*CRASH-ROAR-SHATTER.*
A concussive shockwave of freezing autumn rain, pulverized oak splinters, and high-pressure tactical propellant blew through the empty foyer, blowing the remaining moving boxes fifteen feet across the hardwood:
*SCREAMS-PANTING-TERROR.*
Through the smoke, through the pulverized plaster dust, through the freezing draft of river air…
Moving with that fluid, terrifying, synchronized mechanical velocity of an active direct-action assault element…
Came twelve operators in sterile dark-charcoal Nomex drysuits, Level IV boron-carbide plate carriers, and Ops-Core ballistic helmets fitted with panoramic night-vision brackets folded onto their foreheads.
Across their chests hung suppressed SIG Sauer MCX Rattlers, their weapon-mounted PEQ-15 infrared lasers cutting through the dim hallway in twelve razor-sharp needles of incandescent crimson light:
“FEDERAL INQUEST!
CORDON ESTABLISHED!
SPREAD YOUR FINGERS FLAT ON THE WALL SURFACE!
DO NOT REACH FOR COAT POCKETS!”
