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Chapter 10

Penulis: Briony
"Stop performing. Apologize to me and Damian right now, in front of everyone, and I will let you live in company staff housing after the wedding. At least you will not die up here alone."

I did not answer her.

"Outer door status," I said to the console.

Emma answered over the intercom. "Normal."

"Decontamination spray."

"Normal."

"Inner door, underground gate, standalone flywheel."

"All normal."

Damian slapped the glass hard. "I am talking to you."

I looked at Tara and Lia in the crowd.

"Six minutes to eight. Stay here, put down your weapons, accept quarantine, and I will let you into the outer zone."

Tara frowned. "What is it you actually know?"

"Enough to keep you alive."

"Without evidence I am not abandoning my security team."

Lia shook her head too. Right at that moment a drunk guest knocked a waiter over and a glass shattered on the ground. Tara went to pull the drunk away first, and Lia crouched to check the gash along the waiter's ribs. Because they each did the job in front of them, they missed the last minutes when they could have walked away.

7:59.

The Bay Area air raid sirens finally went off.

The music at the wedding stopped, and guests pulled out their phones. The news alert managed only one line: STRATEGIC EARLY WARNING SYSTEM CONFIRMS INTERCONTINENTAL MISSILE LAUNCH.

The smile froze on Damian's face.

"It is just an exercise," he said before he could think.

I watched the atomic clock on the control screen.

Fifty-eight seconds.

Forty seconds.

Twenty seconds.

"Everyone outside, turn your backs to the harbor, get down, and cover your eyes." I switched on the PA. "Do not look at the flash."

Nobody listened.

Damian raised his phone instead. "Film it. Let us see how long he can keep the act going."

The count hit zero.

The sky over the Bay went white, brighter than noon.

The blast glass darkened instantly. The electromagnetic pulse from the high-altitude detonation swept the city, and the wedding stream, the phones, the vehicles and the lights of the districts in the distance all died at once. Every car alarm on the slope below shrieked for one second before the power went out for good, then fell silent together.
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