Chapter 14 - The Server Room
Stella swiped the stolen access fob and stepped into the private executive elevator.
The doors slid shut, sealing her in a quiet, wood-paneled box that rapidly ascended to the top floor.
She quickly pulled the data-cloning device from beneath her gown, preparing to execute the download.
The elevator chimed softly, and the doors opened into a pristine, heavily air-conditioned server room.
Rows of massive black server racks hummed loudly, glowing with thousands of tiny green lights.
"I am in the server room," Stella whispered, moving quickly toward the main terminal.
"Plug the cloner into the primary port and authorize the transfer," Jonah instructed rapidly.
Stella connected the device and initiated the complex cloning process.
A progress bar appeared on the small screen, slowly creeping toward one hundred percent.
"It will take exactly three minutes to complete," Stella reported, nervously checking her surroundings.
Suddenly, the heavy security doors at the far end of the room swung open with a loud mechanical clank.
Stella ducked quickly behind a massive server rack, holding her breath in the cold air.
Two heavily armed cartel enforcers walked into the room, sweeping the area with powerful flashlights.
"Someone used the Senator's fob," one enforcer growled, drawing a suppressed pistol.
"Spread out and find them."
Stella panicked, realizing she was completely trapped in the room with the active cloning device.
"Jonah, I have company," Stella whispered frantically into her earpiece.
"Do not engage them, Stella," Jonah ordered firmly.
"The room has an automated halon gas fire suppression system."
"I am remotely hacking into the building's mainframe right now."
Stella watched the cloning progress bar slowly tick past eighty percent.
The enforcers were moving closer, their flashlights cutting through the narrow aisles between the servers.
"Jonah, they are ten feet away," Stella warned, pulling her small clutch tightly against her chest.
"Hold your breath, Stella," Jonah commanded sharply.
Suddenly, the blaring sound of the fire alarm echoed deafeningly through the server room.
The ceiling vents violently expelled thick, white clouds of halon gas into the enclosed space.
The two enforcers instantly began choking violently, completely blinded and disoriented by the heavy gas.
Stella grabbed the finished cloning device from the terminal and sprinted blindly toward the exit.
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She burst through the heavy doors and collapsed into the hallway, gasping desperately for clean air.
She had secured the cartel's entire political blackmail network.
