Leviathan (23 page)

Chapter 17

Leaving Jordan in the sleep of exhaustion, Beth walked into the Conference Room of the Housing Cavern. It was only a couple rooms away, and she knew that she could hear Jordan if he awoke crying.

The computers were still secretly working to break the encryption, and there was nothing else she could do on that level. So she had locked the door and, to release a measure of anger, ventured out to confront the men responsible for this tragedy.

She stalked coldly into a conference room to find Hoffman engaged in angry debate with an Army colonel, Blake, the one who had come to the surface and taken her into the cavern. And then there was Adler, the tall, mysterious figure who had arrived at the island three months ago. He stood beside the Russian named Tolvanos. Beth felt a grim pleasure at seeing the Russian's nose and upper cheek swollen, badly bruised from where she had smashed the keyboard over his face.

She glanced around the cavern, saw that all the overhead lights were working. But the big vaults that sealed the exits were still locked, shut solid. So she walked forward, eyes narrowing. She noticed distinctly that no one else in the room seemed willing to join the debate.

“No!” Hoffman shouted, pointing his pipe at Adler. “You are the one responsible for this atrocity, Mr. Adler! It is not this incompetent Russian scientist that I have for so long despised!”

“
Likewise, Dr. Hoffman,’' the Russian smiled.

“
I believe that the military has jurisdiction, here,” Adler replied, gesturing patiently to Blake. “So if you have any complaints I suggest you level them at those who—”

“
I do not lodge complaints with fools,” Hoffman said wearily. “Yes, Blake is an incompetent bootlicker who should have known better. But he is not ultimately responsible for this carnage because he did not replace Dr. Frank, a very capable scientist who knew quite well what this creature might do. It was you, Mr. Adler! It was you who called for an across-the-board replacement of this facility's personnel so that you could complete unsafe testing to meet your schedule. And I know the reason.” Hoffman stepped forward. “Yes, I know that this has become a CIA Black Operation that will ultimately be used to destroy whatever enemies it is designated to destroy, military or civilian.”

His condemnation was complete.

“Yes, Mr. Adler, I am not so old that I cannot recognize the signs of covert subterfuge. But that does not excuse what you have done. Blake is a fool, yes. And Tolvanos is a monster, a merchant of death. But it is your personal ambition that has brought us to this regrettable hour. In your stupidity you challenged the higher reason of men who knew far better than yourself. You challenged, even, a force of nature and delivered us all to this peril.”

Beth saw that Adler was unconcerned with what Hoffman thought of him. He seemed to be a man who held his own opinion as the only meaningful standard for measuring anything at all.

“Dr. Hoffman,” Adler replied, “all great science is intimately bound to the fate of great men. To the fate of the entire world, for that matter. Because great science redefines nature as we know it, even changes nature. But this is no time for such a high-minded debate. At this moment there are more pressing issues confronting us.”

Beth stepped into the confrontation, arms crossed. She made it clear by her physical position that she stood behind Hoffman
in every way.

“
I want to tell you something,” she said, focusing coldly on Adler. And as the older man turned to her, Beth noticed a slight cut beneath the cheek, as if he had been hit.

“
Please, Mrs. Connor, I have no time for your—”

“
I don't want to hear that garbage,” Beth said, thinking of her son. “And I don't want to hear your pathetic drivel. I'm not here to argue with you, Adler. I came here to tell you something personal. And you're going to hear it.”

Colonel Blake snapped his fingers at the guard, a young man who held the only weapon in the room.
“Escort Mrs. Connor back to her room,” he said sternly. “Ensure that she does not disturb us again.”

Paling, the guard stood in place. He cast a quick glance at Beth and she returned it compassionately, knowing that Barley had instructed the man to leave her alone.

Enraged by the soldier's refusal to immediately obey his order, Blake turned forcefully: “That's a direct order, soldier! Colonel Chesterton is very likely dead and that leaves me in command! I do not intend to let this situation deteriorate any further! Now do as you are told!”

Swaying, the guard held his place.
“I'm sorry, Colonel,” he replied. “But Colonel Chesterton gave me my last orders to hold all of you here. So you're officially under arrest! And Lieutenant Barley told me not to disturb Mrs. Connor. I've got my orders.”

Blake glared, as if he c
ouldn't comprehend what was happening. He stepped close to the guard. “Soldier,” he said, “we are in a grave situation. And you and I are probably the only military personnel still alive in this installation. So the line of command is clear. I am a colonel! You are a private! I give the orders and you obey them! Do you understand?”

The soldier shifted nervously.

Blake shouted, “Private! Do as you are told! The Army is a machine! And we do as we are told or the machine breaks down!” He paused briefly. “It's true, yes, that Colonel Chesterton suffered a mental breakdown before his death and you cannot be blamed for obeying his orders. Nor will any regulation discipline be initiated against you. But that does not change the fact that Colonel Chesterton is dead and we need to resolve this situation!”

A tense pause.
“I'm sorry, sir,” the private finally responded. “I was given my last orders from Colonel Chesterton to secure you. That's the extent of my duty. Mrs. Connor can do whatever she wishes.”

For a long time Blake continued to stare, choked by his wrath. Then he turned away, fists clenched at his sides. Beth was too tired to smile.

“Then I will give you an order, soldier,” Adler turned to the private. “I ultimately control this facility and since we don't know whether Colonel Chesterton is alive or dead we must clearly have someone in command. Please escort Mrs. Connor back to her room.”

“
I'm sorry, sir,” the guard replied without any hesitation whatsoever.

Adler's jaw set, and Beth felt a light laugh escape her. It was humorous to see that the authority of a probably dead Chesterton was more powerful than the wrath of a living Blake and Adler combined. She stepped forward, mouth tight.
“So, Mr. Adler, you're the one responsible for this?” she asked, her smile twisting into a chilling glare.

“
Mrs. Connor,” Adler gestured vaguely, “I do not have time for—”

“
Answer my question!”

“
Mrs. Connor!” Adler turned fully toward her. “Remember your station! You are only a supervisor of the Ice Station's Communication Center and you deal exclusively with civilian affairs, which means that you have no right to question my orders!” He glared down. “Nor do you have the right to circumvent any security measures! Your attempt to break the security code was a grave – a
grave
crime.”

“
Oh, rest assured,” Beth replied, “I'm still going to smash your security code, Mr. Adler. I'm going to smash it into pieces and then I’m going to shove it down your throat. Because you'll have to kill me before I let you do this to my family.”

Adler stared.
“You will never break the security code, Mrs. Connor. You merely boast. Your government's most revered security agency instituted it to prohibit unauthorized use of this system.”

“
Oh, I’ll break it,
Mister
Adler,” Beth answered. “And I just wanted you to know something. Your secrets are finished. Forever. And
you're
finished. Because when I break that code the entire world is going to know what's been going on down here. And I mean that;
the entire world
.”

“
I believe,” Adler replied slowly, eyes hazing with menace, “that you should be more careful in your actions, Mrs. Connor. You may place yourself in grave danger.”

Beth laughed, stepping even closer.

“Do you pray, Mr. Adler?”

Stunned, Adler began,
“I ... Yes ... Of course I pray, Mrs. Connor. All good men pray for—”

“
Then you'd better pray that nothing happens to my child or my husband,” Beth said, coldly holding Adler's gaze. “Because if Connor or Jordan is hurt, the only thing you'll need to be afraid of is me. And believe me, Mr. Adler; you'd better be very, very afraid.”

* * *

Thor stared at the darkness a long time before he realized he was awake.

Floating in darkness, yes ...

No ... not floating
…

Cold, black stone.

He was lying on black stone, cold surrounding him. He didn't realize for a long time that he was alive, then it came to him at once, a falling, white-black fear, nothing, then a solidifying awareness that made him conscious of the cold night, of air.

Cautiously Thor moved his left arm, testing. Yes, he could still move. He had survived. And he felt cautiously, trying to register if his back had been broken. But everything seemed intact.

He felt splintered wood beside him, matchstick edges of a rifle stock. It was his weapon, but Thor couldn't think of it now.

In pain, he sat up, gently touching a wound on his head, crusted with blood. With a deep breath he gazed about the dark, remembering what had happened.

He had fallen as far as twenty feet before he struck a sloping rock. But the bruising impact slowed him briefly and he had managed a wild, tearing hold on the outcrop before rebounding painfully from something else, perhaps a steel beam, to fall another ten feet until finally slamming with mind-numbing force upon the shaft floor.

Thor realized he was cold, possibly in shallow shock. And he had no idea how long he had lain unconscious, bleeding and beaten. But he decided, with a cautious testing, that no bones were broken. He wearily let it fall away, useless now. Then he felt the battle-ax at his back.

Stiffly, Thor shrugged off his cloak, slipping the battle-ax's strap from his shoulders. Even in the dark, he knew by the perfectly balanced weight that the ancient weapon had survived the terrific fall. Then he rolled, rising unsteadily to his feet, leaving the ax on the stones. And he stood for a moment, swaying, dizzy, sensing ... something.

A stillness of air.

Blindly Thor reached out and instantly his hand touched ... cold ... cold steel. As smooth as glass. Teeth clenched, Thor smiled.

Yes
!

It was the entrance of the cavern. He spread his arms, measuring the dimension of the massive steel portal, but the colossal vault was even wider than his enormous reach, stretching into the dark.

Thor stepped back and cautiously reached down, lifting the battle-ax to sling it over a shoulder, fighting off dizziness. Then he slowly angled left, stepping carefully to avoid stones, following Blankenship's instructions toward the ventilation tunnel.

Down here, Thor knew, or felt somehow, he had entered a strange and different world
– a hated world ruled by the absence of hated light as powerfully as the world above was ruled by its presence.

But he had no time for such thoughts. He turned his mind from them, concentrating on what he had to do. With six cautious steps, he had reached the edge of the steel door. He didn't search for his flashlight. He knew it could not have survived the fall. So he gently waved his hands in the air, feeling, finding the air current, then closing his hands toward the wall until he touched the slated ventilation grate.

Yes, the current.

It was there.

Warm, dark air.

Thor smiled at his success and then his smile faded, his face setting in grim determination. His teeth clenched tight as his fingers curled inward through the thick rebar-grate, locking like talons. Then his huge, solid shoulders pulled hard against the steel.

Nothing.

The steel was immovable. Buried in six inches of granite.

A mountain, deep in stone.

A moment more Thor stood, feeling the ice-cold steel in his grip, its power mocking him, destroying him. Yes, he knew, all his life had brought him to this hour. All that he had ever loved and honored. All that he had ever lost, and all that he had ever defended.

“No,” he whispered. “No ... No ...”

He would not be stopped.

With a dark frown Thor leaned forward, locking an iron grip on the thick steel bars that left no blood in his hands. Then his hold tightened even more, grinding the steel into his flesh until his fingers cracked with pressure. And his titanic shoulders expanded, herculean arms tensing and bending to prepare the full measure of a strength he had never used. His heart beat faster and faster until he felt his heartbeat there in his hands, in the steel.

Thor bent his head, teeth clenched, eyes tight.