Chapter 13: The Choice No Father Should Ever Make
Chapter 13: The Choice No Father Should Ever Make
The countdown echoed through the command center.
09:44...
09:43...
Every second sounded louder than the last.
No one spoke.
Ethan stared at the two black screens.
His wife.
His daughter.
Thirty frightened children.
One impossible decision.
Agent Ross stepped beside him.
"Ethan."
He didn't respond.
Ross tried again.
"We don't know if Adrian is telling the truth."
Victor slowly shook his head.
"He is."
Ross looked at him.
"How can you be sure?"
Victor closed his eyes.
"Because Richard created this protocol."
Ethan turned sharply.
"What protocol?"
Victor looked ashamed.
"It was called..."
The Split Decision.
Ross frowned.
"What is that?"
Victor answered quietly.
"A psychological test."
"For leaders."
Ethan stared at him in disbelief.
"You've got to be kidding."
"I wish I were."
Victor walked toward one of the old computer terminals.
His fingers brushed dust from a brass plaque.
The words were still engraved beneath decades of grime.
LEADERSHIP EVALUATION CHAMBER
Ross felt sick.
"They built this?"
Victor nodded.
"Richard believed a true leader should never hesitate."
"He believed power required sacrifice."
Ethan's voice grew colder.
"So my father designed a machine to force people into choosing who lives and who dies."
Victor couldn't argue.
Because it was true.
Noah looked horrified.
"That's insane."
"It was."
Victor whispered.
"And it destroyed everyone who took the test."
The little girl squeezed my hand tighter.
"Are they really going to die?"
No one answered.
The timer continued.
09:02...
09:01...
09:00...
Ross took a deep breath.
"There has to be another way."
Grace's face suddenly appeared on one of the monitors.
Not a live feed.
A prerecorded message.
She looked directly into the camera.
"If you're watching this..."
"...Dad..."
She hesitated over the word.
As though she had practiced saying it.
"...please don't come for me."
Ethan froze.
"I've had seventeen years."
"The children haven't."
"They deserve a chance."
Her voice broke.
"I've spent my whole life hiding."
"I don't want anyone else growing up the way I did."
The recording ended.
Emily immediately appeared on the second monitor.
She looked exhausted.
But determined.
"Ethan."
"I know what Adrian is trying to do."
"He wants to break you."
She smiled softly.
"The man I married would never sacrifice innocent children."
"So don't."
Tears filled Ethan's eyes.
"I'll find another way."
Emily almost seemed to hear him.
"You always do."
Her recording ended.
Silence returned.
Ross slowly exhaled.
"They're both telling you the same thing."
Ethan shook his head.
"No."
"I'm not leaving them."
Victor placed a hand on Ethan's shoulder.
"They know that."
"That's why they made the recordings."
The timer kept falling.
07:58...
A young FBI agent suddenly called out.
"Sir!"
Ross hurried over.
"What is it?"
"I found the building schematics."
The agent turned the monitor.
Two blinking dots appeared on the underground map.
One marked:
Hangar Seven
The other:
Dormitory Wing
Ross quickly measured the distance.
"They're almost a mile apart."
Ethan studied the map.
"What about maintenance tunnels?"
The agent searched.
"There are three."
Victor leaned closer.
"Zoom in."
The map enlarged.
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"No..."
Ross looked confused.
"What?"
Victor pointed to a faded line almost invisible beneath the digital overlay.
"This isn't on the original plans."
The agent adjusted the brightness.
A fourth tunnel slowly appeared.
Hidden beneath the others.
Ross frowned.
"Why is it concealed?"
Victor whispered,
"Because only Richard knew about it."
Ethan looked at him.
"Where does it go?"
Victor traced the line with his finger.
The hidden tunnel split in two.
Then merged again.
Finally...
It reached both destinations.
Ross stared.
"It connects to both."
Victor nodded slowly.
"It wasn't designed to choose."
"It was designed..."
"...to reach both."
Hope flashed across Ethan's face.
"We can save everyone."
Ross hesitated.
"Maybe."
The young agent shook his head.
"There's a problem."
Everyone looked at him.
"The tunnel collapsed years ago."
Ethan's hope faltered.
"Can we clear it?"
The agent zoomed further.
"The collapse is only thirty feet long."
Ross calculated quickly.
"If we had heavy equipment..."
Victor interrupted.
"We don't."
Noah suddenly stepped forward.
"I've been there."
Everyone turned.
"You have?"
He nodded.
"When I escaped..."
"I crawled through a hole in the rocks."
Ross frowned.
"You never mentioned that."
"I didn't know it mattered."
Noah pointed to the map.
"The tunnel isn't blocked."
"It's too small."
Victor's eyes widened.
"How small?"
"Barely wide enough for one person."
Silence.
Ethan immediately understood.
One person.
Not a team.
Not an army.
One.
Ross shook his head.
"It's too dangerous."
Ethan was already removing his suit jacket.
"I'm going."
"No."
Ross stepped in front of him.
"You don't know what's waiting."
Ethan looked him straight in the eye.
"I know exactly what's waiting."
"My family."
"The children."
Ross clenched his jaw.
"I can't let you go alone."
Victor quietly spoke.
"He won't be alone."
Everyone looked at him.
Victor reached inside his coat.
He removed a small brass compass.
Old.
Scratched.
Well worn.
He handed it to Ethan.
"My father gave this to me."
"I carried it through every project we ever built."
Ethan frowned.
"A compass?"
Victor smiled sadly.
"Not exactly."
He pressed the center.
The compass opened.
Inside...
A tiny hand-drawn map.
Ross leaned closer.
"What is that?"
Victor answered.
"The original emergency route."
"The one Richard never showed anyone."
Ethan looked carefully.
The narrow crawlspace.
The hidden intersections.
The forgotten maintenance shafts.
Everything was there.
Victor folded Ethan's fingers around the compass.
"It'll lead you."
Ross sighed.
"I still don't like this."
A deep rumble interrupted him.
The floor shook violently.
Dust poured from the ceiling.
The countdown flashed.
05:31...
05:30...
A computerized voice echoed through the chamber.
WARNING.
STRUCTURAL DETONATION SYSTEM ARMED.
Ross looked at the ceiling.
"They're activating the charges early."
The FBI agent checked the monitor.
"They've accelerated the timer."
Everyone looked.
The numbers suddenly skipped.
05:27...
04:59...
04:58...
Ethan didn't wait another second.
He grabbed the compass.
Picked up a flashlight.
Turned toward the hidden crawlspace.
His son ran after him.
"Daddy!"
Ethan knelt immediately.
The little boy threw his arms around his neck.
"Please come back."
Ethan hugged him as tightly as he could.
"I will."
"You promise?"
Ethan smiled through tears.
"I've broken too many promises already."
He gently kissed his son's forehead.
"But not this one."
The little boy nodded.
"I'll wait for you."
Grace's voice suddenly crackled through a nearby speaker.
"Dad..."
Everyone froze.
The transmission was weak.
Filled with static.
"I found a way..."
Her voice cut out.
Then returned.
"...don't trust..."
Static swallowed the next words.
Ross adjusted the receiver.
"Grace!"
The transmission cleared for one final second.
Her terrified voice echoed through the chamber.
"The bombs..."
"They're not under us."
"They're..."—
The connection died.
Victor's face turned white.
He whispered only four words.
"Oh God..."
"I know that trick."
Ross looked at him.
"What trick?"
Victor slowly lifted his eyes.
Realization hit him like a freight train.
"They never planned..."
"...to destroy the buildings."
He looked directly at Ethan.
His voice barely existed.
May you like
"They planted the explosives..."
"...inside the escape tunnel."
