Chapter 42 Viktor Malenkov
Viktor Malenkov
Location: Secure Communications Hub — Unknown
Time: Same Night
Pierce adapts faster than expected.
That is… disappointing.
Two prisoners extracted. One facility destroyed. A command structure reactivated that should have remained myth.
I watch Lena Hart’s face on the screen.
She is speaking at a press briefing—composed, controlled, sharp as a blade, discussing trafficking networks. Human rights abuses. Financial shells that dissolve the moment she names them.
She does not know she is already on my board.
“She’s dangerous,” one of my analysts says carefully.
“No,” I correct. “She’s useful.”
I step closer to the screen.
Lena Hart doesn’t hide behind Ronan Pierce.
She stands beside him.
That makes her leverage.
“They’ve hardened security around her,” the analyst continues. “Private rotations. Off-grid transport.”
I smile faintly.
“Then we don’t take her,” I say.
Confusion flickers through the room.
“We touch her world,” I continue calmly. “Her sources. Her credibility. Her safety net.”
I tap a key.
Files open—journalists she trusts, contacts she protects, humanitarian channels she believes are neutral.
“All it takes,” I say softly, “is one story that ends badly.”
Silence settles.
“Pierce believes this is a rescue mission,” I add. “He believes I’m reacting.”
I look back at Lena’s image.
“He’s wrong.”
I turn away from the screen.
“Prepare Phase Four,” I instruct. “We shift pressure.”
Someone hesitates. “On her?”
“Yes,” I answer. “Let him save his men.”
A pause.
“And then,” I finish quietly, “we see what he’s willing to lose.”
Somewhere across the continent, Lena Hart sleeps—unaware that she has just become the next front in the war.
And when she wakes?
Nothing will feel safe again.