Chapter 282
Chapter 282
The message remained on the screen.
CONTACT LOST 17 MINUTES AGO.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
The words seemed to pull all the air from the observatory.
Because seventeen minutes ago changed everything.
It meant Alexander Voss had been alive.
Not years ago.
Not decades ago.
Seventeen minutes ago.
Jason was the first to react.
“What does that mean?”
Noor immediately moved toward the terminal and began accessing the remaining system records.
“It means exactly what it says.”
Charles frowned.
“Or?”
Noor hesitated.
“Or something happened.”
Nobody liked that answer.
Arthur continued staring at the screen.
His face had become unreadable again, but Kayla could see it.
The fear.
The guilt.
The hope.
All tangled together.
For decades, Arthur had believed his son was dead.
Now the system was telling him otherwise.
And at the same time suggesting that whatever reunion fate had delayed for twenty-three years might already be slipping away.
Victoria looked toward Arthur.
“You really had no idea?”
Arthur laughed once.
The sound was hollow.
“No.”
Marcus shook his head slowly.
“You spent half your life searching for information.”
“I searched for proof he survived.”
Arthur’s gaze remained fixed on the marker.
“And found none.”
Silence followed.
The countdown continued.
23:31:47
23:31:46
23:31:45
Every second felt louder than the last.
Jason stepped toward the map.
“Elena is moving.”
Everyone looked.
The marker representing Elena Navarro continued advancing toward the Sanctuary.
Fast.
Purposeful.
Unstoppable.
Whoever she was.
Whatever she wanted.
She was almost there.
Charles checked the distance calculations.
“She’ll arrive in less than six hours.”
Victoria cursed quietly.
“That doesn’t leave us much time.”
“No,” Arthur agreed.
“It doesn’t.”
Another explosion echoed through the mountains.
This one much closer.
The observatory shook violently.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
Noor immediately switched to the remaining security feed.
The image flickered.
Then stabilized.
Everyone stared.
The attackers had reached the outer structure.
Armed figures were pouring into the facility grounds.
Dozens.
Perhaps hundreds.
Systematic.
Disciplined.
Organized.
They weren’t attacking randomly.
They knew exactly where they were going.
Marcus looked horrified.
“They have internal schematics.”
Arthur nodded grimly.
“Yes.”
Victoria folded her arms.
“Meaning somebody gave them access.”
Nobody argued.
Because it was obvious.
This operation had been planned long before tonight.
Long before the observatory awakened.
Long before the countdown began.
Jason’s eyes narrowed.
“Elena.”
Arthur looked toward him.
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
Arthur shook his head.
“No.”
The answer surprised everyone.
Jason frowned.
“You don’t think it’s her?”
Arthur studied the approaching forces.
Then slowly shook his head again.
“No.”
Silence followed.
Kayla noticed something in his expression.
Recognition.
Not of Elena.
Of someone else.
“You know who it is.”
Arthur didn’t answer immediately.
That was enough.
Victoria immediately caught it too.
“Arthur.”
The old strategist sighed heavily.
Then spoke.
“There was another founder.”
Nobody moved.
Nobody interrupted.
Because at this point, every new revelation felt capable of changing the entire story.
Arthur continued.
“One founder remained after the others disappeared.”
Marcus looked uncomfortable.
“Don’t.”
Arthur ignored him.
“He believed succession should never end.”
Charles frowned.
“Meaning?”
Arthur looked toward the countdown.
“He wanted convergence completed.”
The room went still.
Victoria’s eyes widened slightly.
“Even after they discovered the flaw?”
Arthur nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Arthur’s expression darkened.
“Because power was more important to him than people.”
The answer felt painfully familiar.
Too familiar.
Kayla immediately thought of Gerald Meyer.
Of everything he had sacrificed.
Everyone he had destroyed.
All in pursuit of power.
Some men never changed.
No matter how intelligent they were.
No matter how dangerous.
Arthur looked toward the screen again.
“His name was Sebastian Kane.”
The room fell silent.
The name meant nothing to Kayla.
But not to everyone else.
Marcus immediately sat down.
Victoria closed her eyes.
Charles looked confused.
Jason noticed the reactions.
“You know him.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“We all know him.”
Arthur nodded slowly.
“Unfortunately.”
Jason folded his arms.
“Then explain.”
Marcus looked toward the map.
Toward the approaching attackers.
Then answered.
“Because Sebastian Kane never disappeared.”
The implication settled immediately.
Victoria finished the thought.
“He went underground.”
Arthur nodded.
“And spent decades rebuilding.”
Another tremor rolled through the observatory.
The attackers were getting closer.
Closer with every passing minute.
Jason glanced toward the countdown.
Then toward Elena’s marker.
Then toward Alexander’s.
Everything was converging.
Everything.
The observatory.
The Sanctuary.
Elena.
Alexander.
The founders.
The countdown.
All of it.
Toward a single point.
Toward a single ending.
Or beginning.
Kayla suddenly felt the pressure return behind her eyes.
Stronger than ever.
She grabbed the edge of a nearby console.
Jason immediately turned.
“Kayla.”
She barely heard him.
The visions were returning.
Not fragments this time.
Not flashes.
Something more.
Something complete.
The observatory disappeared.
The room vanished.
The people vanished.
And suddenly she was somewhere else.
A corridor.
Long.
Metallic.
Underground.
The air felt cold.
Sterile.
Artificial.
She heard footsteps.
Running.
Someone was running.
Then she saw him.
A man.
Dark hair.
Broad shoulders.
Older than she expected.
Perhaps in his early thirties.
He was injured.
Blood stained one sleeve.
But he kept moving.
Kept running.
Kept looking behind him.
Fear filled his eyes.
Real fear.
The kind that comes when someone knows death is close.
Then he stopped.
Turned.
Looked directly toward her.
Toward the vision.
Toward her.
His eyes widened.
As though he could see her.
Actually see her.
“Kayla.”
Her breath caught.
The man knew her name.
“Find me.”
His voice echoed through the vision.
“Before he does.”
Then gunfire erupted.
The corridor filled with noise.
The man turned.
A door slammed shut.
Darkness consumed everything.
Kayla gasped.
The vision shattered.
Reality returned instantly.
She nearly collapsed.
Jason caught her before she hit the floor.
“Kayla!”
Everyone turned.
Arthur moved forward immediately.
“What did you see?”
Kayla struggled to breathe.
Because the vision had felt real.
More real than any previous memory.
“He’s alive.”
The words escaped before she could stop them.
Arthur froze.
“Alexander.”
Kayla nodded.
“Yes.”
Silence followed.
Then Arthur asked the question everyone was thinking.
“Where?”
Kayla looked toward the map.
Toward the Sanctuary marker.
Then slowly shook her head.
“No.”
Everyone frowned.
“What?”
Kayla swallowed.
“The Sanctuary isn’t where he is.”
The room froze.
Charles stared at her.
“What do you mean?”
Kayla looked directly at the screen.
“The Sanctuary is where they’re taking him.”
Nobody spoke.
Because suddenly everything made sense.
The lost contact.
The moving forces.
The countdown.
Elena racing toward the Sanctuary.
Alexander disappearing seventeen minutes ago.
He wasn’t waiting there.
He was being brought there.
Victoria’s face paled.
“Oh God.”
Marcus immediately understood.
“If convergence needs both successors…”
Jason finished the thought.
“Then Alexander is the target.”
Arthur’s expression darkened.
For the first time all night, genuine anger appeared in his eyes.
Not fear.
Not uncertainty.
Anger.
Someone had found his son.
After twenty-three years.
And now they were using him.
The countdown continued.
23:24:16
23:24:15
23:24:14
Then every screen suddenly flickered.
The map vanished.
The markers disappeared.
Static filled the displays.
Noor immediately moved to the controls.
“What happened?”
Nobody answered.
Because a face suddenly appeared on every monitor.
A man.
Older.
Silver-haired.
Sharp features.
Cold eyes.
The room immediately went silent.
Arthur’s expression hardened.
Victoria cursed.
Marcus looked terrified.
And Jason instantly knew.
This was Sebastian Kane.
The final founder.
The man behind everything.
Sebastian smiled calmly.
Then looked directly into the camera.
Directly at them.
“Good evening.”
Nobody spoke.
The smile widened.
“You’re running out of time.”
The countdown remained visible behind him.
Then Sebastian spoke the words that made Arthur’s blood run cold.
“Alexander says hello.”