Leviathan (33 page)

Barley staggered to his knees. Shocked by the blast, he seemed to be on the verge of collapsing. He gasped, “Nothing can kill that thing! It's climbing! It's climbing out of the gorge! Frank was right, he was right. It can't die.”

“
It will die,” Thor said, lifting the wounded lieutenant to his feet. “It will die even if I have to choke it with my bones.”

“
Come on.” Connor backed up from the edge. “That thing is tracking us by heat. Like a pit viper or something. We've got to lay some tracks around this part of the cave to confuse it. To slow it down. Then we'll make a run for the Housing Cavern.”

Thor scowled.
“Do you have a plan?”

Angry and heated, Connor shook his head.
“That thing has got to be weakening, Thor. So it's going to have to feed again. But it's already eaten everybody down here but us.” He focused on Barley. “Where do they keep the food for that thing?”

“
In a freezer near G-2.”

Connor knew the section.
“Can you get to the freezer and blow it? Can you destroy this thing's food supply?”

“
Yeah,” Barley nodded, staring narrowly. “Do you think destroying the food supply will kill it?”

“
Well, it's going to starve it,” Connor replied, glancing again into the gorge. “And if it's starving, then it's going to be weaker than it is right now. We'll have an advantage.”

Thor was before him.
“What is your plan, my friend?”

With a frown Connor turned away.
“Starve it. Burn it. Kill it any way I can.” He hesitated, gathering. “All right, this is what we're going to do. Thor and I are going to lay a ton of tracks on this side of the gorge to confuse it. Barley, you get down to G-2 and blow the freezer. Make sure there's nothing left for that thing to eat. Then meet us in the corridor that leads to the Housing Cavern in thirty minutes. Thirty minutes! No more!”

“
And then?” Thor asked.

“
And then we'll take this thing apart,” Connor rasped, standing straight.

* * *

Frank tried to close his mind to the sounds of pain that surrounded him. Jordan was crying, hungry and thirsty, and Beth
was trying to give him some apple juice and bread. Chesterton was stalking back and forth across the floor, regaining a remarkable level of nervous strength. But he was worried, anxious, disturbed. He tried to raise Barley again and again on the A-unit, but received nothing. Nothing but static.

Sitting at a computer terminal, Frank accessed GEO.

He typed: HOW MUCH TIME BEFORE DETONATION?

Response: FOUR HOURS, ELEVEN MINUTES.

Frank leaned back, wiping his face. Mind racing, he knew what he had to do. He had to find a path, any path at all, to access GEO's Logic Core. If he could only circumvent the lockout, he knew he stood a chance. A slim chance, to be sure. But still a chance. And yet with the initiation of the countdown, GEO had closed all paths to the Core. He couldn't use normal channels to reach it. He couldn't use a terminal or even voice control.

He continued to stare at the screen.

There had to be a way.

Pausing, Frank felt the sweat cold on his face, his hands, and arms. His back was chilled at the touch of his wet shirt. He typed another command, desperate and feeling desperate: GEO, I AM ADVISING YOU OF A COMPUTER ERROR. LEVIATHAN HAS NOT ESCAPED. LEVIATHAN IS STILL IN THE CONTAINMENT CAVERN. THE TRACKING DEVICE IS NONFUNCTIONAL. IT IS NECESSARY TO DEACTIVATE FAIL-SAFE UNTIL TRACKING DEVICE IS REPAIRED.

Response: GEO DOES NOT PERCEIVE TRACKING DEVICE AS NONFUNCTIONAL.

Frank lifted the headset, unable to keep his communication with GEO on a terminal level.
“GEO, this is Dr. Frank.”

“Voice
control identified.”

“
It is imperative that you allow me to access Logic Core. Do you understand?”

“
I understand. It is not possible for Dr. Frank to access Logic Core. All program paths to Logic Core have been closed with the implementation of fail-safe procedures. Logic Core cannot be reached by terminal control or voice control until—”

“
Terminate answer.”

Exhausted, Frank leaned forward, face in his hands. There
had to be a way. There had to be a way. Nothing was impossible. Not with this computer. It was the embodiment of Rachel's living neural network, the height of artificial science. Almost a living, breathing intelligence. In its deepest essence it was almost … human.

Opening his eyes, Frank stared at the screen.
“GEO,” he asked quietly, watching the screen although the answer would come from the speaker system. “Is Cyberspace Mode accessible? Is the Cyberspace Mode accessible in a Fail-safe Mode?”

A pause
: “Yes.”

Frank noticed that Chesterton was staring. He met the colonel's questioning gaze with an air of horrific fate. Hesitantly he continued:
“GEO, is the Viral Defense Program activated for Cyberspace interface with Logic Core?”

“
All viral defenses are activated against Cyberspace interface with Logic Core. Any entity entering Cyberspace to interface with Logic Core will be neutralized by Viral Defense Program.”

That was it. Frank saw it in a breath, understood their only chance to defeat the fail-safe, if it was truly any chance at all. He asked,
“GEO, what is the status of Brubaker Passage and Omega Passage? What is the structural integrity?”

“
Omega Passage is unstable. Brubaker Passage to the Computer Cavern is intact and functioning on emergency lighting.”

Frank knew the corridors weren't functioning on emergency lighting because Connor had bypassed the main breaker, routing power to the entire facility. But he also knew that GEO couldn't realize that.

“GEO,” he asked again, “do you have sufficient battery backup to initiate a Cyberspace contact with Dr. Frank? Can you access sufficient electrical power for a Cyberspace connection?”

“
Yes.”

Frank stood, turning to face Chesterton.

“What are you thinking about doing, Doctor?”

“
I'm going into Cyberspace to reach GEO's Logic Core,” Frank responded. “But I have to get to the cavern where GEO's mainframe is located. If I can get into Cyberspace, then I might stand a chance of reaching the neural net and interfacing with the Logic Core. There's a chance I can disarm the fail-safe.”

“
Doesn't sound like much of a chance, Frank. I heard that thing say that it would kill anyone entering Cyberspace.”

“
It's better than no chance at all, Chesterton.”

Chesterton stared.
“Can you really do it?”

“
I can't do it alone. I'm going to need someone to work a secondary terminal. They're going to have to disarm the viral defenses that will be attacking me while I'm in Cyberspace.”

Chesterton shook his head.
“You're out of luck, son. I don't know diddly about computers.”

“
I do,” Beth said from the doorway of the complex. “I know about computers, Frank. In fact, I know a lot about computers.” She paused, turning to Chesterton. “I've broken the encryption that Blake and Adler set on the satellite system, Colonel. I set the Clays to work on it while we were gone and I've just checked it. It's finished. I've got an image and I think it'll work. I think I can get through to the satellite with it.”

Chesterton staggered, stepping forward.
“Thank ... Thank you, Beth! I never really thought that anybody could do it! Really!”

“
Well it's done, Colonel.” She paused. “Do you want me to access the satellite?”

A long, hard hesitation, and Chesterton leaned over, hands on his knees. He finally straightened, frowning.
“No, Beth. Not now. We're too close to the detonation of this fail-safe. And I'm not sure that we can get out of here in time.” Hesitation. “I don't want the North Atlantic Sea Patrol on top of this island when that bomb goes off. We're going to have to kill that thing first. Or be close to killing it.”

Beth said nothing, turned to Frank.
“So what kind of help do you need, Doctor?”

Frank stared at her.
“I'll need for you to go into something like Virtual Reality IO or Virtual-X and destroy the Viral Defense Program before GEO can hit me in the Cyberspace Mode.”

“
How much time do we have for that?”

“
About four hours. But I don't know how much time it'll take me to get to the Logic Core through Cyberspace. Right now we need all the time we can get. Why?”

“
Because I've got to let Jordan rest,” Beth responded, without emotion. Emotion had been burned from her. “He's dehydrated. And he's got to have at least two hours of rest. His heart is too weak to take this.”

Chesterton turned to her.
“I can watch the boy for you, Beth. The best thing for him is sleep anyway. We don't need to go waking him up. And if you can deactivate this bomb, it might even buy enough time to get some help.”

Beth hesitated a moment, staring. Her face was unrevealing until she spoke.
“No,” she said finally. “I'm not going to leave my child. Not for anything. We've got a couple of hours, don't we, Frank?”

Face tight, Frank nodded.

Meeting the morose aspect of the scientist, Beth seemed to have reached her own fatal sadness. She turned her head to gaze at Chesterton. “Do you think they're alive, Colonel?”

Chesterton stepped forward.
“Connor's a good man, Beth. He's resourceful and determined.” He paused. “Yeah, I think they're alive. Connor’s already beaten it twice. And he's got Thor and Barley with him. Together they've got a chance.”

His speech didn't appear to move her. Beth blinked, turned to look with steady grimness at Frank.
“All right, Doctor. Two hours, and then we'll go. And while we've got the time, you can tell me exactly what kind of machine we're dealing with here.”

* * *

Reverberating roars thundered through the section of tunnels beyond Bridgestone as Connor fell against a wall, sweating profusely. He wiped his face, sweat sliding on sweat. He blinked, eyes burning, and felt his clothes heavy and cold with perspiration.

Thor came to him out of the gloom, gasping. He fell against a wall, lifting a hand to his chest, head bowed. Connor thought that he was about to have a heart attack.

“
Are you all right?” he whispered.

Thor nodded his head.
“I have left a trail the beast will not easily follow.”

“
Where's Barley?”

“
I don't know ...”

A panic rose in Connor's soul, but he couldn't think about it. He couldn't think about anything at all. It was all numbness, darkness and cold.
“Well, which way did he go?” he managed.

Thor lifted an arm, pointing.
“He was running . . . toward the southern tunnels. Leaving a trail. He said that he was going to open up several vaults. Make it expend its strength. And then he was going to destroy the freezer. Destroy the food supply.”

Connor shook his head.
“We said that we'd separate for thirty minutes! Then we'd meet back here. But it's been more than that.” A fear struck him. “We'll have to go find him before we can—”

A shadow came out of the gloom, moving silently.

“Hah!” Thor whirled, the M-79 instantly level.

Barley didn't even slow until he reached the wall, shaking. He was glistening with sweat, breathless. Then he moaned and fell to one knee, kneeling. His breath was ragged.

“Where is it?” Connor whispered. “Did you get a visual?”

Barley gazed up.
“Are you crazy? I didn't
want
to get a visual! It's tracking us! That's all I know ! But we've laid a truckload of tracks. It's got plenty to do.”

“
Did you blow the freezer?”

“
Yeah.” Barley nodded. “I blew it with a phosphorous grenade. The only thing left to eat now is us.”

A vengeful grimace and Connor took another deep breath.
“Good. Now we'll see how tough this thing really is.” He took a deep breath, standing. “All right. Let's go. We've got to reach the Housing Complex.”

Barley spoke, gasping,
“Is Frank defusing the fail-safe? We're almost out of time.”

“
I don't know,” Connor replied, shaking sweat from his brow. “I hope so ...”

* * *

“
All right, Doctor, explain GEO to me.”

Beth rested a forearm on a raised knee, staring. She was sitting on the steps of the complex, and Frank was before her, thin and almost unbelievably young for what he had accomplished. She tried to remember that it was his genius that had created Leviathan. She hoped the same genius would be enough to destroy it.