Chapter 8 - Infiltration
The rain had cleared, leaving the streets of Cleveland slick and reflective under the yellow glow of the sodium lights.
Ethan and Claire stood in the shadows of an alleyway across from the Bennett Aerotech headquarters. The building was a massive, modern structure of dark glass and steel, surrounded by a high security fence.
"The security rotation happens at 2:00 AM," Claire whispered, her hand resting on the chain-link fence. "The guard at the gate, Marcus, has been there for ten years. He’s loyal to my family, not Gary. If I can get to him—"
"No," Ethan said, holding her back. "Gary will have warned everyone to watch for you. We use the service entrance. The utility tunnels run under the street from the old heating plant. I used to manage the structural inspections for those tunnels."
"Are they still open?"
"They're sealed with a standard high-security padlock," Ethan said, pulling a heavy pair of bolt cutters from a construction site dumpster nearby. "But standard padlocks are just a suggestion to an engineer."
Ten minutes later, they were crawling through the damp, concrete utility tunnels, the sound of the city hum echoing above them. The air was warm and smelled of steam and old grease.
They reached the basement access door of the main building. Ethan used his maintenance tools to bypass the electronic lock, the door clicking open with a satisfying hiss of pressurized air.
They were inside.
The building was dead silent, the polished marble floors of the lobby reflecting the dim security lights. They avoided the elevators, taking the concrete service stairs up to the executive fourth floor where the primary servers were housed.
Every shadow seemed to move. Every hum of the air conditioning sounded like an approaching guard.
They reached the server room—a heavy, reinforced door with a glowing blue biometric scanner.
Claire stepped forward. She placed her right hand on the glass plate.
The scanner hummed, a thin line of green light tracing her palm.
Access Granted.
The heavy door clicked and slid open, revealing rows of towering black server racks, their blue and green lights flashing in the dark like a digital city.
"Hurry," Ethan said, guarding the door as Claire ran to the central terminal.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard, her face illuminated by the bright blue screen. "I’m in the primary database. Accessing the BA-320 project files... downloading the raw stress-test data from the Fairport facility..."
A progress bar appeared on the screen.
15%... 30%...
"Ethan," Claire whispered, her voice trembling. "It’s all here. The original files from the lab show a 6% failure rate. Gary manually altered the spreadsheet before submitting it to the FAA. He even used a digital mask to forge my father's legacy signature."
"Download it to the flash drive," Ethan said, his eyes scanning the hallway. "And send an encrypted copy to the National Transportation Safety Board."
75%... 90%...
"Come on, come on," Claire muttered.
Download Complete.
Claire snatched the silver flash drive from the port. "We got it."
"Not so fast."
A cold, familiar voice echoed from the doorway.
Ethan spun around.
Gary Holt stood in the corridor, flanked by four armed security guards. He held a heavy silver revolver, his face twisted in a triumphantly cruel smile.
May you like
"I must admit, Claire," Gary said, stepping into the server room. "I underestimated you. I didn't think you had the courage to come back. But unfortunately for you, your biometric access triggered a silent alarm in my private office."
He gestured to the guard beside him. "Take the drive."
