Leviathan egt-4

by David L. Golemon

  "Captain, are we here to be interrogated or taken on a sightseeing tour?" Niles asked as he stepped away from the observation windows.

  Heirthall closed her eyes, lowered her head, and then turned to face Niles and the others. She swayed, then grabbed hold of one of the chairs to steady herself. Farbeaux made a move to assist but Alexandria held up a hand and stayed him. She looked up and saw that First Officer Samuels was making his way down the spiral staircase. She almost looked conspiratorial when she looked back at Compton and the others.

  "Please, give me time. I need you onboard for a reason I cannot go into now. When Sergeant Tyler asks his questions, answer any way you like; tell the truth, don't tell the truth, it is no matter, but buy me some time."

  "Captain, are you all right?" Samuels asked as he took her by the arm.

  Heirthall straightened and then looked at her first officer. "I am fine, Commander, just tired." She shrugged off his hand and made her way out of the observation lounge.

  Samuels watched her go. "I must apologize for the captain's behavior. She's… she is—"

  They noticed Samuels's words stopped when he saw that Sergeant Tyler was watching from above.

  "Please excuse me," Samuels said and quickly left.

  They watched Leviathan's first officer leave. When Niles looked up he saw that Tyler had disappeared also.

  "I must reevaluate my earlier prognosis, Niles, my boy. It's not just the captain who is insane, but her entire crew."

  "Senator, we need to buy some time. We have to give Captain Everett and Pete Golding time. They will find us. Until then we have to find out what's going on here, because from what I just saw, we may be in more trouble than I thought."

  "Why? I mean, besides the obvious?" Lee asked.

  Virginia watched the hatchway where her old friend had disappeared and knew exactly what Niles was thinking.

  So did Henri Farbeaux, who was standing stock-still, his efforts to find the wet bar placed on hold.

  "Because, my dear Senator Lee, a moment ago, for a reason only she knows, Captain Alexandria Heirthall looked terrified."

  LEVIATHAN

  Niles felt ridiculous in the clothing he had been provided. While looking somewhat like a tuxedo, it was minus a bowtie, and instead a high half-collar with a blue sapphire stickpin was perched above the white dinner-jacket lapels. The material felt strange against his skin and was unlike anything he had ever felt before.

  He watched the water flow past the massive bow windows, which had been fully opened once more to reveal the sea passing by as if they were in a fighter jet. He closed his eyes as someone touched him on the shoulder.

  "Damned strange feel to the tuxedo, eh, Mr. Director?" Senator Lee said as he stood next to Niles.

  As Compton turned, he saw at least a hundred members of the crew as they stood in various areas of the forward compartment, some eating strange-looking hors d'oeuvres and others just standing and talking amongst themselves. They all wore what Niles assumed to be the dress uniform of the Leviathan, consisting of a pure white short-tailed jacket with gold and blue braid at the cuffs, white pants and shoes, and again, like himself, no tie. The women crew members wore the same, except they wore knee-length skirts. All were elegant looking; even the senator managed to look debonair.

  As Niles was about to answer Garrison, Sarah walked into the room, followed by Farbeaux. Many of the male officers turned to look at the woman and her evening dress. The deep blue and green gown was like the colors of the sea. It was long and flowing and was placed upon a woman who looked as miserable as Niles had ever seen her. Farbeaux, on the other hand, was dressed in his evening wear and looked as if he were made for it. They both approached and smiled.

  "I hate this," Sarah said as she politely grinned.

  "I keep telling young Sarah that for her to dress any other way would be a waste of God's talents as a designer," Farbeaux said sincerely.

  "For once, I have to agree with our friend," Niles said as he took Sarah's gloved hand and looked her over.

  "Hear, hear," agreed Lee.

  "All right, old man, don't let your one good eye fall out of your head," Alice said as she took the senator's arm.

  Alice Hamilton was dressed in a nice gown of blues that had a chiffontype material that covered her arms from the shoulder straps to her elbow-length gloves.

  "This one eye is torn between viewing either Aphrodite or Venus, as both are so lovely," Lee said diplomatically.

  "Indeed, Mrs. Hamilton, you are the very definition of grace and elegance," Farbeaux agreed with a bow.

  "This, coming from a Frenchman and a has-been politician, makes me giddy all over," Alice said as she sneered at the two men, and then turned and started scanning the room. "I don't see Virginia," she said, craning her neck.

  "Hasn't shown yet. I would like to get a chance to speak with her alone," Niles said as he saw the first officer, Commander Samuels, approach.

  "Good evening — you all look very nice," he said, bowing.

  "Yes, well, if our clothes hadn't been absconded with during our showers, I assure you, we would not have cooperated with you to this extravagant length." Niles locked eyes with the commander and didn't shy away.

  "We thought for this occasion, the proper attire would be most appropriate. Your clothing will be returned cleaned and pressed."

  "And that occasion is?" Lee asked, leaning on his cane.

  "Why, the anniversary of Captain Heirthall's great-great-greatgrandfather escaping from Chateau d'If, of course, which coincides with the birth of Octavian Heirthall to the very day five years later, the very genius behind all of this," he answered, gesturing about the room.

  "Chateau d'If? That sounds familiar," Alice said.

  "If I may, Commander," Farbeaux said. "The Chateau d'If is a very old prison of some renown in my country, Mrs. Hamilton." He turned from Alice to Samuels. "More famously it is known for the setting of one of the world's great novels." He smiled at all in the half-circle around him. "French, of course—The Count of Monte Cristo."

  "Very good, Colonel," Samuels responded with genuine pleasure. "One and the same."

  "You're implying — just what are you implying?" Sarah asked.

  "I imply nothing, Lieutenant McIntire. I am only informing you of a truth."

  "I find that somewhat hard to believe, Commander," Farbeaux said without the mirth of a moment before.

  "Roderick Deveroux was falsely imprisoned by the Emperor Napoleon in the year 1799. His crime was failure to deliver to the emperor his life's work on ship design and construction of naval vessels that would have revolutionized the navies of France — swift, cutterlike ships that would have been models for today's America's Cup vessels. Plans for steam and coal-fired engines, battery storage systems for electricity — the list would continue for several hundred pages."

  "How could he have been so far advanced of the science of design and propulsion?" Niles asked.

  "According to legend, Deveroux's intellect was staggering. He spent his life entirely at sea, and most of that time corresponded with the most brilliant minds in the world. He was slave to the betterment of humankind: advanced ways to gather the bounty of the sea, and still not over-fish the grounds — ideas and plans for alternative fuels that would save the lives of whales the world over, and stop men from seeking their deaths for lamp oil and lubrication. Yes, he was a man of science, but also a man of compassion who still believed in his brotherhood with other men. Napoleon guaranteed he would take another view after his imprisonment."

  "The emperor couldn't get his designs, so he threw him in prison," Alice said aloud.

  "Yes, but he escaped, just like Mr. Dumas said in his account of the story. That is where the tale departs on fits of fancy."

  "The treasure was a fallacy in the Dumas story?" Niles asked.

  "Oh, no. During his escape, Deveroux was washed ashore on a small island in the English Channel. While there, he discovered a treasure long lost to history: gold and
jewels from the sacking of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. We estimate its value in today's currency," he bowed to Niles, "in American dollars, to be just a little less than three-point-seven trillion dollars."

  "A sum like that would have destroyed the economies of most nations of the world. Having that much gold and precious stones thrown into the market."

  Samuels looked at Lee with a smile.

  "Not if the money is doled out slowly, evenly, and used only for the advancement of science being studied on a small, out-of-the-way island." He gestured to a portrait that sat upon an easel. The large painting showed the family Heirthall.

  "Mr. Deveroux is seated in the chair with his son, Octavian, and his wife, Alexandria. As I stated before, Octavian was the real genius of the family. After the murder of his father, that left Octavian and his mother, who was severely ill and bedridden by that time by a malady called Osler's disease. The disease is passed from parent to child, and can cause blood clots throughout the body."

  The entire Group noted the mention of the disease for later discussion.

  "Where did they go after Deveroux's death?" Sarah asked.

  "Nowhere; everywhere; America, Asia, the South Pacific — Octavian took his family's work and developed it into the very submarine that you had within your complex, the very first Leviathan. It was meant to save the world and render warfare useless. He would command the world's seas, and with that command he would guarantee to the world it could never war upon each other again, for without the sea, military measures are useless."

  "What happened to him?" Sarah persisted.

  "Octavian Heirthall struck a deal that would preserve part of the sea for his work. Abraham Lincoln recognized the legitimacy of his request and struck that deal — one that guaranteed for Lincoln that the United Kingdom would be kept from recognizing the Confederacy. Heirthall only wanted the Gulf of Mexico protected. As always, men failed the captain — which brings us to the current mistrust."

  At that moment, the two large hatchways opened and the lights dimmed as the captain of Leviathan entered the observation lounge. The officers started applauding, the sound muffled by their white-gloved hands. She was dressed as they, only her uniform was a deep navy blue with sea green and gold epaulets and braid. She wore a pure white turtleneck, and her hair was pulled into a severe bun. She wore pants in lieu of a skirt, but her beauty was still unmatched by anyone in the room with the exception of Sarah. She bowed and then smiled.

  "In case you're wondering, and if you'll excuse me, I'm beginning to understand how you think, the captain has earned the right to wear that rank. She served as a trainee and midshipman under her own parents. She has taken the final exams of both the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, and the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth. Her scores have never been equaled. Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, duty calls."

  Samuels took an offered glass from a midshipman.

  "Captain, it is an honor to salute you and your ancestors on this yearly day of days," Samuels said aloud as the middy stewards passed around trays of something that resembled green Kool-Aid in champagne flutes. Once everyone had a glass: "Captain, to the great god of the seas — to Roderick Deveroux Heirthall, and to the creator of Leviathan, past and present, his son, Octavian, upon his birthday!"

  "Roderick Deveroux — Octavian Heirthall!" the crew members repeated loudly.

  Sarah and Alice looked at Niles and the senator. Lee deferred by raising his eyebrow over his patch to the director; thus it fell on Compton, who nodded his head to toast a great man and his son.

  Henri Farbeaux smiled, finally agreeing with Compton, turned his glass flute upward, and drank heavily.

  "Absolutely the most despicable liquid I have ever tasted." He took another drink, as did the others. "Yet, somehow it grows on you," Farbeaux said, still grimacing.

  "I see you like our sparkling wine?"

  They looked up to see Alexandria Heirthall standing before them. She nodded toward the Frenchman. Her eyes were normal, and with them she carried an air of aggressiveness in her look.

  "No, I find it vulgar in the extreme… but somehow — how do I say—compelling?"

  "Well, we say the fermented poison sac of the silver-spined sea urchin."

  A questioning look crossed the features of the Frenchman.

  "The drink, Colonel; it's the fermented squeezings of the poison sacs of small sea creatures that make up what we call Jonah's Ambrosia."

  "Sea urchins? You go from the world's rarest wine to sea urchins? I believe you need to speak with your chef," Farbeaux said as he took another glass from a passing steward.

  "There will be wine for dinner," she said as she took his arm.

  As Niles watched her leave arm in arm with Henri, he looked at each person around him.

  "She's living in another world. Birthday parties for fictitious characters, the whole Nemo thing, she's far beyond what I even thought," Lee said, watching the captain's back.

  Compton didn't respond. He was busy studying the captain's movements. Her stride and demeanor seemed measured and precise as she made her way through the crowd of adoring crew members.

  "Whether she's mad or not is irrelevant. Let's examine her achievements. Even if we don't take her at face value as far as her sanity is concerned, we better take seriously the toys her family invented, and the ones she plays with," Sarah said, nodding her head that they should join the rest at the long table that had been set up in front of the viewing glass. "Because insane or not, that woman holds one powerful hand of cards."

  As the hundred officers and crew made their way to their places, a group of children, no older than twelve to fourteen, filed in and stood in front of the observation glass at the bow.

  As an officer next to her seated Sarah, she saw the boys and girls were dressed in shorts and white shirts. They smiled as an instructor stepped in front of them, and then turned and bowed at the captain, who nodded. Soon the most harmonious song Sarah or the others had ever heard came flowing from the mouths of the children — it was slow, melodious, and sent chills through them. Sarah looked toward the head of the long table and saw that the captain, though Farbeaux was speaking to her, was looking directly at her.

  Sarah nodded her head and the captain smiled. It was as though the woman had some great secret she held at arm's length about Sarah that was hers alone to know.

  Outside the viewing windows, the cold Arctic Sea flowed by as Leviathan kept course for the gap between the Aleutians and Russia — what was known in naval terminology as a choke point.

  Leviathan would soon learn there was good reason for that term.

  THE EVENT GROUP COMPLEX,

  NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, NEVADA

  The president listened to the story that Jack told him. After Europa and their investigative teams found out the name of the family they were dealing with, diaries and other government paperwork from history started flowing into the Group's lap.

  The president understood that almost sixty percent of what he was hearing was conjecture, but given what the president had learned in his very short time of knowing these people in Nevada, he knew to throw out the percentages. Their guesswork was a better percentage risk than most agencies' facts.

  "So your historical departments believe that this Octavian Heirthall assisted Lincoln in some capacity during the Civil War? And there was definite animosity between this man and Secretary of War Stanton?"

  "From the few entries from diaries — with the mention of O. H., or the Norwegian — we assume these diarists were speaking of Octavian," Jack explained. "The most convincing piece of evidence comes from the official paymaster of the Confederate States. Five hundred dollars in gold was issued to Confederate Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Engersoll, and he was sent on a mission to Great Britain. His orders were unknown, but we have confirmed that he met directly with Queen Victoria and certain members of Parliament. There has been conjecture around here that a treaty may have been in the works between England and the C
onfederacy."

  "What happened to this Engersoll, Colonel?" the president asked.

  "He was lost in a storm in the Gulf of Mexico in eighteen sixty-three on his return trip, along with three British warships."

  "Hmm, damn rough storm," the president said, shaking his head.

  "Yes, it would have been, except for the fact our historians say there wasn't a severe storm in the general area for the entire months of June and July of eighteen sixty-three that could account for sinking three British men-of-war."

  "Octavian Heirthall?"

  "Yes, sir, we believe that was one of the missions he was tasked with. All the pieces of the puzzle fit together, Mr. President; we believe that the history is correct and it leads us right to Alexandria Heirthall."

  "What do we do about it?"

  Jack turned the meeting back to Pete Golding.

  "Well, sir, we have a theory that places Octavian Heirthall somewhere within a three-thousand-square-mile area of the Pacific, where we believe he made his home base. That, coupled with physical evidence recovered here at the complex after the assault, makes us believe we may find them somewhere in between Saboo Island in the Marianas, and Guam."

  "I need the chain of evidence sent over. The Russians and Chinese have set traps at the entrances into the Pacific and Indian oceans, around the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Horn of South America, and the Bering Strait."

  Jack turned the monitor back to face him.

  "Sir, this trap the Russians and Chinese have come up with — call it off. Get them to back away until we can figure out a more realistic plan of action. It's our opinion, as I'm sure is the navy's, that we can't outgun this woman."

  The president sat motionless as he looked at the images of Pete and Collins. Then he thought a moment.

  "Colonel, Admiral Fuqua has the attack boats Pasadena, Dallas, and Missouri dispersed in those ambushing groups. I cannot pull them out at this time. We would lose all hope of cooperation between our Asian and Russian allies in this mess. The Russians, Venezuelans, British, and Chinese are fuming after this morning's attacks."