Last Sanctuary

Chapter 6: The Execution

The vents are a maze. I'm bleeding. My leg burns with every movement. The wound is shallow but it won't stop seeping. Blood soaks through my makeshift bandage.

I crawl. I don't know where I'm going. I just know I can't stop. If I stop, I die.

The vents branch every few feet. I take turns at random. Up. Down. Left. Right. My only goal is distance. Away from the guards. Away from the server room. Away from the bullets.

After an hour, I find a grate that opens into an empty storage room. I drop down. My leg buckles. Pain lances through me like fire.

I check the wound. A graze. The bullet tore through the skin but missed the muscle. Lucky. I wrap it with a strip from my shirt. Tight. The bleeding slows.

The room is full of old equipment. Broken consoles. Dead servers. Dust covers everything. No one's been here in years. A forgotten corner of Sanctuary.

I pull out the data drive. Still intact. Still holding 78% of Project Phoenix.

I need to find Kael. I need to find Chen.

The door is unlocked. I open it a c***k. Empty corridor. I slip out.

Level 1. I recognize the markings on the walls. Administrative section. Near the mess hall. I've seen this corridor on the maps I memorized.

I move. Quick. Quiet. Keeping to the shadows. My leg screams with every step.

The mess hall is dark. Chairs stacked on tables. The kitchen empty. The smell of stale food.

A figure moves in the corner.

I freeze.

"Nova."

Kael's voice. I exhale. The tension drains from my shoulders.

"Kael."

He steps out of the shadows. His face is drawn. Tired. Dark circles under his eyes.

"You're bleeding."

"Just a graze. I got the data."

"Partial?"

"78%. It's enough."

He nods. "Chen is in his quarters. We need to move. The Council knows someone breached the server room. They've doubled the patrols. The entire facility is on lockdown."

We move through the dark facility. Staying to the maintenance corridors. The spaces between the walls. The places no one looks.

Chen's quarters are dark. He's sitting at his desk, waiting. The lamp is off. He's been sitting in the dark.

"You got it?"

"78%."

"Let me see."

I hand him the drive. He plugs it into a portable terminal. His fingers fly across the keyboard. The screen glows blue.

"Project Phoenix files. Medical records. Experiment logs. Genetic sequencing data." He scrolls. "Dozens of subjects. Hundreds of procedures. Success rates under 5%."

"And something else."

"What?"

"A message. Encrypted. Tied to your father's personal key. Military-grade encryption."

My heart stops. "Can you decrypt it?"

"I can try. It'll take time."

"Do it."

He works. Kael watches the door. g*n drawn. I watch Chen's hands. Every keystroke. Every pause.

Minutes pass. The screen flickers.

"I'm in."

He turns the screen toward me.

It's a video file. Dated six months ago. I click play.

My father's face appears. Older. Thinner. His hair is gray. His eyes are sunken. But it's him. It's really him.

"Nova." His voice cracks. "If you're seeing this, you made it inside. I knew you would. You always were stubborn. You always finished what you started."

I can't breathe. My chest tightens.

"I don't have much time. They watch everything. But I needed to record this. In case..."

He looks away. Composes himself.

"In case I don't make it."

"The Council is using my research. They took what I designed for healing and twisted it. The Shell was meant to regenerate damaged tissue. To cure radiation sickness. To save lives."

He pauses. His jaw tightens.

"But they're using it to create something else. Weaponizing the regeneration process. Creating soldiers who can't die. Who heal from any wound. Who feel no pain. Who don't stop until their targets are dead."

"They're using human subjects." His voice drops. "Volunteers at first. Desperate people who believed in the promise of a cure. Then refugees who had nowhere else to go. Then people who asked too many questions. People like your friend Chen's daughter."

I glance at Chen. His face is stone. But his hands are shaking.

"I tried to stop them. I refused to continue the work. So they took me. They've kept me here for six years. Forcing me to work. Threatening to find you if I didn't comply."

"Where are you?" I whisper.

As if he heard me, my father leans closer to the camera.

"I'm on Level 4. The medical wing. Room 412. They keep me sedated most of the time. But I escape sometimes. Long enough to send messages. Long enough to plan."

"I've hidden evidence. Complete records of every experiment. Every death. Every order the Council gave. It's in the Shell's core processor. The only way to access it is with my biometrics. My fingerprint. My retinal scan."

"Bring the evidence to the surface. Broadcast it to every outpost. Let the world know what Sanctuary really is. What the Council has become."

He leans back. His eyes are wet. A single tear rolls down his cheek.

"I love you, Nova. I always have. I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. But I knew you'd come. I knew you'd find me."

"I'm proud of you. Whatever happens next... I'm proud."

The video ends.

I sit in silence. Tears run down my face. I don't wipe them away.

"Room 412," Kael says. "Level 4."

"I'm going."

"It's a trap."

"Probably."

"You'll die."

"Maybe."

I stand. My leg hurts. My body aches. But I don't care.

"I came here to find my father. I found him." I look at Kael. "I'm not leaving without him."

Kael is silent. He looks at Chen. Chen looks at me.

"Then we go together," Kael says.

"Kael—"

"I'm already a dead man. We all are. Might as well make it count."

Chen stands. "I'll stay here. Monitor the systems. Feed you information on guard movements. Buy you time."

"Thank you."

Chen's eyes are hard. "I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for Lina. For everyone they killed. For everyone on those tables."

I nod.

Kael and I leave.

The corridor is empty. We move toward the Level 4 stairwell. Our footsteps echo in the silence.

"The Council knows about you," Kael says. "They issued an order."

"What order?"

He stops. Turns to face me.

"Execution. By my hand."

I stare at him. The words don't register.

"What?"

"They found out you're Vance's daughter. They know you have the data. They ordered me to execute you publicly. In the main atrium. Send a message to anyone who thinks about crossing them."

"And you're going to do it?"

"No." He holds my gaze. "But they think I am."

"What's the plan?"

He pulls out a knife. Small. Sharp. The blade catches the dim light.

"You're going to struggle. I'm going to drag you to the execution chamber. The Council will be watching. When the moment comes, I'll make it look real."

"And then?"

"And then I'll fake your death. Help you escape into the vents. You find your father. I deal with the Council."

"It'll never work."

"It has to."

I look at him. The scar on his face. The gray eyes. The man who said no to my father six years ago.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I said no once. I'm not saying no again."

He raises his voice. Shoves me against the wall. Hard. My head cracks against the metal.

"Got you."

Guards appear. Two of them. They grab my arms. Rough hands. Kael holds the knife to my throat. The blade is cold against my skin.

"The Council wants her alive for the execution," he says. "Take her to the chamber. I'll deal with her personally."

The guards drag me away. I struggle. I kick. I scream. I make it look real.

The main atrium is packed. Hundreds of faces. They've gathered everyone. Workers from every block. Families. Children. They stand in rows, watching.

The Council sits on their platform. Five of them. Dressed in white. Their faces are calm. Pleased.

Kael stands behind me. His hand on my shoulder.

"Nova Vance," the head Councilor announces. "You stand convicted of espionage, theft, and trespassing. The sentence is death."

The crowd murmurs.

"Commander Kael will carry out the sentence."

Kael steps forward. He draws his sidearm.

"Do you have any last words?" he asks.

I look at the crowd. At Maya. At the workers. At the people who trusted this place.

"Your leaders are lying to you," I say. "They're killing people. They're experimenting on your friends. Your families."

The Councilor stands. "Silence her."

Kael raises the g*n.

He fires.

The bullet grazes my temple. White-hot pain. Blood sprays across the floor. I fall.

The crowd gasps.

I hit the ground. The world goes dark, then bright, then dark again.

But I'm not dead.

I hear Kael's voice, distant and muffled. "The body will be disposed of. Return to your duties. There's nothing to see here."

Footsteps. Hands grab me. Drag me across the floor.

I keep my eyes closed. My body limp. Blood trickles down my face.

The hands drag me into a maintenance corridor. Drop me. The door slides shut.

"Nova." Kael's voice. Sharp. Urgent. "Nova, can you hear me?"

I open my eyes. The world swims. His face above me.

"That hurt like hell."

"It was supposed to. They need to believe you're dead."

He helps me sit up. Presses a cloth to my bleeding temple. The wound is shallow. Just a graze.

"The vents are behind you. Follow them to Level 4. Room 412. Find your father."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to the server room. Chen and I are going to broadcast the data. Give you cover."

"Kael."

He stops.

"Thank you."

He nods. Once. Then he's gone.

I pull myself into the vents. The metal is cold. Dark. I crawl forward into the unknown.

My father is waiting.