The sterile white lights above Hibis burned into her eyes.
She drifted in and out of consciousness as machines hummed around her. Thick restraints held her wrists and ankles against the cold metal table. Tubes disappeared beneath the skin of her arms while monitors tracked every heartbeat.
A scientist leaned toward another.
"The extraction is stable. Her cellular regeneration is unlike anything we've ever documented."
Another syringe disappeared into her arm.
"Increase the harvest."
Hibis cried out before the drugs pulled her back into darkness.
Miles away, inside the bunker, panic was spreading.
Marco paced furiously after discovering the location hidden within Jahir's files.
"They're not just holding her..." he whispered. "They're harvesting her."
Before anyone could react, Johar stepped forward.
"We're going."
Marco spun around.
"No."
The room fell silent.
"No?" Sam asked.
Marco shook his head.
"You don't understand what's in that facility."
"They'll kill us."
Johar refused to back down.
"And they'll kill Hibis if we do nothing."
The argument grew louder.
Finally Marco grabbed Johar by the arm.
"I said NO!"
In one explosive motion, Johar drove his fist into Marco's jaw.
The room froze.
Marco collapsed to the concrete floor unconscious.
No one moved.
Even Lena looked shocked.
Johar stood over Marco, breathing hard.
"I'm done waiting for permission."
He looked around the room.
"From this moment forward, I'm leading this mission."
No one argued.
Maps covered the bunker floor.
Jahir projected stolen Government blueprints across the wall.
"There are three entrances."
"The front gate."
"The underground maintenance tunnel."
"And a ventilation shaft barely large enough for one person."
Sam studied the map.
"The tunnel."
Jax nodded.
"We split into teams."
Lena stepped forward.
"I know their patrol schedules."
Everyone looked at her.
Only hours earlier she had confessed to betraying them.
Now she was risking everything to make it right.
"They rotate every seven minutes."
"The cameras have a twelve-second blind spot."
Johar smiled.
"That's all we need."
Assignments were made.
Jax and Sam would secure the tunnel.
Lena and Jahir would disable surveillance.
The others would rescue Hibis.
Every second mattered.
Hours later...
Marco slowly opened his eyes.
Pain shot through his head.
The bunker was empty.
Only scattered maps remained.
His heart sank.
"They actually went..."
He rushed toward the abandoned plans.
One glance told him everything.
"The underground tunnel."
Marco closed his eyes.
"They're walking into a slaughter."
He grabbed his weapon and sprinted toward the exit.
As Marco ran through the darkness, memories flooded back.
Not memories of friendship.
Memories of training.
Years earlier...
Inside a hidden Government academy...
A younger Marco stood at attention as an instructor spoke.
"Your mission is simple."
"Gain their trust."
"Protect Government interests."
"If necessary..."
"Betray everyone."
Marco had been their perfect operative.
Embedded.
Patient.
Loyal.
Until he met the children.
Until they became family.
Now every step toward the facility tore him apart.
If he helped his friends, he would become a traitor to the Government.
If he helped the Government, he would lose the only family he had left.
Marco whispered to himself,
"How did it come to this?"
Ahead, Johar's rescue team disappeared into the shadows leading toward the Government facility.
Behind them...
Marco ran as fast as he could.
Not to stop them because he wanted Hibis to remain captive...
But because he knew the terrible truth.
The Government hadn't left the facility lightly.
They had been expecting a rescue all along.
The trap wasn't waiting for Hibis' friends.
It had been built specifically for them.