CHAPTER 9: THE RESCUE OPERATION

It was already past 1 a.m. The sound of crickets outside the silent homestay echoed back and forth, but inside the living room, the tension was palpable. Zara sat cross-legged on the floor, carefully sketching something on an A4 paper salvaged from the leftover student forum reports. Liam was hunched over his laptop, surrounded by cables, adapters, and his old Nokia phone sitting beside him like a relic of time. Aiman watched the two of them, chewing on the end of a pen, still struggling to believe what they were about to do that night.

Nico sighed, stood up, and walked into the kitchen, returning with two cans of F&N soda. Without a word, he placed one in front of Zara.

“Thanks,” she replied briefly, eyes fixed on the rough map of the lab’s layout. It was drawn from memory and Mr. Hadi’s notes.

“So we’re all agreed?” Aiman finally said, breaking the silence that had haunted them since Risa disappeared. “We’re not waiting for help. We do this ourselves.”

“The police won’t believe us,” said Liam, eyes still on the screen. “Even if they do, by the time they get here, who knows where Risa will be.”

“I agree,” added Zara. “If we wait, we might lose her for good.”

Nico nodded. “We can’t waste time.”

Aiman took a deep breath. “Alright. Let’s divide roles. Liam, you handle the entry point. Can you bypass the alarm system?”

“I’m not Ethan Hunt, but I have cracked the college library’s Wi-Fi,” Liam replied with a smirk. “I just need time and a direct connection to the system hub.”

“Zara and I will search for the control room. We’ll try to distract the guards. Nico, you go with Liam. Watch his back.”

“Copy that, capten,” Nico said with a salute in the style of an old Japanese drama.

Their plan was simple. But the risks were enormous. If they failed, not only were their lives in danger, but the truth they had spent days uncovering might be buried forever beneath Mount Lambak.

*****

The night sky was pitch black. Thick clouds blocked out any moonlight that might have lit their path into the forest’s edge. Dressed in dark clothes, wearing quiet-soled shoes, and carrying backpacks filled with flashlights, power banks, maps, cheap walkie-talkies, and unshakable resolve, they made their way forward.

“This back trail near the lab isn’t heavily guarded,” Zara whispered, leading them based on Mr. Hadi’s map. “If we go through this bush path, we can enter from the side door Liam found earlier.”

They crawled beneath low branches and crossed a shallow ditch before finally reaching the moss-covered concrete wall of the lab. In front of them stood a small rusted metal door, still sturdy despite age. Liam connected a power bank to a DIY device and linked it to the electronic panel.

“Give me three minutes. Any longer, just toss me into the drain.”

“If you go in, I’m not pulling you out,” Nico muttered, gripping a stick in hand.

Click.

The door creaked open slightly, the soft tick sound oddly satisfying. They slipped in one by one, hiding behind the walls as Aiman and Zara crept toward the stairway to the upper level.

Inside the lab, all was quiet. Emergency lights blinked slowly. Like the heartbeat of a building that refused to die. CCTV cameras were still active, but Zara was ready. She flicked on a signal jammer borrowed from Mr. Hadi. The security screens blinked, then turned to static.

“I think they’re rebooting the system because of the interference,” Zara whispered. “Now’s our chance.”

They split up. Liam and Nico headed toward the central control room while Aiman and Zara moved toward the west wing. They believed Risa was being held there, based on previous surveillance footage.

*****

The room was dark and silent. Only the sound of dripping water from a leaking pipe kept Risa company as she sat in the corner, her hands tied with an old telephone wire. She calmed herself, recalling everything she had seen and heard since arriving in Kluang. She knew that panicking would only defeat her.

Then came footsteps. Soft, not like a guard. Something felt different.

“Risa!” Aiman’s voice called in a low whisper from just outside the room. “Are you okay?”

“Hurry!” Risa replied, her voice weak. “I don’t know how long before they come back.”

Zara slipped in and quickly cut the wire binding Risa’s hands. Aiman stood guard at the door. They moved fast, but then the alarm blared.

“Crap,” Liam’s voice came through the walkie-talkie. “They know we’re inside. CCTV’s back online.”

“Exit through the emergency route!” Nico shouted. “There’s a tunnel on the lower floor. I’m opening it now!”

Zara and Aiman helped Risa toward the back stairwell, avoiding now-active security cameras. The sound of pursuing footsteps echoed behind them. Risa clutched Aiman’s arm tightly.

“I can walk,” she said firmly. “Don’t wait for me. If I fall, leave me.”

“No one gets left behind,” Aiman answered without hesitation.

They reached a narrow corridor full of pipes and wires. Liam and Nico were waiting at the far end, the underground door already open. They jumped in one by one, slamming the hatch shut just as two black-clad guards entered the hallway.

In the underground tunnel, they gasped for breath. Dark. Cramped. But safe. For now.

Aiman turned to Risa. “You alright?”

She only nodded.

But in the darkness, Risa spotted something the others had not. An odd symbol painted faintly in red on the wall. The letters read: Project Dragon.