Chapter 147: Dark Harvest
The air in the sterile, dimly lit chamber of Nhyrr Zeta Base – a global black site buried deep beneath an unlisted mountain range – was charged. The cold, recycled air carried a faint, metallic scent. Fluorescent lights cast long shadows across the polished floor. At its center, a large ring structure, thirty feet in diameter, hummed. Its inner surface glowed faintly with circuitry. It was a gateway.
McKnight, rigid, stood before the ring. His dark grey combat suit absorbed the light. His eyes, visible through his visor, were cold slits. Beside him, Ronnie and three other Echo soldiers stood still. Their visors obscured their faces. Their movements were precise. They were automatons, controlled by a distant will. Their presence demonstrated Krill-enhanced human technology.
McKnight raised a gloved hand towards a large, reinforced window that separated them from the control room. On the other side, an operator, pale in the glow of his console, nodded. His fingers moved across a holographic interface, activating the device. Numerical sequences scrolled rapidly across his display.
"Phase one parameters confirmed," the operator’s voice crackled over the internal comms. "Stabilizing wormhole aperture. Gravitic flux compensating."
The ring structure hummed louder. The humming intensified.
Then, a distortion appeared within the ring. It swirled, forming a vortex of purple light that stretched into a void. The air grew cold. The portal was open.
"Temporal synchronization check," the operator repeated. "Report status."
McKnight glanced at his wrist. His combat watch showed active readouts. Its chronometer matched the base’s master clock. A faint smirk touched his lips. "Temporal lock confirmed. Offset negligible. Yeah," he said, "working just fine."
He adjusted his grip on the black briefcases. They were shielded containers for currency.
"Initiating jump sequence," the operator announced. "Estimated transit time: instantaneous. Destination parameters: Democratic Republic of Congo, coordinates [REDACTED]. Local time synchronization active."
McKnight stepped into the vortex. The energy pulled at his suit. "Time to harvest," he murmured. "Here we go, Africa." He entered the purple light. Ronnie and the three Echo soldiers followed, each carrying two briefcases. The portal remained open.