Chapter 24
Chapter 24: The Ghost Network
Before Daniel could press for more answers, the power to the Piha cabin cut out completely. The refrigerator stopped humming; the satellite terminal died. Outside, the rhythmic crash of the ocean waves was drowned out by the distinct, low thumping of a helicopter hovering over the tree line without lights.
"They're here," Tomás whispered, his eyes wide with terror. "They followed my extraction route."
Daniel didn't panic. Six months of running had turned his fear into cold calculation. He scooped Alejandro out of his bassinet, securing him into a tactical chest carrier, and strapped a backup magazine to his belt.
"Can you run, Tomás?" Daniel asked, his voice low.
"I have to," Tomás said, pulling a compact submachine gun from his wet jacket. "For the first time in our lives, big bro, we are fighting the same monster."
They kicked through the back window of the cabin just as the front door was blown off its hinges by a flashbang grenade. Red laser sights danced across the living room walls. Daniel and Tomás sprinted into the dense, muddy rainforest, the thick canopy shielding them from the helicopter’s thermal imaging cameras.
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Bullets tore through the ferns around them. Tomás turned, firing a blind burst into the dark, screaming in agony as a return round caught him in the shoulder.
"Keep going, Daniel!" Tomás yelled, stumbling against a massive kauri tree. "The rental car... there's a hard drive in the spare tire compartment. It contains the operational codes for Aethelgard's global server. Take it to London. Find the architect."
