As the three men stood and helped Carl to his feet, they heard hissing sounds coming from the access vent.
"Jack, I think we better find another way," Everett said as he pushed Mendenhall and Ryan in front of him and started for the stairs.
As Collins turned away, he heard another of the symbiants fall from the access hatch. Then another, and another. He turned quickly and fired into the mass of clear membrane of the first. He saw the bullets enter the creature's gelatinous flesh, but all they did was make it shy away as the next set of bullets found the mark. Then it started after Collins with a hideous scream.
* * *
Farbeaux was torn between watching the spiral staircase, where he heard sounds of men running, and the hatchway, where the sparks of the cutting torch had stopped. The decision was made for him as the right-side hatch was thrown back and an object was thrown in. Farbeaux and Lee hit the deck as the flash-bang grenade went off with a bright flash and deafening explosion. In the middle of all of this, Ryan, Mendenhall, and Everett came rushing down to the main deck. They hit the floor, stunned. It was Jack who automatically started firing at the assault element coming through the hatch. He caught the first two unaware, and they crumpled to the floor. When he took aim at the third and fourth as they rushed in from the companionway, he heard the syms flopping down the stairs. He quickly turned, fired upward, and then hopped over the railing the last ten feet. Hitting the deck rolling, he felt hands on him. He looked up and saw Sarah as she helped him to his feet.
Farbeaux had risen from their cover and started firing into the opening. Lee turned his attention toward the staircase and fired in that direction. Then all of the action stopped at once.
"Colonel, there is no escape. Surrender now, and we will call the symbiants off. Refuse, and I guarantee you and your people a harsh death. You have never seen the syms feed — I assure you it is not a pretty sight."
Jack and the others saw that the symbiants had paused at the higher level. They were moving around, watching them through the smoke, their illuminated eyes penetrating even from that distance.
"We want the captain. Give her up and we'll put you on the surface of the ice shelf. That won't guarantee your survival, but it's a better fate than facing the symbiants," Tyler called out.
Collins took a breath and looked at Niles. Compton in turn looked at Heirthall lying between Alice and Virginia.
"They won't ever… get the… launch codes… I swear. Ginny, Dr. Compton, you and your people have done… all that you can."
Niles looked back at Jack and shook his head.
"Sorry, Sergeant, I guess you have to come and get us," Jack called out, and then he, Ryan, Mendenhall, and Everett took up positions next to Farbeaux and Lee.
"I can't say that I am happy with your decision-making, Colonel," Henri said, not taking his eyes off the hatchway.
"Colonel, I am accessing the view screen on the observation window. Judge for yourself what the consequences are before deciding," Tyler shouted.
As Jack turned, the view screen in the upper portion of the viewing glass illuminated. The picture showed a fish-eye view of one of the crew's quarters. Men and women were struggling to get higher in the compartment as seawater rose beneath them. Although the picture had no sound, Collins knew they were screaming and yelling. Several of the more experienced crew were trying desperately to open the hatch, diving and then surfacing for air.
"There are three more compartments like that one, Colonel. Surrender, and I'll let the crew go along with you."
Collins lowered his head.
"Jesus, Jack, that bastard is holding all of the cards," said Everett.
"I daresay he's right, my boy," Lee said as he lowered his weapon.
Jack stood and slowly walked to the open hatch. He safetied the handgun and tossed it out into the companionway.
The battle for Leviathan had ended.
* * *
As the elevator took Tyler's security team, the Event Group, Farbeaux, and Captain Heirthall up through the skyscraperlike conning tower, Jack watched Alexandria. She was deteriorating fast. He looked down at Sarah, and he could tell she was seeing it, too. The captain clung to Virginia, holding on to something of herself she could still feel and touch. As far as he knew, she hadn't been medicated since their arrival in the Ross Sea, so her speculation that the symbiant implant had died was true.
At the topmost deck of the conning tower, Tyler opened a large access hatch and they were shown outside for the first time in two days. The bridge overlooked an amazing sight — a cavern that was eight hundred feet high and a mile in length. On both sides of Leviathan, to port and starboard, and only seven hundred feet away, were the sheer walls of the naturally formed bubble. The ice, illuminated by lighting placed by Heirthall and her crew years before, made the cavern gleam with a natural beauty no one outside of Leviathan had ever witnessed before.
A natural shelf with smaller pockets of caves lined the cavern. It looked as if the crew of Leviathan had expanded these to accommodate items such as vehicles and equipment, which had already been removed from the dangerous location.
The bridge phone rang, and Tyler quickly answered it.
"We have sunrise on the surface of the shelf. Winds are picking up to about sixty knots. We will start to see rougher seas shortly. If we are to launch the missiles today, we have to accomplish it before the winds exceed seventy knots."
"I see. We'll be retrieving the codes shortly."
"How can we be getting winds here, beneath the ice shelf?" Compton asked, adjusting his fur-lined hood.
"In answer to your question, Dr. Compton, the winds are from the surface of the Ross Ice Shelf, one mile above us. They are coming through one hundred and fifteen thousand years of accumulated ice," Alexandria said weakly, shivering.
"How is it penetrating?" Virginia asked, looking around her as the wind picked up in intensity.
"Look up," Alex said, gesturing with her gloved hand.
As they did, the sight was terrifying. The sun, just rising on the surface of the Ross Ice Shelf, was showing like a fan of sunbeams through a massive crack in the shelf itself. It was at least a mile long that they could see, stretching far beyond the cavern.
"Over five hundred miles of the shelf is breaking away. This single event will add more than three inches to the water levels of the world. More will soon follow."
"My God," Alice said, taking Lee's arm as she looked skyward.
"Losing the ice shelf alone is bad enough, but that coupled with the melting of the Arctic will eventually be devastating to the coastal areas of the planet."
"This is what you are allowing with your alliance with the symbiants, Tyler," Jack said, watching the man who had binoculars trained on a distant, hollowed-out section of ice.
"Why haven't we seen the crew? Are they released as you promised?" Sarah asked.
"They will be released soon," Tyler said, lowering his glasses and looking right at Sarah. "As soon as the captain gives us the launch codes for the weapons."
Everett took a menacing step forward, but Collins reached out and stopped him just as ten security men brought their automatic weapons up.
"I fear… Sergeant Tyler and Yeoman Alverez are too late," Alexandria said. "The fault line has opened even farther than the last time we were here. I would… say by at least a thousand feet. The cavern is too unstable for a launch."
"Nonetheless, we will launch in half an hour. Captain, I fully expect the launch codes once we get back below. Colonel, your people go first, and before you try anything, remember: I have men stationed at the bottom of the sail, and they will not be forgiving the second time."
Collins stared at Tyler, wishing for just two minutes with the sergeant. He then looked at the others on the sail and thought better of it. There still might be a time and a place.
Moving down the steep staircase, Virginia grabbed for Alexandria as her knees let go. She held her upright until Mendenhall and Ryan stepped up to take th
e captain's weight.
"Take her down," Tyler shouted from above as the first of the above-deck security men reached the opening of the conning tower hatch.
As Jack's feet hit the inside of the tower, the light from above them was suddenly cut off. The hatch had slammed shut. As men and women scrambled in the darkness, their eyes adjusted. Jack saw them first. It was three of the children. They had hidden in the darkness of the stairwell, then slammed the hatch shut and dogged it before Tyler and his men could follow them.
The three children, one of whom was the small girl that Will had come across on Saboo, smiled at Mendenhall. They were silent as they looked at the assembled group. Then the girl, along with her two male companions, gestured for them to follow.
Collins stopped the small child. "There are security men below us," he said.
"Yes, they are there," the girl said, but turned and went down the stairs anyway.
"I think we better follow the child," Farbeaux said, limping after her.
As they reached the bottom of the long staircase, they were amazed to see five more of the children. The pounding on the hatch above told them of Tyler's anger. Around the children were the limp bodies of ten of Tyler's security men. Collins didn't even want to know how the children had subdued them.
"There are… still… a few weapons in the… cavern," Alexandria mumbled.
"All ashore that are going ashore," Everett said as he started to open the escape hatch on the base of the giant sail tower.
USS MISSOURI (SSN-780)
Jefferson was staring and thinking about the chart in front of him. Missouri was at station keeping — only using her thrusters to adjust for drift as she waited. They were one mile off from the Ross Ice Shelf. He looked every few minutes at the latest ELF message from National Command Authority — the president of the United States. The coded wording was clear after deciphering: Sink Leviathan through any means possible. Release of special weapons has been authorized.
Captain Jefferson ran a hand through his graying hair, then looked up as his first officer approached.
"Maybe the president doesn't know that Collins and the others are still alive and onboard."
"It doesn't matter, Izzy. He knows they very well may be, but our orders stand. When Leviathan comes out from under the shelf, we bushwhack her with a Mark seventy-eight 'special.'"
"Goddamned nuclear-tipped torpedo," Izzeringhausen said, shaking his head.
"Let's get the cursed thing loaded into tube three. Load one, two, and four with standard Mark forty-eights."
"Aye, sir."
"Izzy, we will do our duty on this," Jefferson said as he saw the look on his first officer's face.
"Yes, Captain, but no one said we have to like it."
Captain Jefferson frowned and looked down at the chart that depicted the Ross Ice Shelf.
"Stay under the ice until Collins can pull something—anything—off, if he's still alive."
20
LEVIATHAN
"Is… the captain… going to die?" the small child asked with tears forming in her eyes.
Jack knew it would do no good to lie to the child. "Yes — but she… and we… are grateful for your help. What is your name?" he asked.
"Natika," she said, as she placed a small hand on Heirthall's cheek. "And she is our captain." It was as if it were that simple. Heirthall was the captain, and it could be no other way. Jack knew that, to the children, there was no other authority in the world.
Everett managed to get the hatch open, and the cold wind entered the tower. The small girl turned away, and the others followed her.
"Hey, hey," Jack said as he stopped her and the others. "You have to come with us."
The girl just shook her head. "We have others we have to bring out. The crew are trapped in their quarters — they will die soon. My friends are also in the mess compartment. We must help them."
"Colonel, you have to get me to the command bridge," Heirthall said, still held between Virginia and Alice.
"They can't launch without the codes, right?" Lee asked.
"They can… get the… codes through… other means."
"This job sucks," Mendenhall said, voicing the same opinion that he had on many an occasion.
Collins made a quick decision. "Will, you and Jason go with the girl. Do what you can to free whatever crew is still alive, and be careful," he said, taking two of the weapons from the downed security men and tossing each one to the lieutenants.
Natika seemed to like the suggestion; her smile widened. She stepped up to Mendenhall and took him by the hand.
"I guess we're in your girlfriend's hands," Ryan quipped as he joined Mendenhall and the children.
"Funny man," Will said as they left the sail and disappeared through the hatch leading down.
Jack reached for the other fallen weapons. Everett, who joined him, immediately tossed the automatic rifles to Robbins, Lee, Compton, Farbeaux, and finally Sarah, who shook her head, knowing what Jack was going to say.
"Mr. Everett, I assume the captain has a way of stopping any missile launch from Leviathan. Take her with you and find a way into that control center. Get it done." He pulled back the charging handle of the weapon, chambering a round. "Get it done."
"And you?" Everett asked as Sarah stepped up to Jack, shaking her head.
"I'm taking a different route."
Jack placed his right hand on Sarah's cheek and smiled. "Don't worry, Short Stuff, I have an extreme desire to live. I have plans beyond today."
Sarah was about to speak when Collins turned and went into the elevator. The doors closed and he was gone. Everett quickly stepped up and eased Alexandria from the grasp of Virginia and Alice.
"Captain, shall we try and help?" Everett asked Heirthall when he saw her blue eyes open and alert.
"By all means… Captain Everett."
"I'm not leaving without my friend," Virginia said, then helped Carl with Alexandria's weight.
* * *
Yeoman Alvera sat on the edge of the captain's bed. Her hand played over the coarse blanket as she watched two of Tyler's men cutting into the captain's safe. As the front of the steel safe popped free of its hinges, she stood and walked to the bulkhead. She eyed the two men until they moved away, and then she reached in and took out the safe's contents. She tossed papers on the deck until she came to a plastic-coated envelope. She snapped the plastic into two pieces, then looked at the thick paper inside.
"NX0021-001 Heirthall-one," she said, reading the launch codes aloud.
Alvera smiled.
* * *
Ryan and Mendenhall followed Natika toward deck five and the crew level. Ryan looked at Will as the girl started acting strangely. She placed her hands on each hatch as they passed them. She would slowly, sadly shake her head, with tears in her eyes.
"What is it?" Mendenhall asked, leaning down in front of her to bring him to eye level.
"They are all dead. They died scared — frightened at not knowing what was happening to them."
The girl started again, passing the first, then the second, until she came to the third compartment. She stopped and her small hand wavered, then it moved higher, then lower.
"Alive," she said, closing her eyes. "Ten — twenty — maybe forty crew — they are cold, scared — they want out."
Ryan quickly looked at the large spot welds on the hatch wheel and the four on the hatch and frame. Then he turned to look for something, anything, to break the welds.
"Damn it, we need a cutting torch," Mendenhall said, looking behind him, expecting Tyler's men at any minute.
Ryan spied something on the composite hull — a fire hose and ax in their case. He ran, smashed the glass, and removed the heavy ax.
"You any good at chopping wood?" he asked Will.
"Man, I'm from L.A., I—"
"Forget it. Stand back," Ryan said as he raised the ax and swung at the weld holding the center wheel in the middle of the hatch.
The blade str
uck, making an unbearably loud ping. Then he swung again, and then again. Natika was holding her hands to her ears as protection from the loud noise. Finally, on the fourth swing, the makeshift spot weld gave way.
"Turn it, Will. I'll start on the hatch welds."
Mendenhall cranked on the wheel. It refused to turn at first, then slowly spun in his hands.
"Got it," he cried.
Ryan didn't hear. He swung at the right side of the hatch and the first weld broke free. A small trickle of water started oozing out along the seal. After breaking the second and third welds, more water started squeezing between the steel and the rubber gasket as the pressure from within started to push the water out. Ryan moved Mendenhall and Natika to the safe side of the hatch, and was just raising the ax for the last weld when they were surprised.
Two men stood standing at the juncture of the companionway, pointing weapons at them. They stepped forward, coming within three feet. Will pulled Natika in toward him and stepped next to Ryan as Mendenhall, with his free hand, raised his weapon.
The two men raised their weapons. Ryan was about to throw the ax when suddenly, and without warning, the last weld broke free. The hatch gave way as the single weld was no longer strong enough to hold back the pressure of the water inside. The hatch sprang so hard and so suddenly that the two guards never knew what hit them. Their bodies were smashed as the hatch crashed into them. Water cascaded from the compartment, along with bodies, live men and women, and the detritus of the personal lives that once sat in lockers and upon tables.
Ryan, Mendenhall, and Natika were washed thirty-five feet down the companionway before the flood subsided.
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