Sam and Tom rode the sinking Tiger Moth to the seabed forty feet below. Bubbles of air from the cockpit and engine manifold rippled across their faces. Both men remained still as possible, mindful someone from the Island could be watching for survivors.
The old aircraft landed gracefully on the icy seafloor on a solid block of ice. Less than fifty feet away Sam could clearly see a submerged manmade runway – proving they had reached the Island. Sam grabbed the Heckler & Koch MP5, a preferred weapon by frogmen around the world for its ability to fire just as well after submersion. He then pulled on his fins and freed himself from the cockpit.
Tom swam up to him, pointed at the runway and wrote on his dive tablet: BAD LANDING. NOT EVEN CLOSE TO RUNWAY!
Sam laughed, wiped the chalk note off and then wrote: SORRY. YOU OKAY?
Tom nodded and then wrote below: FINE. WATER’S FREEZING. LET’S GO.
Sam brought up the digital version of the schematics for the Island which the Secretary of Defense had given him. She’d explained that Robert Cassidy had probably made some changes, but the main tunnels were unlikely to change and would provide the best chance of gaining access to the interior of the Island. He drew a line across his digital tablet and marked the main entrance, where the nuclear submarine most likely docked.
It had been a while since the two had relied on hand gestures and written notes when they dived. Their “push-to-talk” diving radio was blocked by the same depressing song the rest of Antarctica had to bear currently. Even so, he could understand what Tom was thinking – it’s time to get out of the cold and to do that, they needed to gain access below.
Sam took the lead and swam to the end of the flat surface of the Island. He descended sixty feet, opening his jaw several times in the process to allow his ears to equalize. At the bottom he entered a large cave that extended halfway across the Island and moved in an upwards direction.
He followed the opening inside. A large air pocket existed above and he was able to surface. The cavern opened up to a dry area roughly the size of a football field. The place was well lit with high powered, UV emitting lights – designed to make the place feel like a beach. A subterranean sandy beach rested sixty feet away. It looked like the real thing, right down to palm trees, beach chairs, and a volley ball net. A long jetty ran out to where a black Benjamin Franklin class nuclear submarine was moored.
Tom surfaced next to him. His eyes wide with wonder. “Well, what do you make of that?”
Chapter Seventy-Nine
“Follow me,” Sam said, releasing air from his buoyancy control device so he could dive again.
“Where are you going?” Tom replied. “I thought we needed to make it to the area beneath the surface of the Island?”
“We do. This won’t take long.”
Sam quickly swam to the side of the nuclear submarine. He placed a small circular device on the side of its hull and then turned the main chamber, causing it to create a vacuum and stick to the submarine’s hull like it had been welded there. He turned and swam along the beach, before surfacing again.
Tom followed him. “What was that for?”
“A homing beacon. The Secretary of Defense said she’d be most obliged if we were able to make sure we didn’t lose her submarine again once we found it.” Sam removed his face mask and his fins. “The last thing any of us wants is to beat Cassidy only to have him, and the rest of his scientist buddies escape on their stolen sub. We’d spend the next twenty years trying to find him again.”
Sam reached the edge of the beach and quickly moved to a set of palm trees next to a tunnel. It provided the most amount of concealment available. There were several tunnels. He removed his diving equipment and stripped out of his dry suit. Sam thoroughly dried his MP5, removed the bolt and pulled the trigger. The firing mechanism activated with a click. Confident it would work if needed he reassembled the weapon and zipped up his dive boots again.
He stared at the six new tunnels leading out from the beach since his map had been drawn and then up at Tom who’d already reassembled his own weapon. “Any preference which tunnel we’re going to take?”
“Nah, you choose,” Tom replied, locking the magazine in place. “What did the map say?”
Sam grinned. Of course the map had changed since his government was in possession of the Island. “It said there was just one tunnel from the beach.”
“Right. Let’s take the biggest one. Goes to figure if they were moving nuclear weapons and large rockets, they would need more room to do so.”
Sam nodded. “That’s as good a theory as any.”
Sam entered the tunnel first. It led upwards in a constant twenty degree pitch. It made sense given that everything inside the Island would need to be above the beach in order to remain dry. The tunnel was made from porous stone. Lights had been intermittently imbedded into the ceiling, but otherwise the island seemed entirely natural.
After climbing approximately twenty-five feet in elevation the tunnel opened to a medium sized room, with several large computers. No one was inside, but it was clearly a main hub for the everyday workings of the Island.
Sam looked at the first computer screen. It displayed the remote video surveillance from the beach. He quickly scanned the monitors looking for attackers.
“Tom, where would you place security if you had any?” Sam asked.
“Here,” Tom replied without hesitation. “This looks like it’s the main entrance to the Island. Looking at your old map, all intruders would have to pass through this point before reaching the inner levels of the Island.”
“Exactly. So where are they?”
Tom studied the area. Most of the monitors showed views from security cameras. On the far left a computer showed the current position of all their resources. It included the location of three other de-Havilland Tiger Moths, five snow-caterpillars, and the Benjamin Franklin Class nuclear submarine in its dock. He shrugged. “Beats me.”
“Me, too,” Sam said. And he didn’t like feeling confused during any raid. He wouldn’t have been too keen to have been met by an army of mercenaries, but it would have at least made more sense.
Sam put his hand on the third computer monitor, which was running a screen saver. The touchscreen opened to the digital image of an analogue clock. The clock only had one arm and it was moving in a counterclockwise direction, as though someone was trying to turn back time.
He was about to dismiss the image and continue searching for any clue that suggested where they should go, when he noticed there weren’t twelve numbers left on the face of the clock. Instead there were only five.
Five hours or five minutes?
The clock ticked backwards and the number of markers left were just four. It was working five minute intervals and had four intervals remaining.
Tom looked at the process and the number zero where the twelve would ordinarily be. “Twenty minutes on the clock.”
“Until what?” Sam asked.
“Given Robert Cassidy already has the subatomic particles he needs to complete the project, I think this clock is telling us we’ve got twenty minutes to find him and stop him, or get real used to living without electricity.”
Chapter Eighty
Sam found a map of the security cameras on the main computer. It showed a missile silo built into a large room closest to the surface of the Island. The Thor Rocket itself stretched sixty-five feet from her fin to the nose cone, extending from the lowest level through to a section just below the surface of the Island. There was no way to reach the base of the rocket in time because it had been secured by watertight doors. The only option left was to reach the upper end of the rocket, where the main ignition computers were stored.
He checked the fastest route before he and Tom started running through the series of tunnels and hatches until they reached it. Neither gave any thought or concern about defenders. Most, by the looks of things, had already left. Without electricity, the Island was going to be nothing more than a very cold, inh
ospitable and deserted environment. Obviously, Robert Cassidy had thought that much through and instructed many of his followers to leave before the world truly changes.
He would have liked to know where they had been moved to, but Sam had other priorities. In the back of his mind, he recalled Veyron explaining to him that the Antarctic Solace had its diesel engines and lighting all retrofitted to run without electricity. Robert Cassidy must have been planning on using it for their escape. The question was, now that Robert no longer was in control of the Antarctic Solace – where did he plan to go?
Sam turned the final corner and raised his right hand with a clenched fist, giving the silent message for stop. He heard voices. He recognized Alexis’s but the other one he’d never heard before. It was deep and erudite, like the owner had once lectured. By the sounds of things he was still lecturing.
“Alexis,” the stranger said. “You have done a great thing today. You should be proud of what you’ve helped me achieve. Without you, none of this could have been possible.”
Sam guessed he was listening to Robert Cassidy. Even the Secretary of Defense agreed he was a supremely intelligent man.
“That’s supposed to make me feel better?” Alexis said. “I’m going to be responsible for destroying nearly every major scientific breakthrough since 1752 when Benjamin Franklin decided to prove the existence of electrical current by famously flying a kite with a copper key during a thunderstorm! Do you really believe the world would have been better off if Thomas Edison decided candle light would suffice?”
Sam felt sick. The contents of his last meal rumbled in his bowels and his throat ached. What could Cassidy have possibly done to convince her to sacrifice the world? He didn’t have time to wait and listen. He switched his Heckler and Koch MP5 from safety to full automatic and stepped inside.
“Robert Cassidy,” Sam said, aiming directly at him. “It’s over.”
Chapter Eighty-One
Sam decided Robert Cassidy looked more like he belonged in a nursing home than at the dangerous end of conspiracy to change the world. He had very little hair left and what remained was entirely white with the exception of his full beard, where some gray remained. If Cassidy was surprised by their sudden arrival, he didn’t show it. Instead he smiled warmly, as though some unexpected guest had arrived to share in his delight.
Cassidy had a gun in his right hand. He held it with a casual indifference. Not at all like a trained soldier, but more like someone who’d stopped at a commercial shooting range and thought he’d have a go at whatever weapon was on offer. In this instance, it was a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson Model 10. Sam guessed it was most likely service issued back in 1958 when Cassidy had first joined the Starfish Prime project. It was old, but that didn’t make it any less dangerous.
Sam’s hard, piercing blue eyes darted between Cassidy and Alexis. He could easily shoot Cassidy dead in an instant – but would the old man have the stubborn tenacity to get a shot off in the process?
The ground beneath him began to move. His left hand instinctually reached for the side of the door frame for balance, while his right remained on the MP5. Sam sighed. A deep sense of impending doom unfolding in his gut – has the Island begun its movement to the surface?
“What are you going to do, Cassidy?” Sam asked again. “It’s three against one here. You can’t kill us all. It’s over.”
Cassidy slowly turned to face him. His gray eyes full of intelligence. Like a chess player, he was determining his final move for the game. Cassidy then smiled and lowered his handgun. “You’re right, Mr. Reilly. It is over. We’re about to surface. The Thor Rocket, carrying a weapon designed to alter the Higgs fields is set to launch automatically in just a few minutes!”
Sam snapped the gun out of Cassidy's hand. “Stop this. Abort the launch now!”
“I’m afraid I won’t do that.” Robert smiled, warmly.
Tom stepped in, placing the barrel of his Remington shotgun against Cassidy’s face. “And I’m afraid we really are going to insist.”
The room suddenly echoed with the sound of thunder.
“It’s already done,” Cassidy said, calmly. “That’s the first stage of the Thor Rocket’s liquid oxygen and kerosene fuel cells being ignited. The process can’t be stopped now. You may as well learn to live without electricity. At least for the next hundred or so years.”
Tom kept the Remington shotgun pointed at Cassidy’s face. “Even so, you won’t live to see it.”
“No. But that’s okay.” Robert smiled. “As you can see I’m an old man. My life’s work is nearly over. I can die happy knowing I made the world a better place.”
Chapter Eighty-Two
Elise stared at the stilled water as the USS Texas reached the coordinates she’d found hidden behind the depressing song on the radio. The water looked dark blue in the overcast sunlight, making it impossible to determine how deep the seabed lay. The Texas sounded the depth at nearly five hundred feet.
Margaret stood next to her. “It appears the Island is missing.”
“It will be here,” Elise said, her voice confident.
Margaret frowned. “The depth sounders are reading 500 feet below our keel in all directions!”
Elise stood up and spoke to the commander of the battleship. “Your ship’s instruments are wrong. Robert Cassidy has made a name for himself as a magician, capable of applying magnetic fields to falsely provide any readings he wants. This is how he’s survived three decades without detection. Keep the guns ready to fire – we may only have one chance at this.”
The Commander nodded. “Yes, Ma’am. Forward guns ready to fire.”
“We should drop depth charges now!” Elise said.
Margaret placed her hand on Elise’s left shoulder. “Are you certain? If you get this wrong we’re about to give away our exact position and the only chance we might ever get at stopping Robert Cassidy.”
Elise grimaced. “That’s if their sonar pings haven’t already. If I get this wrong, we’re all going to have to get used to life without electricity.”
The Commander looked at the Secretary of Defense for confirmation. She nodded her head and said, “Go ahead, Commander.”
The Commander nodded. “Fire depth charges on my mark.”
Chapter Eighty-Three
Sam heard the rocket bay doors above him open in preparation. The Thor Rocket would be released from its confines in a matter of seconds. Free to wreak the sort of damage unimaginable by its original creators. A circular window, with hardened glass allowed him to see the rocket, which extended through every level of the Island.
Seawater had already flooded into the forward firing bay. Like a modern nuclear missile from a submarine, it was capable of being launched from the protection of shallow water without the Island ever reaching the surface. He was filled with rage and frustration that despite the rocket being no more than a few inches away from him, there was nothing he could do to destroy it or prevent it from launching.
The rocket began to move.
Sam, Tom, Alexis and Robert watched as the rocket picked up speed and cleared the launch bay. The trailing rocket’s exhaust plasma seared the glass window, sending heat throughout the room. Each of them turned to run in an attempt to survive the intense blast of radiant heat.
Robert Cassidy closed the heavy steel doors to the room they had been in, the second they were outside it. Sam saw Robert’s hand flick the watertight security latch downwards when he heard the sounds. This time it was more like the clap of several massive thunder strikes, followed by a shockwave that resembled the epicenter of a grade nine earthquake.
Sam hit the deck. He rolled a couple feet and instinctively shielded Alexis with his arms. She tried to shout at him, but it was impossible to hear what she was trying to say above the roaring explosions. It all lasted less than a minute and then their world was filled with silence.
Sam grinned as he and Alexis managed to find their feet. “The USS Texas must have deployed her dep
th charges!”
Robert Cassidy turned to face him. His eyes vacuous and his jaw rigid with disdain. “No! It was our only hope!”
“It’s over Robert – the Cassidy Project failed,” Sam said.
Robert looked up at Sam, his eyes turning to hatred and a deep-rooted sense of loss. “What have you done? What have we all done?”
The silence then gave way to a new series of violent eruptions. The Island, after having the majority of its ice-filled surface damaged, was no longer able to maintain buoyancy. It was torn between the powerful forces sending the levels built in hollowed ice to the surface, while the heavier lower sections and nuclear reactor were dragging the Island to the bottom.
Robert Cassidy was the first to realize what had happened. He grabbed Sam by the shoulder, stared at him with cold gray eyes and said, “The Island is breaking apart!”
Chapter Eighty-Four
Forty feet ahead of the Texas, seawater began to move in a counterclockwise direction, forming a whirlpool as it sucked away at the surface of the otherwise stilled water. What the hell is that? Elise thought. An instant later the sea bubbled before rising into the air like a geyser. A few seconds later the Island broached the surface of the Dumont d’Urville Sea like a humpback whale.
The USS Texas rocked heavily under the changing sea. Elise held the edge of the bridge to steady herself. For a few seconds the majority of the Island became visible. A massive conglomerate of ice, volcanic stone, and machinery floating high in the seawater. The frozen surface, like an iceberg, concealed the size of the main livable part of the Island. The depth charges and Thor Rocket had shattered most of the ice into fragments. Elise stared in horror as those fragments now pulled away from each-other. The ice made up two thirds of the size of the Island, and almost all of its buoyancy.
The Sam Reilly Collection Volume 2 Page 49