My sights were locked on the giant halogen lamp in the middle of the operating room. My finger was on the trigger, ready to unleash the darkness that would be my ally. The breath I exhaled was held behind my tactical mask, leaving only the sound of my heartbeat racing against the seconds in the corner of my eye.
"Juri, countdown to backup circuit disconnection," I whispered very softly.
"Ready, Jax. Five seconds to—"
*BOOM!*
A small but deafening explosion shook the left side of the isolation area. I flinched, holding my position to avoid sliding down from the narrow ventilation duct. Thin smoke began to creep from behind the sterile plastic curtain. High-pitched screams broke the usually icy silence of the laboratory.
"What was that? What's going on over there?" one of the surgical a
