Leviathan (41 page)

Chapter 36

Blood, blood ...

It convulsed, green eyes opening. Its neck was stiff, stiff, hard-stiff. And then it remembered. The man, the man with the primitive weapon
! He had done this!

It felt a rage, but the rage passed as it continued a Systems Damage Scan that began in its wedge-shaped tail and continued in a lightning-fast electrical synapse up its spine to strike the cerebellum in a stunning bolt of energy that transmitted a picture of internal and external injuries.

RECONSTITUTE!

Instantly its dragon-form emptied all acid-storage cells into muscular mixtures that superheated its blood, elevating its heart rate to a level that could sustain its form. It convulsed, legs spinning in the air for a volcanic moment before dark claws found the ground. Then with flaring strength it gained balance, placing all four legs solidly against the stone, staring.

Gaping fangs stretched toward the ceiling.

Black
winds …

“
You must kill the man, the woman, and the child ...”

Black fire bolted through the Dragon's brain, and instantly its head snapped down, eyes locking on the tracks.

YES! . . .

The child must be destroyed
!. Just as the other child was destroyed! But that child was destroyed so long, long ago ... the child of great strength that took the world from us!

Eyes erupting black light, the Dragon stood.

A galactic intent caused the gaping fangs to smolder like coals. Then something otherworldly shadowed its dark breath and the Dragon knew that the child would destroy us ... just as the other child, the child born in the desert, had destroyed us BEFORE!

Leviathan raised death-eyes to the all-powerful darkness.

Roaring allegiance.

* * *

A moment passed.
“All right, Frank, if that thing revives itself, what's it going to do?”

Frank stared.
“I don't know, Connor. It might try to reach Crystal Lake and get into the ocean. It'd find enough food to reconstitute. But, then again, it might still want to finish this fight. I don't know.”

“
We're going to the power plant,” Connor muttered. “That's the only way to get to Crystal Lake and it's the best place to wait this out anyway. The power plant might even have what we need to kill this thing, if it can come back from what Thor did to it.”

“
How are you going to kill it?” Frank asked, amazed.

“
I'm going to kill it the same way you created it, Doctor,” Connor responded, turning to Barley. “Gather up whatever weapons we've got! We're going to the power plant!”

Standing straight though he was burdened with a half dozen weapons and ammo belts and even an extra LAW he had collected during the last hour, Barley poised at the edge of the computer dais. His muscular face was angry and grim and fatal.

“What are we gonna do in the power plant, Connor?” he asked.

Connor gently held Beth in his arms.

“Send that thing back to hell.”

* * *

Darkness swept before it
– a galactic black shadow through the night.

It saw the heat-tracks of the human but it knew the man could not escape. No, no man could escape
because it was stronger than all of them together.

It had even defeated the man with the ax, the man who fought with such strength. But it had defeated him too. Yet as it moved forward it felt the man had taken something from it
– something it did not understand. Then it remembered the last, roaring blood-dark image of the man; the man who thundered with his arm raised high, burned by flame but always fighting, always fighting, refusing to be defeated.

As the others had been defeated.

Thunder struck as the battle-ax descended to—

Blackness.

It remembered no more. It sensed only an awakening; a rising, searching for the man that had injured it. But he was gone. He had fled, as the others had fled. And it was alone in the chamber, searching for tracks.

A clawed foot struck a fallen girder and the Dragon sprawled in the corridor, roaring and vengeful. Instantly it reached its feet to glare down, hate-filled eyes glowering, red. With a growl it swiped down to hurl the girder down the hall, rebounding from beams.

NEVER!

It would never allow defeat!

Because it was the end... the end of the earth! And nothing could stand against it! Nothing but the child! But the child would die, it knew. The child would die and then it would feast upon his blood.

As you did before!

Snarling, Leviathan turned burning red eyes to the tracks. It shrieked into the night.

Raging.

Promising.

* * *

Connor!
” Frank screamed from his place in the power plant. “GEO just told me that Leviathan is alive!”

Connor fell to the floor, gasping.

“You okay?” Barley called out.

“
Yeah,” Connor mumbled numbly, finding the strength to rise. “I'm just worn out. But I'm not shocked.”

Connor swayed, raising his face to the ceiling, feeling the deep cuts inside his palms. He was so exhausted that he needed something to wake himself up. But all he had was pain. So he clenched his hands, feeling the dry blood inside his tired grip. He clenched his fists tighter, breaking the blood-dryness until he felt his soul
touching his life in the wounds. Trembling, Connor held the pain for a long moment, finally releasing.

It was enough.

Releasing a long withheld breath, Connor turned to stare at Jordan secured high on a fiberglass walkway suspended by cables far above the power plant floor. It was by far the safest place in the cavern.

The boy was clutching his own hands, staring in a child's true fear. Burned down by exhaustion and fear, Connor barely had the strength to stand, but he smiled, and his heart lifted slightly as Jordan smiled back. Then Connor turned away to study what he had done.

He gazed down the long passageway that entered the power plant. And in the distance, in another tunnel, he knew that there were three additional traps awaiting the creature, traps he had set on his fast run through the complex. With those, he knew, he might kill the thing, because he had gone for maximum power on everything, hammering overkill, figuring he would need it.

“
Maybe,” he whispered.

A moment more and Connor shook himself from his daze, staring at Beth. She was working feverishly on a communications relay that she had rigged through a satellite. Violently hitting the keyboard to make the code mirror the NSA code, she was attempting to overlay the encryption system. It looked like she might succeed.

Connor asked, “Haven't you reached Reykjavik yet?”

“No,” she replied, concentrated.

“
Well how much longer is it gonna take?”

Unfazed, she reached up to minutely twist a dial.
“A few minutes, Connor. But I'm not trying for Reykjavik. I'm trying for Neskaupstadhur. They've got a twenty-four-hour watch on the maritime frequency and they're closer. Plus that, the North Atlantic Sea Patrol has three 130s stationed there. They can be here in less than two hours.”

“
All right,” Connor rasped. “But hurry it up, Beth. We're almost out of time. I've got to go out into the cavern.”

Startled, Barley stood from where he was tying a can of gasoline to a truck parked at the entrance of the power plant. It was one of Connor's last-chance defenses.

“You're going out into the cavern?” he asked, staring. “For what, Connor? Why don't we wait for that thing to come to us?”

“
Because I've got to wear it out before it gets here,” Connor replied. “I've got to break it down so we can finish it. If that thing makes it through this cavern to reach the lake, it's gone forever. It's going to be loose in the world and we can't live with that.”

Grimacing in fatigue, Barley said nothing for a moment. He seemed embarrassed, as if knowing that he should have known.
“Then I'll go out with you,” he said finally. “Maybe we can get it in a crossfire or something. I'm ready for it.”

“
No,” Connor shook his head. “I want you to stay here, Barley.”

The big man's brow furrowed.

“Why?” he asked angrily. “We'll stand a better chance if we go out together.”

“
Because this is personal, Barley. That thing took something from me and now I'm going to take it back. And one of us needs to stay here and take care of things in case it finishes me.”

Barley, strong and wise beyond whatever was visible, turned to stare at Beth and then Jordan, positioned high above the floor on the gazebo.
“All right,” he said, turning back to Connor. “I understand.”

Connor stared a moment.
“You're a good man, Barley. Like Thor.”

Barley's grim face bent, his expression turning to pain.
“The big man was a hero,” he said. “We should all die like that.”

A short nod and Connor spoke more softly.
“You'll take care of my family for me?”

A solemn
pause and Barley nodded. “With my life, Connor.” He reached up and ripped down the Velcro flap concealing the detonator of the C-4, still wrapped around his chest. “With my life.”

Connor blinked and nodded, touched by the friendship they'd forged. But there was no time for anything else. He glanced at Beth and she looked up, rising, knowing. Then, together, they mounted the steps of the gazebo, moving toward Jordan.

To say good-bye.

* * *

“
What are you going to do?” Beth asked carefully.

Connor bent over her, staring at the soft brown eyes.
“I'm going to lure it through the cavern. Hit it as many times as I can. And if everything fails, I'll have to bring it in here.”

Beth reached up, brushing back the hair from his forehead.
“You're too hard, Connor. You always have been.” She stared at him. “Please, please don't push it. I'm asking you. Please ... be careful.”

Connor laughed.
“I'm—”

“
I know,” she said, grimacing. “You're always careful.” She paused a moment. “But you're not.”

Connor met her gaze, grimacing.

“When are you leaving?” she asked.

“
In a few minutes. As soon as Frank tells me that it's coming this way. And one way or another, it's got to come this way. It's either going to come for us or it's going to try to make it to the lake.”

Beth lowered her face and Connor hugged her. Then he reached out and drew his son closer, holding him strongly in his arms, communicating strength.
“I've got to go out for a little while, buddy,” Connor said softly, separating to stare his son in the eyes. “But Mommy's going to stay here with you. And everything's going to be okay. I'll be back in a few minutes.”

Jordan was hushed. Trembling.

“Are you going to kill the monster?” he asked quietly. “Like you promised?”

Connor blinked, stunned,
“Yeah, buddy. I'm gonna kill it for you.” He felt himself choking. “I promise.”

“
I know. ’Cause you're my daddy.”

Connor hugged the boy so that he wouldn't see his tears, then he kissed his forehead, his eyes. Finally they separated, holding the small, pale face in his scarred hands. Eye to eye, Connor whispered.

“I'll be back for you, son.”

Jordan nodded, blinking a tear.

“I know,” he whispered. “'Cause you're my daddy.”

* * *

Chapter 37

How much time do we have?” Connor asked. “Probably half an hour before Leviathan closes on the power plant,” Frank replied, leaning back from the computer panel. “Leviathan is still trying to stabilize its life-support system. It’s hurt really, really bad.”

“
How bad is that?”

Frank shook his head.
“It’s hard to tell. But GEO says Leviathan’s vital statistics are thin. Its EEG activity is spiked, like it’s on the edge of stroking out. Clearly, it’s starving. Blowing the freezer was a killing move because it would have found the food eventually and used it for strength.”

“
So if it’s starving,” Connor mumbled, “and it’s hurt so bad, how can it still be moving?”

Without hesitation Frank said,
“Right now Leviathan is emptying storage cells located in its vertebrae to generate acidic blood-heat, trying to compensate for energy loss. It’s a last-ditch defense to stay on its feet. Which means it’s dying. Fast.”

“
So it’s going to try to reach the lake.” Connor didn’t say it as a question.

“
Probably, Connor.” The scientist stared at him. “But it’s going to have to come through this power plant to reach the lake. It’s going to have to come through us.”

“
How much strength does it have left, Frank? What’s your best guess? Can it still use flame?”

Frank shook his head shortly.
“I don’t know. It might still be able to generate gel pressure but it’s definitely lost its speed. Those enzymes were meant for a kinetic reaction – to charge an enemy. And now they’re being used just to keep it on its feet. Which means Leviathan will be moving really, really slow. You’ll probably be able to move as fast as it can, to a point.”

Silence.

“Thor took its heart,” Connor said, bitter. “He took the best of it with him.”

“
Yes,” the scientist added after a moment. “But if my guess is right, I’d say that Leviathan has enough enzymes left for one good, hard fight. It can continue for maybe a few hours. And then …”

Connor waited.
“And then?”

“
It’s impossible to say, Connor. If Leviathan can’t get through the power plant to reach the lake, it might curl up and go into hibernation. To try and pull nutrients from the air and ground. Or it might just die. I don’t know.”

“
But it won’t go into hibernation if it’s close to blood,” Connor said, frowning. “It likes the taste too much.”

Silence, and Frank answered.
“No. if Leviathan is close to a kill, it will probably go for broke.” He waited a moment. “But don’t forget this, Connor. Even if Leviathan is close to death, it’s going to die hard because it will know instinctively that everything depends on victory.”

Smiling bitterly, Connor nodded, turned away.

“How are you gonna kill it?” the scientist asked.

Connor hesitated.
“Thor is the one who killed it, Doctor. All we have to do is finish it.”

“
And how are you gonna do that?”

“
I’m going to fry it.”

“
You’ve already tried that.”

“
I made mistakes.”

“
What kind of mistakes?”

“
I hit it from the ground up, or from the head,” Connor replied. “Or I used too much power.”

“How could you ever use too much power? That thing’s got the resistance of a mountain.”

Connor released a hard breath.
“I hit it with 100,000 volts, and that was too much because it blasted it clear across the cavern. I hurt it, but I don’t want to hurt it. I want to put it down for good.”

“
So you’re going to hit it with less power?”

“
No,” Connor shook his head. “I’m going to hit with as much or more. But I’m going to try and hold it and hit it. I’m going to put it in a place where it can’t escape the current. And if I can hit it with 100,000 volts or better for at least a minute, I think I can make that superheated blood fry its brain. I’ve got to either do that, or I’ve got to throw a current as big as a lightning bolt through its chest and blow out its heart.”

“
Blow out its heart?” Frank’s face was suddenly rigid. “How are you going to blow out its heart?”

Connor gazed at the two severed sections of the Norwegian power line, positioned just inside the doorway.
“I’m not sure, yet. But I’ve got some ideas.”

“
Hey, Connor.”

Connor looked down, silent.

“I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry about Thor.”

“
I appreciate that.”

“
He was a good man.”

Connor
’s eyes narrowed. “He was a hero, Frank. He was a hero in an age that doesn’t believe in heroes. Nowadays people prefer to believe in whatever gets them by or saves them money. Everything else can be sacrificed. Usually is. I know, because I’ve been there my whole life. But Thor believed in God and Satan and good and evil and the whole nine yards. He believed that you stand with one or the other. And I think the man was right. I never knew a better man and never will because he was the real thing. He was someone who stood on what he believed and wouldn’t get off it. The rest of us are just sauce.”

Silent, Frank nodded.

Beth stood, removing the heavy black communications head-set. “I got through, Connor! We’ve got a C-130 coming out of Neskaupstadhur and there’s a North Atlantic Sea Patrol cruiser forty miles southeast running on calm seas. It should be here in less than two hours.” She paused, staring. “Now all we have to do is get out of here.”

“
No, Beth,” Connor said. “Now all we have to do is kill that thing.” He turned to Frank. “Do you have control over the fail-safe?”

Frank nodded.

“Will GEO set if off whenever you give it the command?”

Another nod.

Connor lifted his gaze at Beth. When he looked back at Frank his face was almost white with emotion. He spoke loudly so that Beth could give her blessing, her agreement.

“
All right, Frank. This is how we’ve got to do it. I’m going to try and put this thing down. To finish it. But if it makes it past me, then it’s coming for this cavern and the lake. And if that happens you’re going to have to ignite the fail-safe.” He searched the scientist. “Can you do that?”

Frank nodded without expression.
“Yeah. GEO will set off the fail-safe at my word. Whenever I say.”

“
Good. Because we can’t let Leviathan get past us.” Connor pointed grimly at a tunnel on the far side of the power plant. “That’s the tunnel that leads to Crystal Lake. The only tunnel. So Leviathan has got to get past us before it can be free.” He stared at them, grim. “This is where we hold the line, people. Or die trying. Because if Leviathan gets past us, then it gets to the lake. And if it gets into the lake, then it’s loose in the world.”

Silence and stares.

“Do all of you understand what I’m saying?” Connor asked quietly. “If we have to sacrifice ourselves to take this thing out, then we do it. But Leviathan can never escape this cavern. Are we all in agreement?”

Connor looked at Beth, and she didn
’t even blink as she nodded, slow and certain. Then he looked across at Barley, and the big man was the epic image of a professional soldier. Bruised and bloody and burned, he stood with the stock of his rifle set on his hip, barrel pointing at the ceiling. He nodded without remorse. Connor returned the gesture.

“
All right,” he said slowly. “Then I’m going out.”

Barley called out.
“Put it in the dirt, Connor!”

“
Yeah, good luck,” Frank repeated.

Without words Connor nodded and lifted the M-79, walking out. He approached the wide, darkened exit of the power plant, moving toward the ultimate shadows and fear. But at the door he paused, turning almost against his will to gaze back.

He saw that Jordan had risen to stand lonely and alone on the walkway. The boy had shed his blanket and fearfully held both hands tightly in front of his chest, staring.

A low moan escaped Connor. He didn
’t know what to do or say. Then Jordan raised his small hand in the air, holding it high with fingers spread strong.

I
’ll always be with you …

Connor
’s teeth came together, tears in his eyes.

He raised his hand to the air.

Chapter 38

Merciless and warlike, Connor crouched in the center of the long black walkway that led to the power plant. His face was a mask of coldhearted will.

His eyes glinted, red.

An M-79, the grenade launcher, was slung across his back. And he had other grenades in a small bag on his waist. A semiautomatic Beretta pistol was shoved in his belt, and he held another pistol in his hand. Four extra clips were in his back pocket.

Frowning in pain, Connor shifted, tried to ignore it. He had taken three more painkillers but they only took the faintest edge off his uncountable torn muscles, cuts, and bruises.

His legs were aching, threatening to collapse whenever he moved
and his shoulders and chest were raw and bleeding from wound after wound that he couldn’t even remember receiving. His upper arm, where he had taken the steel spike, was completely numb and swollen, and he had been forced to remove Frank’s bandage to allow more blood flow.

Connor was thankful Barley had given him the last of the high-strength codeine capsules. Now, he knew, he could push his body far past the point of normal endurance. He could push himself past injury, past everything.
He could sustain a life-threatening wound and still keep fighting until blood loss or shock took him to the ground.

And this would be the worst, he knew. A battle to the finish between man and beast. No pity, no mercy
and absolutely to the death.

In the breathless anxiety of the moment Connor felt himself moving into something vividly pure, everything within him fading, fading until he was completely one with what he was doing. Even his fear faded, faded until everything within, his son and wife and his own life became one with his stand. It was all in him, with him.

There was no fear here.

Only purpose.

Connor concentrated, focusing whatever strength was left inside him for the imminent conflict. He knew that he had chosen his location well. He had positioned himself a full mile from the power plant with four traps to his back, each trap set to take the beast apart the same way it had taken them apart.

Piece by piece.

And Connor knew he would do it. He would take it apart piece by piece until there was nothing left of it.

“
Come on,” he whispered. “It’s just you and me now … Show me what it really takes to break you.”

Silence for a moment, and Connor spoke quietly into the headset, grateful that Frank had taken a moment to put his voice identity on-line with GEO. Now Connor, too, could talk to the computer through the headset.

“GEO, identify my voice.”

“
Voice identified as Jackson Connor
,” whispered the speaker mounted beside him on the wall.

“
What is the status of Leviathan?”

“
Leviathan has achieved full revival of life-support systems
.”

“
What is Leviathan’s location?”

“
Leviathan is two miles away from the power plant and is moving in an eastern direction
.”

Connor nodded slowly, reaching back. He pulled the M-79 around, breaking open the breech to confirm that a grenade was locked in the pipe. Then he snapped it shut, staring down the corridor to see the half-dozen long wires dangling from the ceiling, each end stripped of insulation to leave the shiny copper exposed.

If the beast touched any of the wires it would be blasted flat down against the steel walkway, which was also wired. And Connor was confident that, even if Leviathan was certain of the trap, it wouldn’t be able to thread a path between both the electrified platform and the descending wires.

It would be a good start.

“
Leviathan is moving more quickly toward the power plant
,” the computer whispered eerily. “
Leviathan is in a Hunter-killer Mode
.”

Connor frowned.

“So am I.”

* * *

To the end, Connor played it out in his head.

He worked his mind through the traps, one by one. And then he remembered the thick black Norwegian power cable that he had pulled from the wall of the power plant, exposing both ends of the line. He hung the severed endings well inside the entrance, leaving a gap of twenty feet between the exposed copper.