STRATAGEM Chapter 7

NYPD 33rd Precinct
Washington Heights, New York

“YOU’RE MAKING A HUGE MISTAKE!” Derek shouted at the one-way mirror in the interrogation room. To his left, the blinds covered the window, its entire frame caged in by a metal grid fixed with a padlock. The silver-painted radiator looked like it had seen its final days in the last century, and some of the black lockers next to it had missing doors. “You can’t just hold me here all day.”
“Wrong,” the cold female voice said over the intercom. “Based on what you’re suspected of, we can hold you up to ninety-six hours, and up to fourteen days if the Terrorism Act applies.”

“Terror—are you out of your mind?” What had they done with Paige and Hulk? She must be scared and confused. “Is Paige all right? You have someone taking care of her?

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STRATAGEM Chapter 6

TWO WEEKS EARLIER…

Vanderberg Air Force Base

ONE BY ONE, the EMTs rolled the members of the Athena crew into the medical facility. Connor Walken stood in the waiting area as they passed by, each with paramedics and doctors performing chest compressions and bag-mask CPR. For the brief moments when he saw them, however, he could tell. They were completely unresponsive. Who knew how long they’d been this way, how long had Sabine?
He must keep his composure, though. Anything else would appear unprofessional and could expose his feelings for her. He’d admired her from the day she started working with ICOMM. They’d enjoyed a certain rapport both at work and outside. Of course, he knew better than to presume that her kindness toward him was in any way unique. She was kind to everyone. But it didn’t necessarily mean she didn’t have feelings for him too.
He made a mental note of which room the medical team brought her into. But for some reason, they’d all been taken to the same room.
Come on, Sabine. You have to pull through.

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STRATAGEM Chapter 4

DEAR GOD, DON’T LET ME DIE OUT HERE. Sabine Storm stared at the puncture in her glove which went through the Vectran material. “Vanderberg, this is Storm. We may have a problem.” It’s been said, ‘In space, no one can hear you scream,’ but in fact, everyone on the com would hear her.

“Talk to me,” Connor Walken, ICOMM team lead said, his voice calm. It must have irked all the NASA personnel at Vandenberg that they had to play second fiddle for this mission. But thanks to the highly classified nature of this spacewalk, they had no choice.

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STRATAGEM Chapter 3

THE MOMENT HE TURNED his eyes back to face the road ahead, Derek found himself driving straight into the back of an ambulance stopped dead in the middle of Broadway. He let out a gasp and spun the steering wheel sharply to the left.
The impact
shook his jaw and rattled his teeth. The muscles in the back of his neck
spasmed in reaction. Flecks of light filled his vision. The car was still
moving, however. He’d more than scraped some paint off the bumpers but was still
alive, thank God.

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STRATAGEM Chapter 2

HE NEARLY LOST HIS BALANCE when the explosion rocked the ground. A wave hot gust blew into his face from the direction of the blast. Derek’s jaw fell open but the expletive he tried to conjure refused to form.
Without hesitating he ran toward the crash site, barely noticing that Hulk was running alongside him. Two blocks never seemed so long. A low-pitched rumble filled the atmosphere. The acrid fumes from burning jet fuel, and God only knew what else wafted into his nostrils.

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