* * *
Jack was thrown to the deck, and then it was as if he were on a sheet of ice as Leviathan made her run for the bottom of the Ross Sea. Then the detonation effects actually made the centrifugal force of the submarine faster than Jack's fall, and he found himself free-floating above the deck.
Tyler wasn't as lucky. He seemed to hit every engineering console in the compartment on his slide down the ever-increasing steepness of the deck. Just before he was crushed in the final fall toward the bulkhead, the same strange force that halted Jack's fall stopped Tyler in midair. Then, almost as soon as the floating effect started, it ceased, as Leviathan again caught up with the speed of the rushing seas.
Both men started free-falling toward the bulkhead at crushing speed as the inner hull was breached in engineering. Tyler landed at bone-crushing speed, and Jack landed on top of him.
As Collins was trying to figure out if he had any broken bones, Tyler moved from under him.
"Help… me," Tyler whispered.
Collins tried to turn to hear what Tyler was saying, but the automatic damage-control system was pumping compressed air into the compartment to push back some of the flooding covering both men, as the submarine was still in a nosedown attitude. Water soon covered Tyler as Jack quickly thought about his options. Decided, Collins raised Tyler's head from the bulkhead until it was just free of the rising water. Tyler spit and tried to clear the saltwater from his mouth and throat.
"Don't let me drown," the broken Tyler said as loud as he could.
Jack remembered the people at the Event Complex lost, and all the people Tyler was prepared to kill for the sake of money and power. The nuclear strikes would have caused the deaths of millions of innocents. Then the thought of Sarah, Lee, Alice, and those children so callously abandoned at Ice Castle made his decision for him.
"Sorry," Jack said as he took Tyler by the shoulders and slowly pushed him back into the water.
As the level of the flooding rose, Jack had to crane his neck to keep it above the water while he held Tyler down. He stayed that way until the large Irishman's struggling ceased. Collins turned away and floated until he was as far away from his deed as he could get.
* * *
The restraining belts were holding the crew in their seats, with the exception of Everett, who was dangling from the navigation console.
"Engines all back!" Heirthall yelled over the sound of the flooding alarms — the effort causing a large flow of bright red blood to fill her mouth. "Blow all ballast tanks. Give me full rise on the planes!"
"Captain, we have serious flooding in engineering — it's a major hull breach!"
"That will not affect power. All back!"
Leviathan started to bring her already-flooded bow up, but her speed was so great she continued to fall toward the bottom.
USS MISSOURI (SSN-780)
Jefferson knew that the flooding was overwhelming Missouri's ability to pump it out. The forward weapons room had to be abandoned, and all the ballast he could send out to the sea had already been pumped out.
"Captain, we are about to lose the reactor — we're losing her," Izzeringhausen said, holding onto the nav table.
"Maintain revolutions! Launch the rescue buoy!"
Izzy did as he was ordered, but knew no rescue buoy in the known world would allow anyone to reach them almost three miles down; they would soon be crushed to death in a quarter of that depth.
Missouri had lost her fight for survival.
LEVIATHAN
Jack felt the deck straighten, but knew through his stomach that Leviathan was still sinking at incredible speed. He struggled toward the intercom and smashed his hand against the button.
"Conn, this is Collins in engineering!" he screamed. "We have a massive breach open to the sea!"
"Abandon the compartment, Colonel… seal the area!" Heirthall responded.
Collins shook his head and fought his way through the chest-high water. He didn't have to go far when the flooding and current grabbed him and threw him toward the hatchway. He grabbed for the coming and held on. Then he gained his feet and struggled with the heavy hatch, attempting to close it as the water rushed out of engineering. The torrent was just too much, and he knew that the next compartment and companionway would soon flood and be too much for Leviathan's pumps to shed.
Collins was losing the entire deck.
ICE PALACE
The large Zodiac was loaded. All the children, using blankets found in the supply room, huddled against the rubber sides. Sarah was the last one to enter beside the Frenchman. She turned just as a rumbling from the south started to roll over the remaining mile-thick ice.
"Come on, Henri, that sounds like a damn tidal wave!"
Farbeaux looked from Sarah to the dissolving Ice Palace. Before he could comment, the wave from the nuclear detonation two hundred miles to the north struck the broken ice shelf. Ice Palace started to fall over away from the main shelf, breaking free and turning bottomside-up.
Farbeaux shoved Sarah down into the Zodiac and then pushed it away from the small shelf lining the rising end of the carved-out platform.
"Damn it, Colonel, get in!" Sarah called out.
Farbeaux allowed gravity to take him where he needed to go. He slid down until he hit the rear wall of the building, then rolled to the open ice stairs and slid on his belly down into the basement. He struggled to gain his feet as he pulled the inflation cords on three of the rubber boats. Then he turned and looked into the water-filled corridor.
"No, sister Sarah, where I am going, you cannot follow."
Colonel Henri Farbeaux disappeared into the treasure room, dragging the three giant rubber boats with him.
* * *
Sarah took a paddle from Niles and started getting them as far away from the drifting ice floe as possible. She gasped when she saw Ice Palace roll completely over, fill with water, and then bob in the rising sea.
"I'll never figure that French son of a bitch," Senator Lee said as he and Alice paddled toward the remains of the once-greatest ice shelf on earth.
Sarah saw the remains of the ancient seismic chamber fill with water until three quarters of it went under.
"Don't confuse Henri with Dr. Robbins. I suspect the colonel knew just what he was doing."
LEVIATHAN
Jack knew he couldn't close the large hatch himself. Millions of gallons of water had already spread throughout the deck, and he could hear the reactor alarms screaming. The current of passing water started to tear his grip from the coming, when suddenly there were hands on the hatch, pushing it away from the bulkhead. "One, two, three — push!"
The three bodies gave it their all and the hatch finally slammed shut. Its sheer weight coupled with momentum was enough to cut through the rushing water and slam home.
Jack collapsed into the water and momentarily went under, weakened from his fight with Tyler and his brush with drowning.
"What is it with you and water, Colonel?" Ryan said, pulling him to his feet.
Jack looked at the diminutive naval lieutenant and shook his head.
"The army better stick to land operations; you don't do all that well with water."
Jack placed hands on both Ryan's and Mendenhall's shoulders, leaning heavily against them as the water settled to one level, and stayed.
"Yeah — I will take that under advisement."
"Tyler?" Mendenhall asked.
Jack shook his head negatively. "He wasn't a very good swimmer," he said as he reached for the nearest intercom. "Engineering hatch sealed, Captain."
There was no answer as Jack tried again.
"Come on. In case you haven't noticed, we're still heading for the bottom."
* * *
Heirthall knew if they didn't shed more weight, they would lose Leviathan.
The giant submarine was level but still going down — she was at two miles, and the sound of her composite hull giving way to the pressure was audible throughout the ship.
&
nbsp; "Alex, is there anything we can do?" Virginia asked, unclasping her restraint and going to assist a lieutenant with a sprung valve.
Alexandria didn't answer. She closed her eyes in thought, running the schematics of Leviathan through her head. She willed the crushing pain to the far reaches while she thought.
"Maneuvering, stand by to go to one hundred and fifty percent power on all four reactors."
"Captain, number three is already in the initial phase of scramming. She's shutting down!"
Heirthall looked down at the young rector officer and fixed him with her now-green eyes.
"Command safety override: Octavian one-six-four Zulu. Enter the code — now!"
The young officer did as he was told and entered the safety release on all the reactors.
"Reactors are answering one hundred and fifty percent, Captain."
Alexandria knew she had just killed Leviathan. She could never start a safe shutdown of the reactors after this — the core material in all four would melt right through the containment. She also knew it could not be helped.
"Ginny, Captain Everett, please gather the children and your people — you are to report to the escape pods on deck two and make ready to evacuate Leviathan."
"What? What about you and your crew?"
"Any who would like to leave may do so," she said as she looked away, as if afraid of how many would take the offer of evacuation.
None of her crew made a move to stand.
"Captain, we are slowing our descent."
Heirthall glanced at the navigation hologram and could see that indeed, Leviathan was slowing. She looked up at her crew and nodded.
"Thank you, Mr. Kyle, thank you."
"You don't have to do this — none of you do. Leviathan has three hundred escape pods, enough for everyone aboard. Alex, come home with us!" Virginia said as she placed both of her hands on the raised chair.
"Ginny, I've always been home. I will die with Leviathan."
"There's no need for this!" She turned to face the young crew. "No need for any of you to do this."
Alexandria looked at the hologram before her. Indicated on the holographic display of the sea were only two small models of vessels: Leviathan, which had leveled off and was slowly climbing with her main thrusters screaming in outrage at the load they were pushing toward the surface, and one other target that had lost her fight and was going down by the bow.
"Leviathan has one more task to perform, Ginny. Now you must go. Captain Everett, the pods will be automatically ejected from the hull at five hundred feet. Long-range sonar is picking up a Royal Navy frigate at one hundred miles and closing; you shouldn't be in the water long."
"Yes, ma'am. Ice Palace?" he asked without much hope.
"The shelf broke clean away from Ross Island. It's shattered into a million pieces." She looked at Everett. "You know the coordinates — check, please."
Carl nodded.
"Now you see why we can't leave here, my Ginny."
"But—"
"Captain Everett, gather your people and the children, and remove this woman from my bridge."
"Aye," he said, taking Virginia by the arm and pulling her away.
Alexandria watched Virginia being led away and allowed herself a moment. She swallowed to hold back her tears, then smiled, looking at the young faces around her.
"Leviathan has one more task to perform. It will take the expertise of every man and woman onboard. We will do what Leviathan was always meant to do."
At that moment, the radiation alarms started blaring throughout the boat. However, the remaining crew of the most amazing vessel in history turned and started making ready its last run.
* * *
Five minutes later, Leviathan was five hundred feet from the surface of the rolling seas. Alexandria pushed a small button on her console.
"Colonel Collins." She watched as Jack's face appeared on her hologram before her chair.
"I have no words to express our — my — regret. At my family's estate in Oslo, five hundred feet below the sub basement, you will find the oceanographic studies of my family going back to Roderick Deveroux. The betrayal of Octavian is entered in the original notes from Jules Verne, who was an eyewitness to the events. Offer them to your president."
"Yes, Captain — we will."
"You have my regrets about the director and… and—"
"Good luck, Captain," Jack said, when he saw Heirthall was struggling with her guilt.
She nodded her head and reached for the cutoff button.
"Take care of Ginny for me, Colonel."
She shut the hologram down before she heard any reply.
"Mr. Slattery, eject the pods."
They felt the release of the ten round pods as they shot from the sides of Leviathan just a deck above her sloping ballast tanks. Heirthall closed her eyes and said a silent prayer.
"Mr. Kyle, I need twenty degrees down angle on the planes. Bring Leviathan to flank speed, please, make your heading two-six-zero degrees, make your depth… a thousand feet. Order all hands to brace for collision."
"Aye, Captain — ma'am, we are losing the main collision shield in the forward observation compartment, and reactors two and three are in meltdown."
"You're full of good news… this morning. Mr. Kyle, would you like to maneuver Leviathan on her last mission? I want to be someplace… else when we surface for the last time."
"It would be my honor, Captain."
* * *
The escape pods broke the surface of the sea near a large patch of broken ice. One after the other the pods shot into the air from the great depths from where they had been ejected. Just twenty miles away, HMS Longbow, a Royal Navy frigate, saw them on radar and sonar, and began to make its way toward the bobbing escape modules.
* * *
As ladders were thrown over the side and British frogmen assisted the survivors from the pods, Jack had a vision that made him close his eyes and thank whatever God was watching over them. Perhaps it was the sea god Leviathan after all. Standing at the fantail of the Longbow, wrapped in blankets, was Sarah. She stood in front of Niles Compton, Alice Hamilton, and Garrison Lee. Sarah ran forward and with no shyness at all threw her blanket off and hugged Jack under the warmth of the sun for the first time in months. Lee, Niles, Alice, and his men gathered around.
"Dr. Robbins?" Everett asked looking around.
Lee nodded and took Carl by the arm.
"You would have been proud of him, son. He saved us all in an unselfish act of heroism."
"He didn't make it?"
Lee patted Everett on the back and left him alone to his thoughts.
Jack allowed the hug to continue for as long as Sarah wanted. He locked eyes with Niles Compton and nodded. Then Sarah let him go with one last squeeze.
"Mr. Director," Jack said.
"Just a handshake will do, Colonel," Compton said smiling.
"We seem to be missing Colonel Farbeaux."
They grew quiet and Jack could see it in their eyes. Farbeaux was lost, and they were actually feeling bad about it. He only nodded slightly at their nonanswer, and then turned as the crew of HMS Longbow went to general quarters. Horns blared and men ran about the deck. Jack ordered his men to secure the children.
A half-mile away the sea began to erupt in a widening circle that boiled and bubbled as if the entire area were exploding.
"Jesus, the madwoman did it — look at that!" Lee said, tossing his cane over the side of the ship.
"All hands, we have a submerged object rising off the port quarter — stand by, main armament."
"No!" Collins shouted as he waved his hands toward the bridge of the frigate.
The Event Group and children of Leviathan were quickly surrounded by a squad of royal marines and moved away from the railing.
The frigate didn't have time to pull out of the way as she rolled with the tremendous force surfacing beside her. As she settled, giant bubbles and arcs of water flowed over the much small
er surface vessel, and then, as if by the last magical prowess of the sea gods that protected her, Leviathan slowly came up from the depths. The damaged sail was the first to shake free of the cold water and ice. And then, to the amazement of all, it wasn't Leviathan's hull that came next.
"Oh, my God — she did do it!" Virginia screamed, tears flowing down her face as she wrapped her arms around Senator Lee.
"Amazing — just bloody amazing," was all Senator Lee could mumble.
Sitting precariously on Leviathan's massive foredeck was the damaged USS Missouri. Her entire stern quarter was now missing, and there was massive damage throughout her hull. As they watched, and with water bubbling around both vessels, the hatches started opening on Missouri and submariners started assisting the wounded from its bowels.
Jack smiled when he saw Captain Jefferson and Izzeringhausen emerge from the sail's escape trunk. He was shouting orders when he leaned over and spied Collins. He gave his head a shake and then saluted, yelling for his men to get over the side. Then, with a last glance at the great conning tower of Leviathan looming far over his head, he gave the strange vessel his second salute, and followed his first officer over the side into the freezing waters.
Leviathan was starting to lose her fight with the pull of the sea — she was starting to go down. As the Event Group watched, the sail hatch opened and three young sailors came out. They reached in and assisted Captain Alexandria Heirthall out from the conn.
Virginia ran over to the railing, leaning over as far as she could as Leviathan slowly sank back into the sea. Missouri's precarious hold on the foredeck of Leviathan finally let go, and she slid off into the cold waters — claiming her for their own.
Virginia Pollock was crying as Niles grabbed her and held on.
"Alex, jump, get free, you have time! Please, get as many of your people off as you can — please," Virginia screamed as Alexandria smiled for the last time.
They watched Captain Alexandria Heirthall look at the faces just above her as Leviathan slowly sank. Then her men assisted her back down into the sail hatch.
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