He threw the weight of his shoulder against the lever, locking the door from the inside.

A second later, someone threw themselves against the outside of the door.

The metal groaned, but the lock held.

“Chief Hayes!” Carter’s voice screamed through the steel door.

“Open this door immediately!”

“By order of Captain Turner, you are under arrest!”

Hayes didn’t answer.

He kept his weapon pointed at the center of the door.

The progress bar on my monitor jumped to ninety-eight percent.

The solid red light on the blue drive began to flicker again, but slower this time.

It was sending the corrupted packets.

“Almost there,” I muttered.

The phone on the bulkhead began to ring again.

But this time, it wasn’t the internal line.

It was the secure satellite link, the red light on the console flashing with a steady, menacing rhythm.

The red light on the secure satellite console flashed again, casting a long crimson shadow across the metal desk.

My fingers hovered over the keyboard, waiting for the terminal to register the final command.

The progress bar on the screen flickered at ninety-nine percent.