Frank rose, startling everyone.
“GEO acknowledge my voice!” he said quickly.
“NO!” Adler bellowed and leaped forward with Tolvanos screaming beside him. Frank sensed a dozen bodies leaping on him from behind.
“Voice identification confirmed as Dr. Frank,” came the soft reply that somehow penetrated the screams.
“GEO!” Frank screamed, defensively raising his hands. “Erase all—”
Adler’s fist slammed into the side of his head, rocketing him back into grappling arms that pulled him to the ground, muffling him, burying his voice beneath shouts that tore through the Observation Room like a bomb blast.
Stunned, Frank caught, “GEO does not understand Dr. Frank’s command. GEO requests that Dr. Frank repeat command for implementation.”
It was the last thing Frank heard, shocked by the sight of Adler’s snarling face above him, the huge white fist coming down again to ...
Blackness.
***
Connor gently stroked Beth’s long brown hair, soft and luxurious tendrils that he combed back from her forehead with his fingers. They lay in the blue-sheeted bed, side by side, bathed in the gray-white light of an early dawn. Sleep had never come to him through the long night.
He had stared at the ceiling for hours, remembering what Thor had said, thinking it through over and over while thin shadows, indistinct and snakeish, crawled across the ceiling. He had watched the shadows a long time, becoming more aware of Beth’s head on his chest, thinking more and more of Jordan sleeping blissfully, helplessly, in the adjoining room. He was responsible for their safety; the thought came to him again and again. But he couldn’t understand why he was so worried.
Leviathan, the older man had said. But what did it mean?
Connor wondered at what relation the name might have to the project hidden in the cavern. What have they done? Surely they couldn’t have—no, that is impossible, he told himself, again and again. That is completely impossible. But what did it mean? What was Chesterton so afraid of? Were Beth and Jordan in danger? And what should he do about it? Was there anything he could do? It had been a cacophony of questions through the slow, dark night. Unanswered questions, questions that plagued him with guilt and confusion, and even more guilt. Then he felt soft brown eyes staring at him through the gloom.
“Are you still awake?”
“Yes,” Connor replied. “I couldn’t sleep.”
Beth’s face was shadowy in soft white light as she turned to him, lifting herself onto an elbow. Her other forearm rested across his chest. She stared at him, inches away.
“What is it?” she whispered.
Connor touched her cheek, smiling. “It’s nothing.”
“Yes, it is.” Awakening quickly. “It’s something.”
Connor sniffed, leaning his head back against the pillow. She continued to stare at him. “It’s nothing, really,” he said softly. “I was just thinking of maybe leaving this place a little early. Maybe quitting.”
Even in the dark he could read the surprise on her face. “Well, you know I’d love that,” she replied. “And Jordan would love it. He’s never even known what a real home is. But I’m more interested in why you suddenly want to leave. What’s disturbing you?”
“I’m just tired of this place,” Connor said easily. “I’m thinking that maybe we’ve already got enough money to buy us a place. Maybe even a farm. Somewhere in the country. A place where Jordan can have a real life. Maybe it’s time we moved on.”
“Are you serious? We’ll just leave?”
“Sure,” Connor said, smiling. “We’ll just leave. They can always find somebody else to do my job. I don’t mean anything to them. They’ve got lots of money.”
She laughed. “Well then, when I go into work I might as well get on the NAV-COM satellite hookup with New York. I’ll need to make contact with Mother back in Kentucky and let her know we’re coming.”
Connor looked narrowly. “Your mother?”
Beth’s laugh was beautiful. “Come on, Connor. You know that you love her. The two of you get along great. And we wouldn’t have to live with her for that long, anyway. Maybe a couple of months. And living on a real farm would be great for Jordan.” She stared. “He doesn’t need to stay here any longer, anyway. This is no place for a little boy.”
“Yeah, I know. I worry about him a lot.”
“I know you do. And sometimes ... sometimes I think that you worry too much. Jordan knows how much you love him, Connor. He knows that you love him more than anything else in the world. You’re always telling him, and showing him. And he remembers all of it. I don’t think there’s ever been a little boy who had a more loving father.”
Connor stared at the ceiling. He was touched, and yet something cut deep into his heart with the words. The shadows leaped suddenly to life, crawling, writhing. Connor felt his face harden, knowing that whatever had haunted him through the long night was awakening more and more with the approaching dawn, or day.
Beth’s gaze narrowed. “What is it? You’re worried about something.”
“No,” Connor responded quietly, shaking his head. “I’m not worried about anything. I’m just getting tired of this place. The ice. The cold. Nothing to do but work. Jordan doesn’t have anybody to play with. And I’m pretty certain that we’ve made enough money to buy us a little place. Maybe not the kind of place we really wanted. But good enough. And I can always find another job when we get back to the States. Make up the rest.”
Silence.
“Would you ever worry about Thor?” she asked finally, falling into her tendency to talk of friendships whenever he mentioned moving. “He’ll be all alone without you as a friend.”
“Thor will be all right,” Connor said softly. “He told me some things last night. He’s not going to be here forever. He’ll probably be leaving this place pretty soon, too.”
“He seems very lonely.”
Connor was silent a moment. “He is, I think.”
“But why? You’re his friend and he visits you all the time. It doesn’t seem like ... like he should be so lonely.”
Connor remembered the conversation, the depth and almost mythic power that had been captured in the ice-green eyes, the noble visage. “Thor’s lonely,” he said, “because there’s no one else like him.”
Beth grimaced. “That’s so sad. He’s such a wonderful person.”
“Yes,” Connor said softly, gently removing her hand from his chest. He sat upon the edge of the bed. “Yes, he is.”
“Are you getting up already?” she asked.
“Yeah, I need to get started.”
“But you haven’t slept all night. You can’t go all day without sleep.”
Connor smiled back. “I’ll be all right, Beth. I’m just going to get an early start. There’s something I’ve got to do.”
“What?” She was suspicious. “What do you have to do?”
“Nothing important,” he said, smiling down. He gently kissed her cheek. “I’ve just got to go down into the cavern to check something out.”
Chapter 10
Frank saw everything clearly after a few moments of staring at the ceiling. What at first appeared to be a hazy black cloud became more and more vivid, foggy lines tightening until the individual ceiling tiles took on a normal aspect. With a groan he put a hand to his temple and slowly sat up, angrily enduring the increasing pain.
Chesterton was sitting in a chair, staring down at him. His face was impassive. “You all right, Doctor?” he asked.
Frank felt for the communication headset at his waist.
“They took it,” Chesterton added. “I’m sorry for what happened in the computer room, Frank. I jumped in and threw Adler off. Manhandled him pretty good, I think. And the rest of ‘em too, for whatever it’s worth. I didn’t spend six years in the middl
e of three wars for nothing. But you’d already been hit.” He paused. “You’re something like a prisoner, Doctor.”
“Something like?” Frank looked up with the words. He grimaced at another jolt of pain. “What does that mean, Chesterton? Does that mean I’m actually a prisoner in this place?”
“That’s about the size of it, Frank. But it wasn’t my call. Blake’s running the show now, and I don’t like any of it. But I have to take orders. And they’re coming from way, way up the chain.” He was plainly apologetic. “I really don’t have any choice, Frank.”
“Are you a prisoner too?”
Chesterton shook his head. “Nobody makes me a prisoner, son. They’ll die if they try. But we’ve been put on a bad detail to secure the perimeter of the Containment Chamber and the front gate.” He stared. “Blake’s so-called MPs, which are really just some kind of covert CIA goon squad, are controlling the rest of the cavern. Within twelve hours they’ll have relieved all my men. They’re flying in more CIA mercenaries from the States. This place is being taken away from Army jurisdiction. From my jurisdiction.”
Frank looked around the room. There were no speaker-receivers where he could communicate with GEO. He looked up at the ceiling again, as if checking to see if it was still there.
“Have they done the tests yet?” he asked, focusing on Chesterton.
“No. But I think they’ve circumvented GEO. It won’t unlock completely because it’s still asking about you. But they’ve sort of disconnected a Cray and they’re rigging it up to run the Observation Room. I think they managed to turn off the Voice Control System.”
“Have they flooded the cavern with oxygen?’
“No.” Chesterton shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Then you’ve got to stop them before they do, Chesterton.” Frank tried to rise, leaned back suddenly on both hands. “This situation is out of control, Colonel. Stygian Enterprises or ... or the CIA or the NSA or whoever blew up a Japanese facility because they had succeeded with ECM. Tolvanos admitted it. He was proud of it.”
A long pause and Chesterton nodded. “Then it’ll go before a Senate Intelligence Committee, Frank.” His voice was thoughtful. “But I can’t really deal with it right now. Right now I’ve got enough to deal with. I’ve got to stabilize a very bad situation.”
“What time is it?”
“About 0-dark thirty.”
“No, really, I need to know what time it is.”
Chesterton didn’t look at his watch. “It’s four in the morning.
Frank spoke with difficulty. “Leviathan will achieve immunity to nitrogen in less than six hours, Chesterton. We’ve got to get off this island as fast as we can.”
Silent for a moment, and Chesterton finally shifted. His voice dropped lower as he began, “And just what would you have me—”
Tolvanos entered the room, staring suddenly at Chesterton. Adler was beside the Russian, turning slowly to Chesterton. “Are we disturbing something, Colonel?” he asked.
“No,” Chesterton replied. “You’re not disturbing anything at all. Dr. Frank here was just waking up.”
“Good,” Tolvanos said, walking forward. His face was ghastly, a smiling corpse. “I would like to catch you up on events, Doctor. Things have proceeded nicely since we overrode GEO’s Voice Control. Shortly we will begin final tests.”
Frank caught the image of Adler smiling down, trying unsuccessfully to hide admiration of his pugilistic work: No, Frank thought dimly, there is no more need for illusions.
“Just wait a few hours, Tolvanos,” Frank said, closing both eyes. “In a few hours Leviathan is going to wake up on its own. Then you can give it the last test of your life.”
“The creature is enclosed in nitrogen, Doctor. It will be doing nothing until I allow it.”
“Unless it develops an immunity to nitrogen.”
“That is impossible.”
“With Leviathan nothing is impossible.”
“It is impossible, Doctor,” Tolvanos stressed. “Nitrogen in its purest form is a poisonous element. To any creature.”
“Unless ...” Frank began.
Tolvanos was still. “Yes, Doctor?”
“You’re so smart, you figure it out,” Frank replied, opening one eye.
Tolvanos smile never reached his pale eyes. “I see. You wish to mock me. Well, I do not play games, Doctor. I am a scientist. Leviathan will sleep until I choose to wake it up, which will be very, very soon.”
Frank laughed, casting Chesterton a glance.
“Nitrogen molecules pass over a fibrous potassium water membrane that might have developed around Leviathan’s lungs,” he said, abruptly dropping his hand to stare at a frozen Tolvanos. “A large portion of the nitrogen reacts with potassium to make KNO3. Potassium nitrate – a harmless chemical that’s found in everyone. Then the stored oxygen inside Leviathan begins a measured reaction with the remaining level of nitrogen in its blood system to thin the nitrogen even more until the blood is oxygenated to one-half normal atmosphere. Or about 18 percent oxygenated. Enough for Leviathan to operate at full strength.”
“Unlikely, Doctor,” Tolvanos replied slowly. “And even if Leviathan could accomplish such a phenomenal mutation, it could not continue active movement forever. The beast would need the cleanly oxygenated air in its lungs for the process. The 270 liters of stored air would not last very long with the creature operating at full strength. And even the potassium nitrate, normally harmless, would eventually accumulate to a fatal level.”
“Leviathan could continue long enough to rupture a door of the Containment Cavern, Tolvanos. That would give it all the oxygen it needed. Enough oxygen to ignite the carpasioxyllelene. It would clean its blood of the potassium nitrate after it escaped.”
“I see no evidence that it can accomplish such a task,” the Russian replied angrily. “How can you presume that the creature has the propensity for such a fantastic mutation?”
Frank laughed. “A wild guess.”
“Well, I do not guess, Doctor,” Tolvanos retorted. “Nor am I irresponsible as you so transparently infer. I am an accomplished scientist, just as yourself. Our major difference, Dr. Frank, is that you are restrained by a highly developed personal code of honor while I am not so restrained.” He paused. “Be assured, Doctor. I am not an evil man, and circumstances of our earlier meeting may have cast me in an improper light. But I felt provoked by your obstinance and I ... I admit that I am sometimes too committed to my objective. It is a fault. But I tell you now that you have my genuine respect, and that I regret this event. Your prodigious, extraordinary brilliance commands international admiration, including mine. It would have been an honor to have worked beside you, Dr. Frank, instead of against you.”
Frank’s head was bowed, his face expressionless.
Tolvanos stared a moment, as if waiting. Then he turned and walked away, dragging a strangely submissive Adler in tow. Chesterton watched them vanish through the door, his face stoic. When they were fully gone he looked back at Frank, and Frank saw a flicker of serious intent narrow the colonel’s dark eyes. He moved on it.
“You’ve got to do something, Chesterton,” he whispered. “You’ve got to do something before they kill all of us.”
***
Dr. Jason Hoffman shouted, staring at the monitor. Behind him science personnel whirled, watching, as if they expected the older man to fall from his chair before the computer panel.
Hoffman was pointing to the screen.
“Did you see it!” he shouted. “It-it-it moved!”
Immediately he was surrounded by science personnel who stood staring at the screen. But the creature was as still as the stone surrounding it. There was no shifting of the reptilian form, any cracks visible between the heavy black armor plates. Nothing could be seen but hardened scales, the muscular tail coiled tightly over the feet and lon
g, serpentine neck.
“It moved! I swear to you!” Hoffman whispered. “It is beginning to awaken!”
For a time everyone continued to watch, but nothing more occurred. Then they patted the old man compassionately on the shoulders before moving back to their stations. But Hoffman continued to stare, as if mesmerized, watching and knowing, knowing somehow that it was coming, had always been coming ...
***
Bearing a thick coil of 440 wire, Connor strode up a cavern walkway projecting a severely overworked, harassed expression. In moments he encountered an Army lieutenant, a tall, stoic man whom Connor knew to be smart, fair, and competent.
Lieutenant Barley walked forward, lean and muscular and disciplined, the epitome of a professional soldier. Because he was both polite and efficient, Connor had always held Barley in high respect. The man smiled warmly as Connor walked up.
“What’s up, Connor?”
“You guys are about to be walking around in the dark,” Connor said.
“What’s wrong?”
“You got two circuit breakers that are about to blow near the Containment Chamber.” Connor removed two large breakers from his belt. “These have to go in or that 440 line is going to burn up and you’ll be using flashlights.”
Barley straightened. “Are you sure?”
“What do you mean?”
“I just mean, are you sure? We’ve got a new commander down here, Connor. Somebody named Blake. A real hard case. And he’s got a bunch of doofus CIA MPs with him. He says nobody goes in, out, whatever. We got kind of a bad situation.”
Connor wondered about Chesterton but let it pass. “Well, you’re about to have a bad situation in the dark,” he said, lifting the line again. He turned away. “You can tell that to Blake.”
“Hold on, hold on,” Barley said quickly. He paused, concentrating. “All right. Go on. But I’ll have to tell Blake about it, Connor. Those are the orders. It’s a tight situation down here. Even for us.”
“Whatever, Barley. But I gotta change those breakers pretty quick. They’re not going to stand the strain much longer.”
Thrilled to Death Page 111
