Three hundred wealthy guests watched a maid stop Vanessa’s attack with one hand, never realizing the woman in the gray uniform had once been trained to dismantle dangerous threats. / Chapter 59 / 130

Chapter 59 - Fracture Point

Inside the pod, the instrumentation hummed with cold readiness. Ethan hauled the heavy circular hatch shut and spun the manual locking wheel until the tungsten deadbolts engaged.

*Purge countdown: 45 seconds.*

*Depth: 820 meters. Structural integrity: 40 percent.*

Through the thick observation window of the pod, they could see the torpedo bay flooding. Water surged through the ventilation shafts like a roaring beast, sweeping away equipment and bodies alike.

"Naomi, hit the release!" Ethan yelled, strapping Clara into the primary shock seat.

Naomi slammed her palm onto the emergency pneumatic ejection lever.

Nothing happened.

The screen flashed an error: **[EJECTION COUPLING JAMMED: MANUAL RELEASE REQUIRED AT EXTERNAL GANTRY.]**

The air in the pod turned to ice.

"It's clamped from the outside," Naomi said, her voice dropping to a terrifying, steady calm. "The explosion in the bay warped the magnetic release rails. Someone has to pull the mechanical lever on the exterior catwalk."

"No," Ethan said immediately, stepping between Naomi and the hatch. "No, Naomi. We find another way."

"There is no other way, Ethan," she said, looking directly into his eyes. For the first time since he had met her, the cold, emotionless mask of Operative 09 cracked completely, revealing the vulnerable, protective woman beneath. "The ship implodes in thirty seconds. If that lever isn't pulled, all three of us die."

"I'll do it," Ethan said, reaching for the wheel. "You protect Clara. You're the one trained to keep her safe."

Naomi grabbed Ethan’s wrist. Her grip was iron, immovable, just as it had been when she stopped Vanessa’s kick in the ballroom all those weeks ago. But this time, she pulled him close and pressed her forehead against his.

"My directive was never to protect an asset, Ethan," she whispered softly. "Julian made a weapon. But you... you gave me back my soul."

Before Ethan could process her words, Naomi struck him with a precise nerve pinch to the base of his neck. Ethan’s vision blurred; his limbs turned to lead, and he collapsed backward into the copilot's seat, paralyzed but conscious.

"Naomi, no!" Clara screamed, trying to unbuckle herself.