Page 268 of Scars of Fate

“If we open the shutters…”

“The agent could escape beyond the hangar.”

Boone looked toward the hydraulic lever.

“So we can’t leave?”

“Not until we stop the containment units.”

I released the lever.

We were trapped by more than steel shutters.

Opening them could kill thousands.

The clock reached fifteen minutes.

Adam turned toward Hawk.

“What do you need?”

“To know what’s inside.”

“No,” I said. “That isn’t happening.”

“I can’t disarm a system I don’t understand.”

Ghost examined a laboratory code printed beneath one control panel.

“These units passed through a research facility in Prague.”

“Which facility?” Wynn asked.

“No name. Only a code.”

She read the numbers.

Then went still.

“I’ve seen that code.”

“Where?”

“In the financial records. One payment went to a medical research facility that officially developed vaccines for hemorrhagic fevers.”

Hawk looked at the units.

“And unofficially?”

“The payment was listed beneath Aegis.”

Ghost swore.

“What?” I demanded.

“Aegis wasn’t a target directory,” he said. “It was the defense program.”

“Defense against what?”