Chapter 15 - The Siege Mentality
By afternoon, a quiet anxiety had begun to creep into the refuge center. The presence of Arthur and Vance patrolling the perimeter in full tactical gear, along with the temporary loss of internet connectivity, hadn't gone unnoticed by the families.
Lily called a meeting at the pavilion. She stood before the hundred families, her cream-colored linen shirt bright against the stone pillars of the structure. She didn't lie to them; she knew that trust was the only currency that mattered in a sanctuary.
"We are experiencing a security anomaly," Lily said, her voice clear and resonant, carrying across the crowded lawn. "A remnant of the old network is trying to disrupt what we’ve built here. They want us to be afraid. They want us to look at our neighbors with suspicion. But I want you to look around this pavilion right now. Look at the concrete walls, look at the people beside you. We built this place out of ruins, and we are not going back to the dark."
An older man, one of the first refugees from the Vanguard crisis, stood up. "We stand with you, Director Miller. If your father says we stay, we stay."
A murmur of agreement ran through the crowd, glasses of water lifted in a quiet show of solidarity. The unity of the refuge center was an unbreakable wall.
But as the meeting broke up, David caught Arthur's eye from the edge of the pavilion. He gave a sharp, imperceptible nod toward the office.
"We found a transmission," David whispered when Arthur and Vance entered the room. "We intercepted a low-frequency burst from inside our own perimeter. Someone inside this sanctuary just sent a coordinate packet to an offshore server."
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Arthur felt a cold knot form in his stomach. "A mole?"
"Not a refugee," David said, pulling up the internal security log. "One of the local food delivery contractors we hired last month to supply the kitchen. He’s currently parked near the storage barn."
