Oh my god," Kale whispered, her hands shaking violently as she reached for her backpack.Upstairs, the front glass door of the cybercafé shattered with a deafening crash. Heavy, tactical boots pounded against the floorboards right above her head."Search the basement! Look for the server rack!" a rough voice barked, the sound echoing down the narrow staircase.Kale didn't waste another second.
She yanked her primary hard drive from the console, shoved it into her backpack alongside her laptop, and zipped it shut. There was no time to use the stairs.She scrambled onto her desk, kicking over a stack of old motherboards, and threw her weight against the small, rusty street-level window at the back of the room.
The iron latch resisted for a terrifying moment before snapping open under her frantic pressure.Kale squeezed her body through the narrow opening, scraping her...