Chapter 13
KANE
Karina's words hang in the operations center like a grenade with the pin pulled.
She's telling us the Committee plans to deploy chemical weapons in one of the most visible and protected cities in America in or around the time of the inauguration.
Nobody moves. Nobody speaks. We're all processing what she just said—what it means if the Committee succeeds.
Thousands dead. Maybe tens of thousands depending on dispersal patterns and wind conditions. The entire chain of command wiped out in one coordinated strike. And in the chaos that follows, the Committee steps in to "restore order" with whatever authoritarian measures they've been planning.
"You're certain?" My voice comes out flat. Controlled. The only way to handle intel this catastrophic.
"I spent two years inside their operational planning division.
" Karina lowers her hands slowly, reading the room, understanding that six weapons are still trained on her center mass.
"I know how they think. How they operate.
The inauguration would give them maximum impact with maximum deniability.
They'll blame it on domestic terrorists, foreign actors, anyone except themselves. "
"Seventy-two hours," Willa says beside me. "That's three days."
"Which means they're already moving the weapons into position," Karina confirms. "And anyone who might know enough to stop them—anyone on Protocol Seven's list—needs to be eliminated before they can interfere."
I lower my rifle. The math is simple and brutal. If we don't stop this, thousands of people die. If we try to stop this, the Committee throws everything they have at us.
Either way, the next seventy-two hours decide whether we win or die trying.
"Tommy, I need confirmation on the inauguration timeline," I order. "Expected attendance, venue layout. Everything."
"Already pulling files." His fingers blur across keyboards. "Kane, if they're planning this, they've had months to prepare. Maybe years. We're three days out with incomplete intel and a target list on our heads."
"I'm aware." I turn to Karina. "You said you know where they're staging the chemical weapons. Where?"
"A facility outside Whitefish. Same one your dog alerted on." She nods toward Odin, who's watching her with that unsettling canine intensity. "Former industrial site, now converted into a Committee black site. They've been synthesizing nerve agent precursors there for the past eighteen months."
"How do you know this?" Mercer asks, rifle still trained on her.
"Because I helped plan the operation before I figured out what it was really for." Bitterness cuts through her voice. "I thought we were developing defensive countermeasures. Turns out we were building the weapons."
Stryker moves closer to the tactical display. "If the facility is that close, why haven't we found it?"
"Because it's not on any map." Karina pulls a flash drive from her vest. "I've got the coordinates, security layouts, guard rotations.
Everything you need to hit it. But Kane?
" Her eyes meet mine. "You'll need to move fast. If they've activated Protocol Seven, they're probably moving the weapons tonight. "
"Tommy, verify her intel," I say. "Cross-reference with satellite imagery, utility records, anything that confirms a facility at those coordinates."
"Running it now." Tommy plugs in the flash drive, code scrolling across his screens. "Give me five minutes."
Five minutes to verify intel that could stop a mass casualty event or lead us into a trap designed to eliminate the last obstacles to the Committee's plans.
I study Karina Miles. Former CIA. Number eight on the kill list. Running from the same people we are. But that doesn't mean she's trustworthy. Could be a plant. Could be compromised. Could be the bait that gets us all killed.
"Why come to us?" I ask. "Why not go to law enforcement? FBI? Homeland Security?"
"You think I didn't try?" Her laugh is harsh. "The Committee has people in every agency. I went to my handler at CIA—he tried to have me killed. Went to FBI—same result. There's no one left to trust except people who are already marked for death. People like you."
"And how did you find us?" Rourke's voice carries that edge he gets when he's calculating threat levels.
"I've been tracking Committee movements for two years.
When Protocol Seven activated, I started monitoring their target acquisition patterns.
Your base signature was the hardest to find, which made it the most interesting.
" She shrugs. "Took me three weeks to locate this facility.
Another week to crack your security systems. You're good. But I'm better."
The casual arrogance should irritate me. Instead, it's reassuring. Someone who can breach Echo Base's security is exactly the kind of asset we need.
If she's legitimate.
"Boss, her intel checks out." Tommy's voice cuts through my assessment. "Satellite imagery confirms a facility at those coordinates. Heat signatures consistent with industrial chemical processes. Heavy security presence. Everything matches what she's saying."
"That doesn't mean it's not a trap," Mercer points out.
"No," I agree. "But it means we have to check it out. If the weapons are there, we're out of time." I look at Karina. "You're coming with us. If this is legitimate, you help us hit the facility. If it's a trap, you're the first one who dies. Clear?"
"Crystal." She doesn't flinch. "When do we move?"
"We don't. Not yet." I turn to the team. "First, I need to verify the cabin is still secure. If the Committee's tightening their search pattern, they might've found it by now."
"I'll go with you," Willa says immediately.
"No. Too dangerous. You stay here where...”
"We've had this conversation." She cuts me off, arms crossed. "I'm not hiding while you walk into potential danger. Either we go together or I follow you anyway."
Stryker's grin is knowing. "Told you. She's got your number."
I want to argue. Want to lock her in the safest room in the base and know she's protected while I handle threats. But looking at her—jaw set, eyes fierce, already reaching for her tactical vest—I know that's not who she is anymore.
Maybe it never was.
"Fine." I turn to the team. "Stryker, Mercer, you're on Karina. She’s coming with us and doesn’t get a weapon until we verify her intel. Rourke, coordinate with Tommy on the facility assault plan. Sarah, get me everything we have on inauguration security protocols."
"And the dog?" Karina asks.
Odin's still watching her, head tilted, calculating in that way military working dogs do. Not aggressive, but not friendly either. Just assessing.
"He stays with Khalid," I say. "Safest place for him until we figure out our next move."
Twenty minutes later, Willa and I are geared up and moving through the tunnel system toward the cabin access point. She's wearing full tactical kit now—vest, rifle, sidearm, enough ammunition to fight her way through a small army. The transformation from veterinarian to operator is nearly complete.
"You think Karina's telling the truth?" she asks as we navigate the dark passages.
"I think she believes she's telling the truth.
Whether that truth is accurate or manipulated is a different question.
" I check the motion sensors as we pass.
All clear. "The Committee's good at using true believers.
Could be she thinks she's helping us when really she's leading us exactly where they want us. "
"Then why go to the cabin?"
"Because compromised or not, we need to know if my cover position is still viable. And because..." I pause at the final access door. "Because if they've found the cabin, they're closer to finding Echo Base than I'm comfortable with."
The door opens onto the tunnel that leads to the cabin's concealed entrance. Cold air rushes in, carrying the scent of pine and snow. It's past midnight now, temperature well below freezing. Perfect conditions for an ambush.
I check the tactical display on my forearm. Heat signatures... clear. Motion sensors... inactive. Everything looks normal.
Too normal.
"Something's wrong," I say quietly.
"What?"
"I don't know yet. But my gut's telling me we're walking into something." I chamber a round. "Stay close. Stay alert. If shooting starts, you get behind cover and you don't move until I say."
"Kane...”
"Non-negotiable." I meet her eyes. "You wanted to come. Fine. But we do this my way."
She nods once. Smart enough to know when to listen.
We move through the tunnel, weapons up, every sense heightened. The cabin entrance appears ahead—concealed door built into the mountainside, invisible unless you know where to look.
I punch in the access code. The door slides open silently.
And Odin's growl cuts through the darkness like a blade.
The dog's at the cabin entrance before I process how he got here. He shouldn't be here—should be back at base with Khalid. But somehow he followed us, moved through the tunnels tracking Willa's scent, and now he's positioned between us and the cabin interior with every muscle tensed.
Not warning us away from danger.
Warning danger away from us.
"Kane." Willa's voice is barely a whisper. "He smells something."
Chemical weapons. That's what Odin's trained to detect. And right now, every line of his body is screaming alert.
I activate my comm. "Tommy, we've got a situation. Odin's alerting on chemical signatures at the cabin. Run a full sensor sweep of the area."
Static. Then: "Kane, I'm picking up multiple heat signatures inside the structure. At least six. They're not moving. They're waiting."
Ambush.
The Committee didn't just find my cabin. They turned it into a kill box.
"Abort," I order Willa. "We're pulling back...”
The first shot misses my head by inches. I grab Willa, yanking her down as automatic weapons fire erupts from the cabin. Bullets tear through wood and stone, sparking off rock, turning the tunnel into a death trap.