Chapter 9 - THE STAND IN THE DARKNESS
Nate moved with terrifying combat speed. Before the mercenaries could acquire their targets, he lunged forward, grabbing the barrel of the lead operative's assault rifle and shoving it violently upward into the concrete ceiling as a hail of bullets sparked off the overhead pipes.
Nate delivered a bone-shattering knee strike to the operative's ribs, snatched the weapon from his hands, and spun around, firing a three-round burst that dropped the second mercenary into the rushing water.
"RACHEL! RUN TO THE RED DOOR AT THE END OF THE HALL!" Nate screamed, using the pillar for tactical cover as Vance and his remaining man returned fire.
Rachel grabbed Emily's hand, sprinting down the wet tunnel toward the heavy steel fire door illuminated by a single red emergency light fifty yards ahead.
Bullets whizzed past her ears, ricocheting off the concrete walls in a terrifying chorus of screaming metal. Emily wept in terror, but kept her legs moving as fast as her small shoes could manage.
Behind them, Nate engaged in a brutal shootout. He took a heavy round to his left shoulder, the impact spinning him backward against the wall, but he forced himself upright, returning fire with lethal precision, dropping Vance's final bodyguard.
Colonel Vance, realization dawning that his force was wiped out, retreated down the dark corridor, firing his handgun blindly as he fled into the darkness.
Nate stumbled down the hallway, pressing his hand against his bleeding shoulder, his breath coming in ragged, painful gasps. He reached Rachel at the red door, leaning heavily against the steel frame.
"Nate! You're hit!" Rachel cried out, reaching to support his massive frame.
"I’m... I’m okay," Nate panted, his face pale from blood loss. "Just a graze. Keep moving... door leads to the Rayburn basement."
Rachel grabbed the heavy iron door lever, shoving it down with all her weight. The heavy door swung open, revealing the brightly lit, polished marble corridor of the Rayburn House Office Building sub-basement.
Standing in the corridor surrounded by six heavily armed U.S. Federal Marshals was Judge Elizabeth Vance—a stern, silver-haired woman in a dark suit whose eyes widened in absolute shock as the bloodied trio stumbled out from the maintenance entrance.
"Rachel Carter?" Judge Vance called out, rushing forward as her marshals raised their shields to form a protective perimeter around them.
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"Judge Vance," Rachel gasped, collapsing to her knees from pure exhaustion, holding out the black encrypted drive and Daniel's journal. "My name is Rachel Carter. This is Staff Sergeant Nate Walker. And this is the truth about Project Blacklight."
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