2025-09-04 23:34:27
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CHAPTER 846
Katerina didn't wait for the sixty seconds. Her face, usually a mask of aristocratic coldness, contorted into something primal. She no longer looked like a Sokolov; she looked like a cornered animal realizing the cage was shrinking."If I can't have the Arisov legacy," she shrieked, her thumb hovering over a recessed button on her encrypted phone, "then nobody leaves this tub!""Tedmond!" Persis shouted, sensing the shift in the air.Tedmond didn't hesitate. He seized a heavy brass fire extinguisher from the bridge bulkhead and hurled it with the force of a falling anvil. It didn't hit Katerina; it shattered the window behind her just as the Vasilisa groaned, banking another five degrees. The glass, already stressed by the Atlantic’s fury, spiderwebbed and gave way."Albert, now!" Tedmond roared.From a basement in Washington, Albert slammed his fist onto the Enter key. "Bridges burnt! Ventilation toggled!"In the lounge, the fire suppression system didn't spray water. It releas
CHAPTER 845
"It’s a gamble, Scalpel," Albert’s voice crackled, sounding as though he were running a marathon. "The encryption is old-school Russian military. If I trip the watchdog protocol, the scuttling charges might activate. Katerina doesn't play fair… she’d rather sink the Vasilisa with everyone on it than lose that data."Persis looked at the dark, churning water through the small reinforced porthole."She’s already planning to sink me, Albert. Let’s give her something real to worry about. Initiating sequence... now."She jammed the drive into the maintenance port. Immediately, the red emergency lights in the sub-deck began to strobe, casting long, distorted shadows against the steel ribs of the ship.*****The Observation Deck – 01:15 AMKaterina stood in the center of the darkened lounge, guards forming a defensive circle. The silence of the dead engines was more terrifying than any roar."Status!" Katerina screamed. "Why is the power cutting? Why isn't the bridge responding?""Interna
CHAPTER 844
"In the flesh," Tedmond replied. "Or rather, in the captain's chair. You wanted to see how we conduct business away from the prying eyes of the city? Well, the prying eyes are gone. It’s just us, the vipers, and a very, very deep ocean."Katerina turned to her remaining guards, her voice a shriek of desperation. "To the bridge! Break down the door! Kill him! And get the girl from the Imperial Suite, bring her to me now! If I'm going down, I'm taking his Diamond with me!"*****The Sub-Deck VaultPersis reached the biometric safe, a massive, black-steel cube welded directly into the hull. The Arisov deeds, the keys to the Sokolovs' remaining empire, were inside.Heavy boots thudded on the deck above. They were coming for her."Albert, I'm at the safe. It’s a retinal scanner and a physical key-turn," Persis said, fingers dancing over the cold metal. "I don't have Katerina's eyes, and I don't have the key.""You don't need them," Albert replied, his voice frantic over the sound of rap
CHAPTER 843
"Lights are primed, Boss," Albert whispered from the Washington basement, fingers flying across the keys. "Team is inside. Mother is secure. We’re pulling out now."Svetlana pushed open the bridge door, the wind whistling through the gap. She didn't lead with a smile this time."Captain," she called out, her voice straining over the engine’s roar. "My mother wants the secondary registry code. She says the logbook is out of sync."Tedmond slowly turned the wheel, steering the Vasilisa directly into a massive, eight-foot wall of water. He didn't turn to face her."The code is 7-0-9," Tedmond rumbled, using a number ten years out of date.Svetlana’s face contorted. "That’s the old code. Kelvin would know the update.""Then it's a good thing I'm not Kelvin," Tedmond said.He spun the wheel hard to the left just as the ship hit the wave. The Vasilisa lurched violently, slamming the two guards against the bulkhead. In the chaos of the impact, Tedmond spun around, the suppressed barrel of
CHAPTER 842
Persis didn't waste a heartbeat.The moment the red light died, the docile Portia vanished. She lunged toward the heavy velvet drapes, a blur of emerald silk. She didn't head for the door; she targeted the structural weak point she had scouted during her restless pacing. Reaching into the thick lining of the curtains, she closed her fingers around a cold device she had liberated from the new wardrobe Tedmond had provided.It was a localized signal jammer, no larger than a coin. She pressed it against the recessed sensor in the crown molding, her heart hammering a rhythm of pure adrenaline.12:00:10."Tedmond," she whispered, her voice a clinical blade cutting through the silence. She tapped the microscopic bone-conduction mic behind her ear. "The loop is active. Primary and secondary sensors flagged. Tell me the maid is secure."Static hissed, followed by the deep vibration of her husband’s voice. "Ruby is in a cell, Scalpel. Thomas neutralized her after she tried to take his he
CHAPTER 841
Tedmond didn’t turn around. He kept his eyes locked on the dark horizon."The Atlantic doesn't care about your wine, Madam. We're hitting a cross-current. It’ll be choppy for the next few hours. I suggest you tell your guests to stay seated."Katerina stepped up beside him, her hand resting on the console dangerously close to his."I don't like choppy, Captain. I like control. And I’m waiting for a very important confirmation from the mainland." She checked her encrusted watch. "Ten minutes. If my bird doesn't chirp by then, I might have to find a new way to vent my frustrations. And I think Portia would make a very interesting target for a midnight swim, don't you?"Tedmond’s grip on the wheel reached a breaking point. He could feel the heat of his own rage radiating off his skin."I wouldn't recommend that," Tedmond said, his voice dropping into a register that made Katerina’s eyes flicker with a sudden, confused caution."Oh? And why is that, Captain?""Because," Tedmond said, f
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