Dead Man's Signal
last update2025-06-09 19:17:53

Chapter 7: Dead Man’s Signal

Istanbul, Turkey – 2100 Hours (Local Time)

Sultanahmet District

The Grand Bazaar never truly slept. Even in the cool hush of night, lights glowed dimly through antique windows, and a few wandering merchants kept vigil in doorways, sipping tea and watching shadows.

Gabriel Knox walked fast but deliberate, head low beneath a faded hoodie. Jessa trailed two steps behind, disguised in a long tan coat, a bandage taped along her cheek where a rock had nicked her in the cave fight.

The air smelled of spice, sweat, and tension.

Knox turned the corner into a dead alley.

At the far end, a steel door. Scratched. Unmarked.

He raised his fist.

Three knocks.

Pause.

Two knocks.

Pause.

One knock.

The door clicked open.

2102 Hours — Halvorsen’s Safehouse

The room beyond was lit only by a single bulb. Concrete walls. Weapon racks. Satellite maps pinned to boards. Half of the gear was Russian Spetsnaz surplus, the other half American black ops.

Halvorsen stood at the far table.

Same heavy frame. Same hawk eyes. But his once-golden hair was streaked with grey, and one hand now bore cybernetic knuckles—custom work, ex-KGB-grade tech.

He looked up and let out a low chuckle.

“Well, shit. You still look like hell, Knox.”

Knox smirked and embraced the man. “Thought you were dead.”

“I was. Twice. Then I got bored.”

Jessa closed the door behind them.

Halvorsen turned serious. “You got my signal?”

Knox nodded. “The prototype hit us in the mountains. Reece is out. Vance is pushing something bigger than any of us expected.”

Halvorsen grimaced. “Then it’s worse than I thought.”

2105 Hours — The Dead Man’s Signal

Halvorsen opened a steel case on the table. Inside, a drive—small, square, and pulsing with a dim blue light.

“This,” he said, “is your dead man’s switch.”

Knox raised an eyebrow.

“Encrypted chain packet, forged through six ghost nodes. In case I disappeared, this sends a full SIGMA manifest to every surviving whistleblower, every ex-agent, every buried fail-safe we ever planted.”

Jessa leaned in. “Why haven’t you triggered it?”

Halvorsen looked grim. “Because once I do, there’s no going back. SIGMA will go full scorched earth. They’ll wipe out every last link—including you.”

Knox stepped back. “So what are we waiting for?”

Halvorsen stared at him.

“Her.”

2110 Hours — Revelation

A figure stepped from the hallway.

Mid-twenties. Lean. Sharp eyes. Black tactical gear over civilian clothes. A long scar ran from the corner of her left eye to her jaw.

Knox froze.

“…Lena?”

Halvorsen nodded. “My daughter. Your goddaughter.”

Knox blinked. “You told me she was killed in the Seoul op.”

Halvorsen’s jaw tightened. “She was supposed to be.”

Lena stepped forward. “They used me as leverage, Uncle Gabe. To force my father to stay quiet.”

She handed Knox a sealed pouch.

Inside—photos.

Dozens of them.

Vance.

Reece.

Jessa.

Knox.

And others: politicians, CEOs, generals.

Labeled: PHASE 4 CANDIDATES.

“Vance isn’t just testing tech,” Lena said. “He’s building a shadow command structure. Brainwashed, augmented, digitally ghosted. People who answer to no country. No law.”

“Why?” Jessa asked.

Lena’s expression darkened.

“Because SIGMA doesn’t want to control governments anymore.”

She held up a final photo.

A child.

8 years old. Eyes hollow.

“They want to replace them.”

2115 Hours — Backlash

Suddenly, the room went dark.

Lights flickered. Halvorsen swore in Russian.

“EMP pulse,” he said. “Localized. They found us.”

Knox grabbed his rifle.

“Everyone move. Jessa—take Lena and the data. Head east to the ferry station. I’ll buy you time.”

Halvorsen grabbed his backup rig. “Not a chance. I’m with you.”

Jessa shook her head. “No, Gabe. You’re the mission now.”

Footsteps echoed from the stairwell.

Heavy. Rhythmic.

More prototypes.

Knox turned to Halvorsen.

“You still got that rooftop access?”

Halvorsen grinned and tossed him a rope ascender.

“Always.”

2118 Hours — Escape and Fire

The four of them climbed fast. Two floors. Then out into the night air.

Knox and Halvorsen set up cover while Jessa and Lena jumped rooftops to the far end of the block.

One of the prototypes burst from the stairwell door, plasma cannon already warming.

Knox didn’t hesitate.

He dropped an incendiary grenade.

Fire engulfed the rooftop.

He and Halvorsen leapt across to a lower building, landing hard in broken tile.

“Is this what being retired looks like?” Halvorsen growled.

Knox coughed. “Yeah. With fewer beach drinks.”

Below, Lena and Jessa vanished into the crowd.

2122 Hours — Another Signal

Knox pulled his backup sat device and initiated a hardpoint sync.

Vance would be tracking it.

He wanted him to.

“Come get me, you bastard,” Knox whispered.

2124 Hours — Elsewhere

In a cold, silent control room, Vance watched the Istanbul footage.

Knox. Halvorsen. The girl. All alive.

He smiled.

“Let them run,” he said.

“They’re playing the game now.”

He turned to Carter.

“Send the next unit. And trigger PHASE FOUR.”

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