anything to say.
Because no one could.
Linh's fingers tightened around the faded photograph.
Her eyes remained fixed on the little girl standing beside a young Nguyen Khang.
It was her.
The same eyes.
The same smile.
The same tiny birthmark beneath her left ear.
There was no mistake.
She had known him.
Long before either of them remembered.
Another explosion thundered through the underground vault.
The walls trembled.
Dust drifted from the ceiling.
Reality came crashing back.
"They're through the east corridor!"
A guard's voice crackled over the radio.
Heavy gunfire followed.
Then screaming.
Static.
The transmission died.
The security captain looked at Khang.
"They're less than two minutes away."
Khang nodded once.
"Fall
