Chapter 4 - The Digital Trap
"Are you telling me," General Vance asked slowly, his voice dropping into a razor-sharp whisper, "that the same Marine who assaulted you in the cafeteria this morning is tied to the primary terminal used in this cyber-attack?"
"I can't prove he executed the hack himself," I replied, pulling up a series of badge-swipe logs and keystroke timestamps. "But look at the timestamp for the administrative override. It occurred at 06:45 hours this morning. Exactly fifteen minutes before my scheduled arrival at the east corridor elevators."
I highlighted a specific row of encrypted data on the screen.
"Someone knew I was carrying the master diagnostic key on this encrypted drive," I continued, pointing to the flash drive resting on the table. "They knew that if I plugged this drive into the fourth-floor master terminal, my system would automatically trace and neutralize their backdoor intrusion within sixty seconds. So, what was their play? They needed to delay me. They needed me stopped, harassed, or detained in the cafeteria long enough for them to wipe the terminal logs and scrub their digital footprints clean."
Admiral Thomas let out a low whistle. "A diversion. Rourke wasn't just being a typical arrogant bully—he was executing a deliberate delay tactic on behalf of whoever is running this operation."
"Which means," General Sterling added grimly, "our saboteur is still somewhere inside this building, and they now know that Dr. Hayes made it past the blockade."
"Not necessarily," I said with a faint, confident smile. "When Rourke shoved me and spilled coffee on my blazer, he thought he had successfully rattled me. But what he didn't realize is that my flash drive was already transmitting a passive trace signal the moment it entered the building’s secure Wi-Fi radius."
I tapped the enter key on the console.
On the massive main screen, a digital radar sweep began pulsing outward from the center of the Pentagon layout, tracing the data packets backward through the internal fiber-optic network. A flashing red dot appeared on the schematic, moving rapidly through the basement corridors toward the loading docks on the west side.
"They aren't just sitting at a terminal anymore," I announced, watching the red dot blink as it moved across the map in real-time. "They’re panicking. They’re attempting to physically extract the core server hard drive before we can lock down the facility."
General Vance didn't hesitate for a single second. He stood up so fast his chair rolled back and hit the acoustic wall panel with a dull thud.
"General Sterling, take a tactical team from the Provost Marshal’s office down to loading dock four immediately," Vance ordered, his voice echoing with absolute military authority. "Seal all exits. Nobody leaves this building—no vehicles, no couriers, no exceptions. If anyone tries to slip out with a data drive, detain them with extreme prejudice."
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"On my way, General," Sterling barked, spinning on his heel and sprinting out of the secure room.
"And Dr. Hayes?" General Vance looked down at me, a fierce, approving glint in his eyes. "Let's show these traitors what happens when they pick the wrong day, the wrong corridor, and the wrong target."
