Chapter 19 - RACE AGAINST TIME
Miller screamed in agony as he dropped the remote control onto the stone floor.
The remote skittered across the floor, stopping just out of Ethan's reach beyond the gate.
"The timer is at ninety seconds!" Clara shouted, her hands flying across the cylinder's control screen.
"I need to re-route the bypass circuit, but I need the release key attached to Miller's belt!"
Ethan pulled his combat knife and threw it with precision through the iron bars.
The heavy blade severed Miller's leather utility belt, dragging the key ring back toward the gate.
Ethan scooped up the key ring and shoved it through the bars to Clara.
"Sixty seconds!" Clara gasped, her fingers trembling as she inserted the master key into the cylinder core.
The digital timer continued its relentless march downward: 00:45... 00:44...
"It's asking for a manual override override password! I don't know Miller's private code!" Clara panicked.
Ethan stared through the bars at the groaning, crushed surgeon.
"Tell us the code, Miller, or I let the roof collapse on you right now!" Ethan barked.
"Never! You will all die here together!" Miller laughed through bloodied teeth.
Clara looked at the internal wiring of the control panel and remembered her emergency training.
"I don't need the code... I just need to short the main power relay!" Clara realized.
She pulled a pair of surgical metal scissors from her coat pocket.
"Clara, if you touch the wrong wire, the charge will detonate the entire cylinder!" Ethan warned.
"We have twenty seconds left! It's our only chance!" Clara shouted.
She jammed the stainless steel scissors directly into the high-voltage junction box.
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A shower of blue sparks exploded into the dark room, throwing Clara backward onto the floor.
