Chapter 5 - The Ticking Clock
Emergency backup lights flickered on, casting a dim amber glow across the lobby.
Senator Hayes lay motionless on the marble floor with a bullet hole in his chest.
The titanium cylinder was gone from his hand.
Screams erupted as the billionaire guests scrambled behind couches and marble pillars for cover.
Julian dropped to his knees next to the senator and checked for a pulse.
The man was already dead.
Julian stood up and looked directly at the balcony where Vance was nursing his broken wrist.
"You have the cylinder, don't you?" Julian called out into the shadows.
Vance began to laugh, a cruel and echoing sound that filled the massive room.
"I am a businessman, Julian," Vance shouted back.
"I realized the defense contracts I own would skyrocket if the country lost its nuclear deterrent."
Julian gritted his teeth, anger finally breaking through his calm demeanor.
"You killed the Vice President and a Senator just to boost your stock portfolio?" Julian asked.
"I didn't kill anyone," Vance corrected him with a wicked smile.
"I just hired the best private military contractors in the world to do it for me."
The heavy velvet curtains around the lobby suddenly tore open.
Dozens of armed mercenaries stepped out from the shadows, aiming assault rifles at the guests.
They wore unmarked black tactical gear and night-vision goggles.
The countdown clock above them ticked down to exactly six minutes.
"You cannot override the bomb, Julian," Vance bragged from the balcony.
"My men bypassed your little AI toy and planted enough C4 to level this entire city block."
Vance tossed a small electronic tablet down to the lobby floor.
It landed right in front of Julian's worn leather shoes.
"Sign the deed to this building and transfer all your patents to my holding company," Vance ordered.
May you like
"If you do, I will stop the timer and let you walk out of here alive."
Julian picked up the tablet, looked at the transfer documents, and then snapped the device in half over his knee.
