CHAPTER 4 THE GHOST OF PRAGUE

The city of Prague slept under a thin blanket of fog.

Cobblestone streets glistened from a light drizzle, and the air smelled faintly of smoke and rain.

From the balcony of a dimly lit apartment, Ethan Ward looked down at the maze of narrow alleys that stretched beyond the river. His reflection stared back at him in the window — older, sharper, quieter than before.

“Third night in a row,” Logan muttered behind him. “Whoever sent that ping knows how to hide.”

“They’re not hiding,” Ethan said softly. “They’re waiting.”

He turned away from the window and walked to the table covered in surveillance photos, maps, and coded reports. A grainy image sat in the center — a tall man in a hood, his face half-lit by the streetlamp.

Archer Kane.

Once, they were brothers. Archer had trained half of Specter’s field units and saved Ethan’s life more than once. Then, during a mission gone wrong in Morocco, he vanished. The explosion had left nothing to identify.

Until now.

Claire stepped out from the small kitchenette, handing Ethan a mug of coffee. “If this is really him, what do you think he wants?”

Ethan took the cup without answering right away. “If Archer’s alive, it means he’s been working in the shadows for years. Either he’s running from Helios... or running it.”

Logan looked up from his laptop. “You really think Helios would trust a ghost like him?”

Ethan’s gaze was steady. “They’d trust whoever gets results.”

Later that night, the team gathered in a rented underground garage two blocks from the Vltava River. The place was quiet except for the low hum of servers and the occasional clank of tools.

Marcus adjusted his gloves. “We’ve got eyes on the signal origin. Abandoned cathedral near Žižkov. Heat signatures show one person moving inside.”

Zara loaded a silenced pistol, her eyes sharp. “You think it’s a trap?”

“It’s always a trap,” Ethan replied, pulling on his coat.

Claire grabbed his arm. “Then don’t go alone.”

He paused. For a moment, he looked like he might argue — then nodded. “Logan, you stay here. Marcus, Zara, with me.”

Claire frowned. “And me?”

“You stay on comms. I need your eyes, not your blood on the floor.”

She glared, but she knew arguing was useless.

The cathedral was ancient — cracked pillars, dust-coated benches, and shards of stained glass glimmering faintly in the moonlight.

Ethan stepped through the broken doors first, gun drawn but low. His footsteps echoed across the stone floor.

Something moved near the altar — a faint silhouette.

“Been a while,” a voice said, smooth and familiar.

Ethan froze. Slowly, the figure stepped forward. Archer Kane.

He looked almost exactly the same, only colder. His hair was shorter, his eyes harder. He wore a black tactical coat and no visible weapon — a man who didn’t need one.

Ethan’s grip tightened. “You’re supposed to be dead.”

Archer smiled faintly. “So are you.”

Zara and Marcus took positions behind the pillars, watching closely.

Ethan studied him. “You sent the ping. Why?”

“To warn you.”

“About what?”

Archer’s tone was calm, deliberate. “Helios isn’t what you think it is anymore. You’re chasing a shadow that already changed form.”

Ethan frowned. “Meaning?”

“They used to be just a network — corporate assassins, covert labs, politicians in their pocket. But now they’ve evolved. They’re using something new.”

He reached into his coat slowly, pulling out a small data chip. “Encrypted intel. Coordinates, internal files, off-the-books experiments. All tied to a name you won’t like.”

Ethan didn’t take it. “Why help me?”

Archer looked him in the eye. “Because I helped build it.”

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Zara whispered into her comm, “You getting this, Claire?”

Claire’s voice came back, tense. “Every word.”

Ethan stepped closer. “You were working for them?”

“I was working against them,” Archer said. “But somewhere along the way, I stopped being able to tell the difference. You think you’re the only one who lost someone? Helios buried my entire unit. I went underground.”

Ethan’s tone was still sharp. “You could’ve reached out.”

Archer smirked bitterly. “And say what? ‘Hey, Ethan, I’m still alive, but the people you’re about to fight own half the planet now’? No one walks away clean from them. Not even you.”

Zara whispered, “Boss, movement outside.”

Marcus glanced at his tablet. “Multiple signals — twenty, maybe more. Surrounding the building.”

Ethan’s jaw clenched. “You led them here.”

Archer didn’t flinch. “No. They were already coming for both of us.”

Gunfire shattered the night.

Ethan dove behind a pew as bullets ripped through the stained glass. Marcus returned fire from the side aisle, while Zara rolled across the floor, dropping two attackers with precision shots.

Archer moved like a phantom — fluid, brutal, controlled. His silenced pistol hissed three times, each shot hitting clean.

“Exit!” Ethan barked.

“Back door’s sealed!” Zara yelled.

Archer tossed him the data chip. “Get it out of here. I’ll buy you time.”

“Like hell,” Ethan snapped, firing over the pew.

“Ethan, listen to me!” Archer shouted, pressing something into his hand — a detonator. “If they capture me, they’ll use me. You can’t let that happen.”

Before Ethan could respond, an explosion tore through the far wall. The roof began to collapse, debris crashing down around them.

Zara grabbed Marcus’s arm. “We’re out of time!”

Ethan turned back toward Archer — but the man was already gone, swallowed by smoke and fire.

They stumbled out into the alley, coughing, clothes streaked with ash. Sirens wailed in the distance.

Claire’s voice came through the earpiece, frantic. “Ethan! Are you okay?”

“We’re fine,” he said, still scanning the flames. “Archer?”

Logan’s voice cut in. “No signal. Building’s fully compromised.”

Zara wiped blood from her cheek. “You think he made it?”

Ethan stared at the fire. “If he wanted to die, he would’ve stayed dead the first time.”

Back at the safe house, the team gathered around the holographic table. Logan plugged in the data chip. Lines of encrypted code filled the air.

“Security’s insane,” he muttered. “This isn’t just company files. It’s military-grade encryption — layered and locked.”

Claire leaned forward. “Can you crack it?”

“Given time,” Logan said. “But look at this — there’s a hidden signature inside the data header. It’s like… a name.”

Zara frowned. “A name?”

Logan expanded the code. Slowly, letters began to form across the hologram:

PROJECT ORION

Ethan’s expression didn’t change, but something flickered behind his eyes.

Marcus crossed his arms. “What the hell is Project Orion?”

Ethan spoke quietly. “The reason Specter was created.”

Everyone stared.

Claire’s voice trembled. “You mean you already knew about this?”

He looked at her. “No. I just hoped it was buried forever.”

That night, when the others had gone to rest, Ethan stayed by the window again. The city lights reflected in his eyes like fragments of memory.

He remembered the first time he met Archer — years ago, in a training facility deep in the Alps. Two soldiers standing in the snow, one promise between them: never become what they fought against.

Now, one was gone. Again.

Claire walked up quietly, wrapping her arms around herself. “You don’t sleep anymore, do you?”

He shook his head.

She leaned against the wall beside him. “You’ll burn out.”

“Maybe.”

“Then what?”

He didn’t answer. His eyes stayed on the horizon — the faintest hint of dawn bleeding through the fog.

Finally, he said, “When a ghost calls your name twice, you either run… or follow.”

Claire frowned. “And which are you going to do?”

Ethan’s voice was steady, calm, and colder than the rain outside.

“I’m going to follow.”

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