Rain covered her shoulders.
Two officers followed her.
Evelyn took five steps.
Then she saw her daughter.
Everything about her changed.
Not dramatically.
That was not Evelyn Voss.
Her face simply became still.
Very still.
“Sergeant.”
Rusk released Lila immediately.
“Commander.”
Evelyn walked closer.
Her eyes moved from Lila’s face to her shoulder.
Then to Rusk.
“Why is my daughter against my command vehicle?”
Rusk straightened.
“Ma’am, I found her attempting unauthorized entry.”
“I told you,” Lila snapped.
Evelyn raised one finger.
Lila stopped.
Her mother looked at Rusk.
“Did she give you her name?”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Did you verify it?”
“I found the credential, but—”
“But?”
Rusk swallowed.
“I believed it might be fraudulent.”
Evelyn extended her hand.
Rusk gave her the credential.
She examined it.
Then handed it to Lila.
“Medical station,” Evelyn said.
“I’m fine.”
“That wasn’t a suggestion.”
“My shoulder hurts. I’m not dying.”
“Lila.”
Something in her mother’s voice ended the argument.
One of the officers approached.
“I’ll take her.”
Before Lila could move, a technician shouted from behind the command vehicle.
“Commander!”
Evelyn turned.
The technician was staring through the vehicle’s open rear door.
His face looked wrong.
“What?”
“Where is the Helix module?”
Silence.
Evelyn moved.
Fast.
She crossed the hangar and climbed into the rear compartment.
Lila forgot about her shoulder.
Rusk followed at a distance.
Inside the vehicle were computer terminals, encrypted radios and storage compartments.
One compartment stood open.
Empty.
Evelyn stared at it.
The technician appeared beside her.
“The module was secured thirty minutes ago.”
“You verified it?”
“Personally.”
Evelyn touched the empty locking bracket.
“Who opened this?”
Nobody answered.
Lila stepped closer.
“What’s a Helix module?”
Her mother turned sharply.
“You’re still here?”
“Yes.”
“Medical station. Now.”
“Mom.”
“Now.”
A warning tone sounded.
Every light inside the hangar flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then half the facility went dark.
Emergency lights activated.
Red illumination flooded the hangar.
The enormous building became a maze of shadows.
Radios erupted.
“Power loss, sectors four through nine.”
“Backup generators responding.”
“East cameras are down.”
“Vehicle gate is unresponsive.”
Evelyn climbed out of the truck.
“Lock the compound.”
An officer touched his earpiece.
“Already trying.”
“Trying?”
“We’ve lost central control.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“How?”
“We don’t know.”
Lila looked from one adult to another.
“What does the Helix thing do?”
Nobody answered.
She stepped directly in front of her mother.
“Mom.”
Evelyn exhaled.
“It authenticates emergency navigation data.”
“That means nothing to me.”
“It means,” Rusk said quietly, “that someone with that module could make ships see things that aren’t there.”
Evelyn shot him a look.
He stopped talking.
Lila understood anyway.
“Fake navigation signals?”
Her mother nodded once.
“During a storm?”
“Yes.”
Outside, thunder shook the hangar.
Lila stared toward the harbor doors.
Dozens of cargo vessels were waiting offshore because the port had closed.
Passenger ferries were sheltering farther south.
Coast Guard crews were operating through almost zero visibility.
“How bad?” Lila asked.
Evelyn didn’t answer.
That was an answer.
A technician rushed toward them.
“Commander, you need to see this.”
He held out a tablet.
Security footage.
The video showed the command vehicle twenty-three minutes earlier.
A maintenance worker approached.
Gray rain jacket.
Toolbox.
Cap pulled low.
He disappeared behind the vehicle.
Thirty seconds later, the camera feed froze.
When the image returned, the worker was gone.
Evelyn watched it twice.
“Run facial identification.”
“His face never clears the camera.”
“Track the uniform number.”
“No number.”
“Access record?”
“Nothing.”
Rusk frowned.
“He came through the building somehow.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Did you see anyone?”
“No.”
“Think.”
“I was sent to inspect Hangar Nine after someone reported movement near the command vehicle.”
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed.
“Who reported it?”
“Dispatch.”
“Name.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“You entered a restricted sector based on an anonymous dispatch instruction?”
“It came over our secure channel.”
Evelyn stepped closer.
“Sergeant, nobody from my command authorized Harbor Security inside this hangar tonight.”
Rusk stared at her.
“I heard the call myself.”
“Then someone wanted you here.”
Rusk slowly turned toward Lila.
Everyone else did too.
Lila felt cold.
“What?”
Evelyn’s expression changed.