The shift change happened at 6 AM. For exactly eighteen minutes, there were no guards on the barrier checkpoint. It was a window that Savas had identified, a gap in the rotation that happened every single day but was rarely noticed.
Kael moved through the tunnel system with mechanical precision. He'd memorized every passage, every junction, every access point. His hands shook slightly as he worked the first lock, using tools he'd modified specifically for this task.
Maren was in the security station, working on the electronic systems. Sera was there with him, monitoring the progress, ready to signal if anything went wrong.
The first lock disengaged with a soft click.
Kael moved to the second lock, his heart pounding. This was the point of no return. Once he opened this lock, there would be no going back. The Council would know what happened, and they would respond with force.
He thought of his father, dying in the tunnels because the system had deemed him expendable.
He opened the second lock.
"Electrical systems are down," Maren's voice came through a hidden earpiece Savas had provided. "You've got about twenty minutes before the backup protocols kick in."
Kael moved to the main barrier mechanism. This was the largest lock, the one that actually held the barrier in place. It required both manual and electronic override.
He began the process, his trained hands moving through each step.
Behind him, in the tunnels leading to the Lower District, people were already gathering. Word had spread quickly. Thrace was there, along with Kira and hundreds of others. They'd received the signal. They were ready.
The barrier mechanism turned.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, with a grinding noise that sounded impossibly loud in the quiet tunnel, the massive barrier began to open.
The gap was small at first, just a few centimeters. Through it, Kael could see the checkpoint beyond, still empty, the guards not yet returned from their break.
More and more people began to move through the gap. The Lower District residents, pouring toward the Middle District, toward light and food and a world they'd never been allowed to see.
Alarms began to sound.
They'd had maybe twenty minutes. But more people were moving through the gap than Kael had expected. Hundreds of them. They were pushing, moving desperately toward the barrier, toward hope.
"Seal the barrier!" a voice shouted. Guards were appearing. Weapons were being drawn.
"Kael!" Sera's voice, urgent. "You need to go. Now."
But Kael couldn't leave. The barrier was still only partially open, and people were still trying to get through. If he sealed it now, he could trap hundreds of people in the checkpoint.
He kept it open.
A blast of energy—some kind of stunner—hit him in the shoulder. He fell, pain radiating through his arm and chest. His vision blurred.
More guards were arriving. They were shooting into the crowd of escaping Lower District residents. People were falling.
Sera appeared next to him, trying to help him up. Her face was streaked with tears.
"We have to go," she said urgently.
"I can't leave it open," Kael gasped.
"I know," Sera said. "That's why Maren is sealing it remotely. The barrier will close in thirty seconds."
She pulled him toward the tunnel. Behind them, people were still streaming through the gap. Hundreds of them. Thousands, eventually, in those final seconds before the barrier sealed.
They made it to the hidden passage just as guards appeared at the barrier entrance. Behind them, Kael could hear gunfire and screaming.