Chapter 52 - Infiltration
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The water was freezing, sapping the heat from my body in seconds despite the thermal suit. We swam through the dark depths, guided only by the dim, ambient glow of the rig's underwater support pylons in the distance.
As we approached the massive steel columns encrusted with barnacles, I signaled to Elena. We engaged our magnetic grappling ascenders.
With a soft mechanical click, the magnets locked onto the steel pylon. We hit the winch buttons, and the motorized ascenders began dragging us rapidly up through the water toward the surface.
We broke the surface directly beneath the main platform, hidden in the shadows of the massive steel grates. Above us, the heavy boots of patrolling mercenaries echoed loudly against the metal walkways.
I unclipped from the pylon, pulled myself up onto the lower maintenance catwalk, and drew my suppressed pistol. Elena followed like a shadow.
"Comms check," I whispered into my earpiece.
"Clear," Elena replied, checking her corners. "Thermal scans show the highest concentration of heat signatures in the central command tower. That has to be where the mainframe is."
We moved silently through the labyrinth of rusted pipes and hissing steam vents. A guard turned the corner, raising a radio to his mouth, but before he could press the transmit button, Elena stepped out of the shadows. In one fluid motion, she clamped a hand over his mouth and drove a combat knife cleanly into the base of his skull.
He slumped to the floor without a sound. I grabbed his access keycard.
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"Ten hours left on the clock," I said, checking the waterproof case on my hip. "Let's find this server room and blow it to the bottom of the sea."
We swiped the keycard, slipped through the heavy blast doors, and entered the pristine, white-walled interior of the central command tower. The contrast between the rusted exterior and the hyper-modern interior was jarring. We had entered the belly of the beast.
