Chapter 28 - The Bullet and the Blood
The gunshot inside the enclosed concrete chamber was an ear-splitting thunderclap.
The muzzle flash lit the room in a strobe of blinding white, illuminating the flying cordite and the spray of crimson against the manganese blast door.
Eleanor gasped, her body violently jerking backward. Her revolver slipped from nerveless fingers, clattering loudly against the concrete floor.
Daniel stood completely still, his Glock smoking in his right hand. He had drawn, fired, and re-indexed in less than three-tenths of a second. The round had taken Eleanor cleanly through the right shoulder, severing the brachial plexus, instantly neutralizing her weapon arm without killing her.
Eleanor slumped against the cold steel of the console, clutching her bleeding shoulder, groaning in agonizing disbelief. "You... you shot your own mother..."
"You gave birth to me," Daniel said, walking toward her, his face devoid of emotion. "That was biology. Margaret raised me. That was love. And in my world, loyalty beats blood every single day."
He kicked her ceramic revolver into the dark water flooding the corner of the room.
"Margaret," Daniel commanded, grabbing the two brass cylinders. "Now."
11:58 PM.
Margaret didn't hesitate. Despite her age, despite the horror of the night, the seventy-year-old matriarch stepped up to the console. She thrust her scarred palm onto the right-hand scanner plate. Daniel placed his scarred palm on the left.
The glass plates flashed brilliant emerald green.
*BEEP-BEEP-BEEP.*
A synthesized, mechanical voice, perfectly preserved from 1984, echoed through the bunker speakers:
*PRIMARY BIOMETRIC MATCH CONFIRMED: STERLING, DANIEL.*
*SECONDARY BIOMETRIC MATCH CONFIRMED: STERLING, MARGARET.*
*PLEASE INSERT SOVEREIGN CYLINDERS.*
Daniel shoved the two brass cylinders into the dual ports. He grabbed the heavy steel handles of both cylinders, his muscles straining as he twisted them simultaneously ninety degrees clockwise.
*CLACK-CLACK-WHIRRRRRR.*
Inside the console, ancient hydraulic gears engaged. The frenzied clacking of the mechanical ticker-tape abruptly died. The flashing red alert lights along the ceiling shifted to a steady, tranquil blue.
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*BROADCAST ABORTED. SOVEREIGN PROTOCOL QUARANTINED. ACCESS GRANTED TO PRIMARY SANCTUARY.*
The massive, multi-ton manganese blast door groaned. Massive steel locking bolts withdrew with a sound like artillery fire. With a hiss of depressurizing pneumatic seals, the vault door slowly, ponderously swung inward.
