NO WAY OUT BUT THROUGH

The Plan

The garage was silent when Slade walked in.

Lyric was hunched over her monitors, her eyes bloodshot, her fingers still moving across the keyboard. She hadn't slept. Neither had Dante. Empty coffee cups littered the table.

Slade pulled up a chair and sat down. "Tell me what you found."

Lyric didn't look up. "The compound. It's in the Kaskade Mountains, about three hundred miles north of here. Former military installation, decommissioned in the '90s. The Inheritors bought it through a shell company five years ago. They've been fortifying it ever since."

"How fortified?"

Lyric pulled up schematics. "Three concentric walls. Motion sensors. Thermal cameras. Automated turrets. Underground bunkers. A garrison of at least fifty armed guards, probably more."

Slade studied the blueprints. "What about the interior?"

"Command center on the third level. Living quarters on the second. A lab on the first. And a communications array on the roof." She zoomed in. "The lab is where they're developing Event Horizon."

"What is Event Horizon?"

"I don't know exactly. But the file mentions something called 'Project Eclipse.' It's a weapon of some kind. Biological, maybe. Or cyber. The details are heavily encrypted."

"Can you break the encryption?"

"I'm trying. But it's the most complex code I've ever seen. It might take days. Or weeks."

"We don't have weeks."

"I know."

Slade turned to Dante. "What about Vega? Has she talked?"

Dante shook his head. "She's stubborn. She knows we won't kill her. She's holding out for a rescue."

"She's not going to get one."

"Then we need to find another way."

Slade stood up and walked to the holding cell.

Vega was sitting on the cot, her hands cuffed. She looked up as he entered, a faint smile on her lips.

"Come to try again?"

"Something like that."

"Whatever you're offering, the answer is no."

Slade sat across from her. "I'm not offering anything. I'm telling you how this is going to go. We have your compound's location. We know about Event Horizon. We know about Project Eclipse. We know you're planning to launch an attack in three weeks."

Vega's smile faded. "Then you know more than I thought."

"Not enough. But I will. Eventually."

"Eventually might be too late."

"Maybe." Slade leaned forward. "But here's the thing: I don't need you to talk. I just need you to stay alive. Because when we take down the compound, I'm going to bring you with me. I'm going to make you watch as everything you built crumbles."

Vega's eyes narrowed. "You're bluffing."

"Try me."

The room was silent.

Then Vega spoke. "The compound's defenses have a vulnerability. A blind spot on the eastern wall. The cameras don't cover it. You could approach from the ridge and get within fifty yards before they see you."

Slade studied her. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want to see what you do with it. If you fail, I get to watch you die. If you succeed, I get to watch you become exactly what you hate." She smiled. "Either way, I win."

Slade stood up. "We'll see."

He left the cell and returned to the main room.

"She gave us something," he said. "A blind spot on the eastern wall. It could be a trap."

"Probably," Kane said. "But it's also our only lead."

"We need to scout it. Confirm the vulnerability."

"I'll go," Sloane said. "I've done reconnaissance before. I'll be in and out before they even know I'm there."

Slade nodded. "Take Lyric. She can monitor the cameras from a distance."

Sloane and Lyric left.

---

The wait was interminable.

Slade paced the garage, his mind racing. The compound. The weapon. The three-week deadline. Every second felt like a countdown.

Ember approached him. "You need to rest."

"I can't."

"You've been going nonstop for days. Your body is going to break down."

"My body is fine."

"Your mind isn't." She put a hand on his arm. "Slade, listen to me. I know what you're feeling. The pressure. The fear. The anger. But you can't let it consume you. You need to stay clear-headed."

"I'm clear-headed."

"You're running on fumes. That's not clear-headed."

He looked at her. Her eyes were soft, concerned. The same look she'd given him when she was profiling him in that warehouse.

"You're good at this," he said. "The psychology."

"Because I've been there. I've felt the weight of impossible choices." She squeezed his arm. "You're not alone, Slade. You have a team. You have people who care about you. Let us help."

He nodded slowly. "I'll try."

"That's all I ask."

---

Two hours later, Sloane and Lyric returned.

"The blind spot is real," Sloane said. "I approached from the ridge. Got within thirty yards before I saw any movement. The cameras don't cover that angle."

Slade's eyes narrowed. "What about the perimeter?"

"Patrols every fifteen minutes. Rotating schedule. We can time the approach if we're careful."

Lyric added: "I recorded the patrol patterns. I've mapped out a window of about three minutes where the wall is completely unguarded."

"Three minutes. That's all we get."

"Three minutes is enough if we're fast."

Slade looked at the schematics again. "Once we're inside, we split up. One team goes to the lab. One team goes to the command center. We disable the defenses, destroy the weapon, and get out."

Kane stepped forward. "I'll take the command center."

"I'll take the lab," Sloane said.

Slade nodded. "I'll lead the infiltration team. Ember, you're with me. Lyric, you're on comms. Dante, you're the pilot. We go in by helicopter, fast and low."

Dante raised an eyebrow. "I can fly a helicopter?"

"You can learn."

---

The next twelve hours were a blur of preparation.

Dante spent the night studying helicopter controls, running simulations on his monitors. Lyric worked on jamming the compound's communications. Sloane and Kane drilled their assault routes. Ember practiced with her weapon, her movements growing more confident with each repetition.

Slade stood apart, watching them.

They were good. Better than he'd expected. They had come together as a team, each playing their part, each willing to sacrifice for the others.

His father would have been proud.

He pulled out his phone and opened the last message from Zane.

*I'm proud of you, Slade. I always have been.*

He closed the message and pocketed the phone.

"Get some rest," he said to the team. "We move at dawn."

---

Dawn arrived cold and gray.

The helicopter was a relic, patched together from salvaged parts. Dante sat in the pilot's seat, his hands shaking as he ran through the pre-flight checks.

"I've never actually flown one of these," he admitted.

"Now's your chance," Slade said.

They lifted off, the ground falling away beneath them. The city shrank to a cluster of lights, then to nothing. The mountains rose ahead, their peaks capped with snow.

The flight was two hours. Lyric kept up a steady stream of updates—weather conditions, patrol patterns, estimated arrival time.

As they approached the compound, Slade leaned forward. "We're going in fast. Dante, bring us down on the eastern ridge. We'll approach on foot from there."

The helicopter descended, its rotors chopping the air. The compound appeared below them—a cluster of gray buildings surrounded by walls and fences.

Slade grabbed his gear. "Let's move."

They rappelled down the ropes, landing on the ridge. The helicopter lifted off, disappearing into the clouds.

Slade led the way, moving low and fast. The eastern wall loomed ahead, its surface scarred and weathered. He pressed his back against it, motioning for the others to follow.

Sloane moved to the wall, her tools already in hand. "Three minutes. Starting now."

She cut through the fence with practiced efficiency. The wire parted, leaving a gap just wide enough for them to slip through.

Slade went first, his weapon raised. The compound's interior was a maze of buildings and open spaces. No guards in sight.

"Sloane, lab. Kane, command center. Ember, with me."

They split up.

Slade and Ember moved through the shadows, heading toward the main building. The door was unlocked. He pushed it open and stepped inside.

The interior was sterile, white, humming with machinery. A long corridor stretched ahead, lined with doors.

"The lab should be at the end," Ember said.

They moved down the corridor, their footsteps echoing on the tile floor.

At the end, a heavy steel door. A keypad. Slade pulled out the spoofed biometric device and pressed it to the lock.

The door clicked open.

Beyond it, the lab.

Rows of equipment. Glass chambers. Monitors. And in the center, a large containment unit filled with a dark, swirling liquid.

Slade's blood ran cold. "This is it. Project Eclipse."

Ember stepped closer. "What is it?"

"I don't know. But it's not getting out of here."

He pulled out a pack of explosives and began placing them around the containment unit.

A voice echoed from behind them. "I wouldn't do that."

Slade turned.

Vega stood in the doorway, flanked by two guards. Her hands were free. Her cuffs were gone.

"How did you—"

"Did you really think I'd stay in that cell?" She smiled. "Your security is pathetic. I was out within hours. I've been waiting for you to come here."

"It's a trap."

"Of course it's a trap. You think I'd let you destroy my compound without a fight?"

Slade raised his weapon. "It doesn't matter. The explosives are already set. I just need to press the button."

"You're not going to press anything."

Vega raised her hand. The guards raised their weapons.

"Fifty guards. Three minutes. You can't fight them all."

"Maybe not. But I can still destroy the weapon."

Slade pressed the detonator.

The explosion ripped through the lab, sending debris and liquid flying. Slade grabbed Ember and dove behind a row of equipment.

The guards were thrown back by the blast. Vega staggered, her face twisted with rage.

"You fool! Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Saved the world."

"You've doomed it. Event Horizon wasn't the weapon. Project Eclipse was the *countermeasure.* Without it, the weapon will be unstoppable."

Slade froze. "What are you talking about?"

"The real weapon. The one the Master built. The one I've been trying to stop." Vega's voice cracked. "You just destroyed the only thing that could stop it."

The room shook. Another explosion, this one from above.

"We need to go," Ember said.

Slade looked at Vega. "Where's the weapon?"

"Too late. It's already been activated. In three days, it'll be too late for anyone."

Slade grabbed Ember's arm and ran.

Behind them, Vega's laughter echoed through the smoke.