Whispers of the Diamond: A Romance of Memory and Desire

Chapter 33 - Alex

The click of the clip locking into the rifle had always been oddly satisfying to me. Today, it was even more so as I closed the boot of my car. Terra was also in full tactical gear, as we had pulled into the underground car park of London North. It was quiet for now, but soon everything would turn chaotic. Any second now, the team above would breach the main foyer, and in that moment, chaos would erupt.

We heard the gunfire from above, and Terra tucked in behind me as I moved toward the building. She stayed close as we swept the car park, making our way to the entrance. We eased through and kept moving. Everything happened quickly as we clashed with the forces inside, gunfire erupting in our direction as we slid into cover. Terra and I instinctively meshed, covering each other with an ease that usually takes years to build.

Part of me felt bad. These were generally good people—maybe a little misguided, but good people nonetheless. Even with knockout rounds, some would end up dead. It had been a fight to get them to subdue rather than kill. Once subdued, we would cuff their hands and remove them as a threat, but it wasn't easy with Jakob's more gung-ho approach. If they wanted change, it had to be by being better. Eventually, Alice saw the logic in my argument and ordered subdue rounds rather than live ammunition.

Terra swept around the corner, dropping back into cover as I followed on her heels, firing another round toward an incoming set of guards, dropping two as four more unleashed fire.

"They're using live ammo. I feel oddly outgunned," Terra laughed. It amused me that even in the midst of this chaos, Terra was having fun. I slid from cover and picked off another guard before scrambling into cover on the opposite side, just as a hail of bullets slammed into the wall beside me.

"Let's try to focus, huh?" I barked back, the pressure of trying to keep us alive clear in my tone now.

An explosion rocked the building as Terra and I scrambled for footing on the staircase we were ascending. The plan was for Jakob and his team to keep them occupied, allowing us to bypass most of the security forces and gain access to the server room to trigger the lock-down. Whatever had just exploded caused us both to stumble.

"What the fuck?" Terra growled as I helped her back to her feet. By the time we reached the 18th floor, alarms were blaring, and the red emergency lights were the only visible source of illumination.

We slid from the stairway into the hall and finally into the server room. Banks of server racks filled the entire floor, dedicated to the TG's processing power. That's why gaining control was so important. Terra yanked a laptop from her pack and connected it to the system. A moment later, the alarms silenced, and the system flashed: 'Lock-down initiated.' We at least had control of the building.

Another explosion rocked the room, sending a shower of dust down on us. I muttered in annoyance before glancing back at Terra.

"I said non-lethal!" I snapped, the irritation clear in my tone.

"It's Jakob, he doesn't listen well," Terra replied. No sooner had she spoken than Jakob burst through the door, unleashing a hail of gunfire at the approaching guards.

"You got it yet?" he barked.

"You done blowing stuff up?" Terra shot back with a smirk.

"There's more of them than us, I'm just evening the odds," he shrugged. His nonchalant tone rubbed me the wrong way, and I sighed softly, turning my attention back to Terra, who was busy hacking the servers. Well, I say hacking, but the work had already been done by her friend, Rebbi—she just had to wait for the program to complete before we'd have access.

A moment later, Sara burst through the door, freezing when my rifle trained on her.

"Alex, what the fuck, man? These bastards are everywhere!" My heart skipped as I scrambled for a response. "Oh, don't worry—I know you're in on it. I was sent to secure the servers, but I want these fuckers to fry too."

Jakob moved to restrain Sara, and I instantly fired a warning shot over his head. "Not happening. She's with me. Sara, can you speed this up?"

"As if you have to ask!" Sara chuckled in response. Minutes later, Terra had access to every dirty secret the TG had ever held and hidden. She began the process of downloading as much as she could while I kept watch at the door.

"Where's Abigail?" I asked.

"Directing forces, buying you a path out of this shit hole. We'll withdraw once you're clear. But after this, Alex, you're gonna be the most hunted guy on the planet. Everyone will want you," Sara replied. It was odd to hear Sara with such a serious outlook and tone. Normally, she and I would jibe and needle each other, but this was not the time for that.

"We've got it!" Terra exclaimed as she turned to head for the door, having extracted the hard drive from the laptop. Getting in was one thing, but getting out alive would be another. We planned to use the same route out as we had in, waiting for the outside teams to override the gates and drive out. It wasn't a great plan, but it was a plan. We raced down the stairs into the garage, only to dive into cover as forces unloaded gunfire at us.

"FUCK!" I growled, pulling Terra across the area. We moved quickly around the back, managing to slip behind the incoming forces and reach my car, quietly climbing in. As they searched for us, we hid in the back. Tinted windows had their uses, and I could breathe a little easier as they tried the doors, which thankfully didn't open.

Terra lay against me as we waited for the forces to move off. If nothing else, we'd be stuck here for a short while. My heart was still racing beneath the tactical vest. It had been quite the adventure we'd embarked on. The shouts of instructions from commanders to their forces echoed around us as Terra turned into me.