Chapter 85 From the inside
Rafael
"We're not giving them Emma," I said immediately after watching the video.
"They'll kill everyone." Flora said.
"They're bluffing," I said. "If they could find us easily, they would have attacked already."
Flora looked at me for a moment. "So what do we do?"
"We go on the offensive," I said. "Find those five children before the seventy-two hours are up. Rescue them. Then we have leverage."
"How?" Flora asked. "Emma said the facility is heavily guarded."
"Then we get help," I said.
I called Walsh and told him everything.
"This is way above my pay grade," Walsh said. "But I know someone who might help. Give me an hour."
An hour later Walsh called back. "I have a team. Former military who owe me favors. They'll help with the extraction but they want full immunity for anything that happens."
"Done," I said.
"And they want Emma there," Walsh continued. "She's the only one who can locate the other children precisely."
I looked at Flora and she nodded reluctantly.
"Fine," I said.
The team arrived at midnight. Six operators led by a woman named Captain Reeves.
"We've reviewed the intelligence," Reeves said. "The facility is underground with two entry points and heavy security. We go in fast, extract the children and we have thirty minutes max."
"And if something goes wrong?" Flora asked.
"Then we improvise," Reeves said.
We left at two AM with three vehicles.
The drive took four hours and we arrived at dawn outside Philadelphia.
"The real facility is forty feet underground," Reeves said. "Emma, can you sense the children?"
Emma closed her eyes and concentrated. "Yes. Below us. Five of them."
"Are they restrained?" Reeves asked.
"I don't think so," Emma said. "But they're in separate rooms and isolated."
"Good," Reeves said. "That makes extraction easier. Rafael and Flora, you stay in the vehicle while we bring the children out."
We moved toward the building with Emma holding Flora's hand. Reeves' team disabled the security cameras and picked the locks and we were inside in ninety seconds. An elevator led down with no guards visible.
"Too easy," one operator muttered.
"Stay alert," Reeves said.
The elevator descended forty feet and stopped and the doors opened to reveal an empty corridor.
"Emma, which way?" Reeves asked.
Emma pointed left. "That way. Three rooms down."
We moved quickly and reached the first room which was locked. Reeves placed a small charge on the lock and it blew with a soft pop revealing a young boy inside.
"Hello," Flora said gently. "We're here to help. Will you come with us?"
The boy nodded and took Flora's hand.
We found the second child in the next room, a girl. Then the third, the fourth and the fifth. All rescued.
"This was too easy," I said.
"I know," Reeves agreed. "Let's move now."
We headed back to the elevator and that's when the doors opened and Genesis Corp soldiers poured out, at least twenty of them.
"Back!" Reeves shouted.
We retreated down the corridor and found a side room and locked ourselves inside.
"We're trapped," one operator said.
"There has to be another way out," Flora said.
Emma closed her eyes. "There is. A ventilation shaft behind that wall."
We found a large vent big enough for people to crawl through.
"Children first," Reeves ordered.
We got all five children into the vent, then Emma and then Flora.
"Go!" Reeves told her team. "I'll hold them off."
The operators climbed into the vent.
"Rafael," Reeves said. "Make sure those kids get real lives."
"I will," I promised and climbed into the vent.
Behind me I heard gunfire and shouting and then silence.
The vent led up to the surface and we emerged behind the building where our vehicles waited. We loaded the children inside.
"Where's Captain Reeves?" Flora asked.
"She didn't make it," I said quietly.
Flora closed her eyes. "We need to go now."
We drove away fast expecting pursuit but none came.
"Why aren't they following us?" one operator asked.
"Because they got what they wanted," Emma said quietly. "They let us escape."
"What?" I asked.
"The children," Emma said. "We were supposed to rescue them. That was the plan all along."
"Why?" Flora demanded.
"Because we're all connected now," Emma said. "The six of us. Genesis Corp can track us through that connection and they know where we are always."
My blood ran cold. "So we led them right to everyone at the safe house."
"Yes," Emma said. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize until now."
"We need to warn them," Flora said.
I called Lily. "Evacuate now. Genesis Corp knows where you are."
"How?" Lily asked.
"Just go now!" I shouted.
We raced back to the safe house and we were thirty minutes away when my phone rang with an unknown number.
"Hello Rafael," the distorted voice said. "Clever of you to rescue the children. But now we have everyone at the safe house surrounded. You have ten minutes to return all six children or we kill everyone inside."
"You're lying," I said.
"Am I?" the voice asked. "Check your phone."
A video came through showing the safe house surrounded by Genesis Corp soldiers with Lily and the others trapped inside.
"Ten minutes," the voice repeated. "Choose wisely."
The call ended.
"They have everyone," I told Flora.
"What do we do?" Flora asked.
Emma spoke up. "I have an idea but you're not going to like it."
"Tell me," Flora said.
"The connection Genesis Corp is using to track us," Emma said. "I can reverse it and use it to track them and find their command center and shut them down."
"How?" I asked.
"By letting them take me," Emma said. "Once I'm inside their facility I can use my abilities to destroy their systems from within."
"Absolutely not," Flora said. "You're eight years old."
"I'm the only one who can do this," Emma said.
Flora looked at me. "There has to be another way."
"There isn't," I said quietly. "Emma's right."
Flora closed her eyes and when she opened them tears were streaming down.
"Okay," Flora said to Emma. "But we're coming with you as backup."
"They won't let you in," Emma said.
"Then we'll force our way in," Flora said.
We arrived at the safe house five minutes later and found Genesis Corp soldiers everywhere. A man stepped forward with military bearing.
"I'm Commander Price from Genesis Corp," he said. "You have something that belongs to us."
"The children aren't property," Flora said.
"Legally they are," Price said. "Now hand them over or everyone inside dies."
"I'll go," Emma said stepping forward. "But you let everyone else go including the other five children."
Price studied her. "The other five are useless without you. Fine. You come with us and they go free."
"No tricks?" Emma said.
"You have my word," Price said.
Emma hugged Flora and whispered something I couldn't hear. Then she walked toward Price and got into a Genesis Corp vehicle. The soldiers withdrew and the safe house residents came out shaken but alive.
"We just gave them what they wanted," I said.
"No," Flora said. "We gave Emma what she needed. Trust."
"What did she whisper to you?" I asked.
"She said to wait two hours," Flora said. "Then check the news."
Two hours felt like eternity as we waited in silence watching the clock.
Finally the news came on and every channel was covering the same story. Genesis Corp headquarters had been destroyed from the inside with all their data and research gone.
And walking out of the burning building was Emma.
Unharmed.