AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Still, even if it’s only one or two things, if they’ve been missed or we’re out of time…”
“Yeah,” he said, sliding a hand over hers.
Harry wasn’t the only one holding something back. Turning over her hand, Tess gave him her palm. “I don’t get it. If that’s not why you’re worried, why are you?”
“We have never moved JARR,” he said. “It’s not only unhackable, it’s supposed to be tamper-proof. Some of the failsafe measures are pretty tricky.”
“Failsafe measures like…”
“You and me didn’t talk about the systems in place to protect Minotaur. After Olympus A was destroyed, there were countermeasures put in place that were supposed to ensure it wouldn’t happen again. Measures like after the key is taken from Minotaur, if it’s not replaced within a certain timeframe, gas is released into the ventilation system and doors are locked in a specific sequence.”
“You can’t unlock them?”
“That’s the point,” he said. “If the key is taken out, if it’s stolen, we want the perp trapped. If it’s taken out by a principal, it’s because we’re under attack and we want the perps eliminated.”
“Gas?” she asked. “What kind of gas?”
“One that puts you to sleep pretty quick… and you don’t wake up.”
Thinking about the fact that she’d been in that building and that it had the potential to kill her was sobering. “There was no gas when we went there.”
“It’s a timer system. The building automatically flushes itself, sucks all remaining air from the rooms, and seals the doors. Prevents bacteria, flora and fauna growth.”
“We breathed air.”
One side of his mouth lifted as he twisted his hand to link their fingers. “Sometimes I forget my normal isn’t normal for everyone.”
“Tell me about it.”
Their normal might not match, but it had taken Tess until adulthood to grasp how different her childhood had been from the majority of others’.
“If no one reenters for twenty-three days, the dormant system retreats to auxiliary status,” Daire said. “That means unless a specific code is entered at a specific panel, nothing will open, nothing will work. No amount of authorization will get you in. Doesn’t matter what you know or where your loyalty is.”
“The code,” she said. “At the security panel… That’s what we put in? That’s how you got us in?”
“That code releases oxygen into authorized areas and unlocks certain doors in one… scenic route to the control room. Only someone with true knowledge will know that path… If a wrong door is attempted, the building locks down again.”
“And the person inside suffocates,” she said, receiving only a shrug. “Only four people knew that code?”
“The three principals and me.”
As he’d said, Daire knew a lot of things about Olympus that he shouldn’t.
“Why didn’t your brother know it?
“He wouldn’t have wanted to. Styx is no Olympus thoroughbred. He was rowdy, disruptive, casual… He didn’t come to us until he was twelve and he was already screwed up. Meant a lot to Harry, who knew some of what he’d been through. We didn’t see eye to eye all the time, but there’s less than three months between us, so we went through a lot of the same shit together.”
“You love him.”
He drew her hand higher up her thigh. “Never say it to his face… fact I’d deny it to anyone else.” The flash of his smile wrought hers. “He didn’t have it so good… Killed his father. In fact, that’s who Harry was on his way to take out. He walked in and Styx had already done it.”
“So Harry brought him to Olympus,” she said, figuring Styx must have been through a lot to be taken to the point of killing his own father.
“Yeah. Went down a storm.”
Tess laughed. Even without being present, she could tell Zeus wouldn’t have been happy to have another kid around.
“Which panel triggers the building to open?” she asked. “The gate or the door? You put it in twice.”
