* * *
As Leviathan broke free of the access tunnel, Alexandria sat quietly in her large chair. She watched the end of the tunnel slide by through the now-open portals in the conning tower. Bright lighting illuminated the passing water; Virginia felt the smallest of vibrations as Leviathan started her run up to flank speed.
"Captain, we have one submerged contact close-aboard, four thousand yards dead-ahead. Prop signature has been identified as our old friend the Missouri," Samuels said.
"I felt them out there long before sonar detected them, Commander. All hands are to stand by for evasive maneuvering," she said with her eyes closed.
"Yes, ma'am. All hands stand by for evasive maneuvering. All nonessential personnel are to remain in their cabins — seal all watertight compartments."
"Brace yourself, Ginny," Alexandria said as she finally opened her eyes wide and looked through the floating hologram in front of her. She saw the vaguest outlines of USS Missouri. She could also see that they were starting a run on Leviathan. The American boat was going to give chase, thinking all the while their stealth technology kept them hidden.
"The damage to our outer skin has made us visible just enough for Missouri to get a fix on us," Alexandria said. She dipped her head and settled her eyes on the sleek-bodied Virginia class boat ahead of Leviathan. "They think we can't see them because of what they view as a superior technology. Little do they know they have been defeated by the oldest technology in the world: eyesight."
Virginia watched as rivulets of sweat broke out on Heirthall's forehead.
Alexandria's blue eyes blazed as she pushed both control sticks to the right, taking Leviathan hard and down in that direction. Then she pushed only the left stick, and the giant submarine dived even harder, bringing Virginia up out of her chair. Only her harness kept her body from crashing into the overhead.
On the hologram, the depiction of Missouri went to the left and up a hundred feet in a vain attempt to head Leviathan off.
"Captain, Missouri has acquired the noise from our damaged outer skin and planes. She is attempting to follow."
"Commander, we're going to full emergency speed and full dive on the planes. We'll be bringing ballast control to one hundred percent — all hands prepare for emergency dive, steering three three-four degrees. Start injecting the hydrogen and helium mix into the hull plates!"
"All hands, prepare for deepwater dive. Close all inner hatches and seal main bulkhead doors. Close all observation windows, secure all departments, stand by for hull reinforcement for extreme pressure dive!"
"Where are you taking us, Alex?" Virginia asked over the increasing whine of Leviathan's thermal-dynamic drive and its four power plants as it pushed raw steam and hydrogen into her jet system.
" 'So all men will know, I am the Lord God of the Sea — thy name is Leviathan!'" Alexandria mumbled, not hearing Virginia.
"Alex — for God's sake!"
Alexandria fixed Virginia with calm demeanor. "A quote from Octavian," she said finally with her eyes fluttering, and then she lost some of the intensity. "We're going to the most inaccessible part of the world, my Ginny — a place where men cannot follow in their toy ships — the Mariana Trench!"
Virginia was tossed back into her chair as Leviathan increased her speed to almost two hundred knots. As the observation window screens closed, Virginia could see the steam and heat rising from the sleek black hull. Leviathan fought for the deep, actually creating friction in the cold seas surrounding her.
"We're going to Leviathan's world, Ginny — we're going to my world."
Virginia cringed at the calm words of her friend — finally realizing there was no going back to the real world for Alexandria Heirthall.
"Alex, what in God's name has a hold on you?" Virginia screamed above the din of surging power.
Leviathan was now headed for the deepest part of the known world, and she was going there at two hundred and thirty miles per hour, faster than any seagoing object in the history of humankind.
* * *
As the crash doors closed over the observation widows, the last thing the members of the Event Group saw was the fleeting image of USS Missouri as Leviathan went headlong in front of her. Then a violent downward turn sent them high into their seats and slammed them back down as the giant submarine maneuvered hard to starboard, then to port, and then dived beneath the thermal cline on her way to deep water.
The Event Group silenced as the world turned upside down and the great submarine rolled. A few dishes and bar bottles fell and shattered; then Leviathan righted herself.
"I can't begin to understand the science involved here — helium-hydrogen mix? Has she found a way to defeat the very pressures of the ocean depths along with the physics of the planet?" Lee asked aloud.
Niles Compton looked at the green holographic readout below the depiction of the onrushing seafloor.
"Captain Everett, do you know these coordinates?" Compton called out loudly over the din of the engines at full power.
"Eleven twenty-one North latitude and one-forty-two twelve East longitude," Everett said to himself. Then he looked at the flat expanse of seafloor highlighted in holographic blues rushing toward them. "Jesus Christ," Everett shouted, "everyone hold on tight — this crazy woman just may be on a suicide run."
"Explain, Captain," Lee asked loudly as the observation deck began to flicker and then went out, leaving the only light the green, red, and blue colors of the massive hologram in front of them.
"That ocean bottom coming straight at us is what's called the Abysmal Shelf. The mountainous area to the front is the continental plate of Asia. We can only be headed for one place — where no attack submarine in the world can follow — the Mariana Trench!"
Mendenhall and Ryan exchanged looks. When Captain Everett got scared, that meant they were going into the extreme of all dangers.
The green readout started pumping out numbers that were hard to follow as Leviathan ran deep.
"Captain, Missouri is giving chase at their maximum speed of forty-seven knots!" Samuels announced over the intercom from his station in control.
"The Missouri will never catch us; she better turn and head for home. They're already too deep!" Everett said as the hologram split into two sections to show Leviathan's bow and stern and the computer-generated depiction of the Missouri.
"God, she's a fast boat, but she has to turn away," Everett said proudly, even as he prayed Missouri's captain would give up.
"Turn away, damn it!" Niles said as he watched Missouri three miles behind.
"Four thousand meters — thirteen thousand feet deep!" Everett called out. "We're at the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean — there's the Trench!"
As they watched, the black image of the Mariana Trench grew in scope before their eyes. It was rushing at them just as Leviathan's inner hull started to bend inward, and to the amazement of all, they actually witnessed the composite material shimmer in the dark as its matrix started changing right before their eyes. The interior hull looked as if it were sweating as the composite fibers tightened, making itself stronger against the depths.
"How can this material take this depth?" Niles asked just as the pressure in the boat started to increase, making them all dizzy and grabbing their heads.
"How deep is the trench, Carl?" Sarah asked as she watched Everett pull his harness tighter.
"If you sank Mount Everest to the bottom of the trench, there would still be more than seven thousand feet of water above it."
"Can this damn thing hold up to that pressure?"
"It's been rumored for years that General Dynamics Electric Boat Division has been working on a chemical-electrical mix that would reinforce a composite design for deepwater submergence, but this is far beyond anything ever dreamed."
Mendenhall and Ryan were shaking as hard as Leviathan herself. Will closed his eyes and started praying.
"I think we're too close to the depths of hell for that to help!" Ryan called out.
* * *
Virginia watched Alexandria's eyes narrow once more to slits as Leviathan screamed for the deepest part of the world.
"Captain, the thermal-dynamic drive is going into the red; the reactors have been running at one hundred and twenty percent power for three minutes. Estimate power plant scram in thirty-eight seconds!"
"Maintain current power output, Commander. We need this demonstration for the benefit of our American friends."
There was a momentary silence from the control center, and then Samuels answered. "Aye, Captain, maintaining one hundred and twenty percent on the reactors."
The sound of the hull compressing did not affect the crew of Leviathan as she entered the trench. Three miles distant, Missouri still came on.
"Fools, they can't take this depth. They must turn away!" Heirthall screamed, watching the jagged scar depicting the gaping maw of the world's deepest valley open up fully before Leviathan.
Outside Leviathan, the topmost walls of the Mariana Trench slid by and the giant submarine disappeared into the blackness of the abyss, a place far more deadly and inhospitable than the deepest reaches of outer space.
"Look," Everett called out. "Missouri is turning away and heading for the surface."
"Why in the hell did she risk imploding like that?" Alice asked.
"Because they had to try," Sarah said, thinking about Jack.
The observation deck became quiet as they watched the hologram turn to black. As they entered the trench, the computer-enhanced depiction of the giant Leviathan started to lessen the steepness of her dive.
* * *
Once in sickbay, the two guards unceremoniously tossed Jack onto one of the unoccupied beds. They turned and left without a word to Dr. Trevor, who watched without comment. He checked Collins and quickly found his problem.
Thirty minutes later, Jack slowly came around. The doctor was nowhere to be seen. Collins rubbed the gash in his head, which Trevor had cleaned, stitched with six very neat stitches, and dressed with a small bandage.
Jack looked around until his eyes fell on a man staring at him from one of the six beds in the clinic area. The pale blue eyes never blinked, never moved. Collins knew him immediately. Jack made sure he wasn't feeling any ill effects from the blow to his head, then sat up and slowly walked over to the occupied bed.
"Colonel," Jack said, sitting on the bed next to the Frenchman. "Sarah told me you had booked passage on this little cruise."
Farbeaux said nothing as he fought slowly to sit up in his bed. He was grimacing a little more than he actually had to.
"Look, I heard what you did for Sarah at the complex, and I—"
"Let us dispense with the pleasantries, Colonel," Farbeaux said as he looked at Jack. "Young Sarah had to have also told you why I was there in the first place. I was willing to let things go with the news of your supposed death, but now I see and feel that this can no longer be accomplished."
Jack smiled and shook his head.
"So, you want to kill me?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Because you lost Danielle in the Amazon?"
"No."
"Really? Then what is your reasoning?"
"I do not like myself, and you, Colonel, are the architect of that."
"Well, that puts us at cross-purposes, Henri, because I like myself a lot. I've been there, so I don't want to die again. If it makes you feel better, though, I don't like you, either. However, I still want to live and have no desire to kill you. Where does that leave us?"
"We all want what we cannot have. I will kill you and I will feel better for it." Farbeaux looked away and then back after completing a thought. "However, since we both find ourselves in a rather strange predicament here in fantasyland, I am willing to forgo my hostility toward you until such time as we are freed. Then I can kill you and Captain Everett at the same time, and at my leisure. So unless that can be accomplished during our escape from this vessel and without altering my own fortunes, we will call a truce until such a time as we can take up old habits."
Jack reached out and patted Farbeaux on the leg near his wounded hip, making the Frenchman jump in pain. This time he didn't have to act at all.
"Okay, Henri, once we're out of here, we can resume the game. Until then, I can definitely use your penchant for planning, cheating, lying, and being one sneaky bastard."
"It will do no good to flatter me, Colonel."
* * *
When the doctor left sickbay half an hour later, he escorted Collins back to his Group and then made his rounds of the departments, checking for deep submergence sickness amongst the crew. Henri Farbeaux eased himself out of his bed. He steadied himself, then slowly limped into Dr. Trevor's private office. He saw the file cabinet where he had watched the doctor place Jack Collins's file. It wasn't locked. Because of that, he wasn't interested enough to check it. He went down the three rows of drawers until he came to one cabinet secured by a built-in lock.
"Eureka," he said, smiling as he removed a small clip he had stolen from his own IV drip. He twisted and bent it until he had the shape he wanted, then inserted it into the lock. He raised his brows when he heard the click and the lock disengaged.
"A little too trusting, Doctor," he whispered as he pulled the drawer open.
There were at least three hundred thick files inside. He recognized some of the names as crewmen onboard Leviathan. When he didn't find the one he wanted, he opened another cabinet. Then his eyes caught the one file he wanted. He pulled out the thick chart and then closed the drawer.
He looked at the name again — Captain Alexandria Olivia Heirthall.
* * *
Belowdecks, Samuels watched as reactor numbers three and four went offline. He maintained reactor one at 50 percent for pressure control, and took power down on reactor two to 60 percent, maintaining life support and their current speed at thirty-five knots.
"Mr. Samuels now has the conn," Alexandria said from her observation suite.
Commander Samuels took a deep breath as the sound of the four reactors started winding down, and Leviathan slowed as they went deeper into the trench.
Outside the pressure hull, Leviathan continued on a journey to a spot in the earth's depths, where the hull would be taking on twenty-eight tons per square inch. The magic of the Heirthall science was the only thing keeping every man, woman, and child onboard from being crushed to the size of a microbe — and still she went deeper.
The final deep run of the magical Leviathan had begun.
PART FOUR
FROM HELL'S HEART
Why does man believe that intelligence, coupled with thumbs, sets him apart from the rest of the natural world? It is the soul of a creature that truly sets species apart, and in that regard, humankind is sorely lacking, and thus has created Hell upon his Earth.
— Captain Octavian Heirthall, 1865
17
"I have no idea where to go from here," Jack said to Carl, far away from the others. He felt the bandage on the top of his head.
"We're too deep for any sort of attack on the crew, at any rate, Jack."
"Right now that's the only saving grace — she can't kill anyone down here because she's the only person in the world who can go this damn deep."
Everett was about to respond when the hatchway opened and Sergeant Tyler stepped into the observation compartment with four of his security men. They were quickly followed by Virginia and Captain Heirthall.
The security team took up station on either side of the hatchway with their automatic weapons at the ready across their chests. Virginia walked in with her head lowered and joined Alice, Sarah, and the senator at the large table. Niles took a step forward, but Tyler held his hand up to stop him from advancing.
"Has it been reported to you that your Sergeant Tyler here nearly killed Colonel Collins? Did he do it of his own accord, or was he acting on your orders?"
Alexandria Heirthall sat in the nearest chair and closed her eyes as she felt the rush
of the Demerol finally taking effect. Then she looked at Compton. She mentally fought the urge to turn on Tyler, instead looking at Jack.
"My apologies, Colonel, for the sergeant's temper. We are all under tremendous strain."
"Is that what you call it? My God, woman, you and your trained killer are damn well out of control!" Lee said, pointing at Tyler with his cane. This time Alice didn't try to silence him.
"And now do you believe that the world will sit idly by and have you threaten the starvation of millions of people? Men like the ones onboard Missouri will keep hunting you," Niles said as calmly as he could.
"I'll do what I can for the survival of my people, my vessel, and for the life in the seas, Dr. Compton. Moreover, I have never once doubted the bravery of your nation's submariners. I just thank God they have a captain that understands the limitations of American naval science."
Alexandria finally seemed to focus with dilated eyes as the heavy dose of Demerol hit her system in earnest. She looked into the faces staring at her from around the observation deck. Then she stood with what looked like grim determination, fighting the helping as well as the debilitating effects of the drugs in her system.
She paced to the front of the compartment, then stopped and turned to face the Event Group. Virginia was now seeing a very different woman from the one she had seen less than thirty minutes before, maniacally piloting Leviathan on her deep run into the trench. She was now calm, and although drugged, seemed more in control emotionally.
At that moment, Commander Samuels stepped into the compartment and stayed by the hatchway. Alexandria gestured for him to come forward.
"My apologies, James," she whispered near his ear. Her eyelids fluttered, closed, then opened. "I believe it's time I explain a few things to you and our guests. Please stand by the hatchway, and take this." Alexandria slipped a small.32-caliber pistol into his hand. He pocketed it and then turned away.
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