Chapter 76 - The Brother Who Stole the Bridge
Elena studied the layout of the engine room. To reach Alistair, they had to cross fifty feet of open metal grating directly beneath the catwalk’s field of fire. There was no cover. The moment the hatch opened, the squeak of its hinges would draw a hail of submachine-gun fire.
Julian reached out and gently touched Elena’s shoulder. His hand was surprisingly steady now. The terror that had hollowed his eyes seemed to have burned away, replaced by an eerie, hollow resolve.
"Give me the knife," Julian whispered.
Elena turned her head, her gaze piercing. "Why?"
"You can't cross that floor with Maya. The moment he sees the baby, he’ll spray the entire deck. He doesn't care if she survives as long as he can retrieve her bone marrow for the biometrics." Julian looked at the infant’s sleeping face, his expression a mixture of profound sorrow and self-loathing. "She deserved a father. Not a coward. Not an accomplice."
"Julian—"
"I’m going up the auxiliary ventilation ladder behind the reactor casing," Julian interrupted, his voice dropping to a calm, dead tone. "It comes out directly behind the catwalk. I’ll draw his fire. When he turns, you take the main elevator to the conning bridge and lock the blast doors."
Elena searched his eyes. "He’s your father, Julian. When the time comes, can you actually do it?"
Julian’s lips pulled back into a bitter, broken smile. "He died six years ago, Elena. The day he stole my life."
He took the combat knife from her hand, slipped through the lower maintenance conduit, and disappeared into the shadows behind the reactor shield.
Elena counted the seconds in her head. *One. Two. Three...*
Maya stirred against her chest, letting out a tiny, soft sigh. Elena pressed her lips to the baby's warm forehead. "Stay quiet, my brave girl. Just a little longer."
At thirty seconds, a loud, metallic clatter echoed from the far side of the reactor room.
Alistair spun around on the catwalk, his submachine gun barking instantly. A burst of 9mm rounds sparked violently off the lead-lined reactor casing, sending richochets screaming through the cavernous space.
"Julian!" Alistair roared, his voice echoing off the curved hull. "You think you can sneak up on me? I gave you life! I gave you everything! You are nothing without my blood!"
"Your blood is poison, old man!" Julian’s voice shouted from the upper gantry.
Alistair fired another burst, advancing along the catwalk toward the voice.
Elena didn't waste a heartbeat. She burst through the bilge hatch, keeping low, sprinting silently across the slick deck toward the central elevator tube. Her boots barely touched the steel grating.
Behind her, the sound of a violent struggle erupted.
Julian had leaped from the ventilation shaft, tackling his father from behind. The two men crashed against the catwalk’s safety railing. The submachine gun fired a continuous, deafening arc into the acoustic ceiling panels before tumbling over the edge, smashing onto the high-voltage turbine housing below.
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A massive electrical arc exploded in a shower of blinding blue light. The submarine's lighting died instantly, plunging the engine room into pitch-black chaos, illuminated only by the rhythmic, strobe-like flash of short-circuiting electrical conduits.
"Elena! Run!" Julian’s scream was cut short by the sickening sound of a blade biting deep into flesh.
