Leviathan (9 page)

“
I don't know,” Connor replied. “But I don't think it's good. A lot of the guys have been uneasy lately. They think they've heard sounds coming from the Containment Cavern. They couldn't say what it was. They just said that whatever it was didn't sound happy. But I've managed to calm them down, so far. I've told them to just relax and do their jobs.” Connor shook his head, finally focusing on Thor. “You know a lot about languages, don't you?”

“Yes. I studied at the University of Paris. I am a student of all languages.”

For the slightest moment Connor stared at the red-bearded face, hesitating to compromise whatever small security clearance he had received to do his job. Decided to go against it.

“Have you ever heard the word leviathan?”

Thor leaned back, a disturbance surfacing.

“Yes,” he said quietly. “I know the word.”

Connor waited.
“What does it mean?”

“
It is a word almost lost to time,” Thor replied, his tone submerged in Nordic coldness. “It is the ancient name for Dragon.”

* * *

Chapter 8

But there is no way to be certain,” Adler commented, settling behind his desk. “Surely, Dr. Frank, you have no means of being certain that Leviathan will achieve immunity to nitrogen. You don't even have any way to be certain that Leviathan has entered this ... this ...”

“
Hunter-killer Mode,” Frank said, breathless.

“
Yes, yes,” Adler said, nodding, “this infamous Hunter-killer Mode. If you wish to make presumptions, Doctor, you could presume that Leviathan's attack this morning was the result of a natural tendency to obtain food. We can all presume anything we please. But science demands data! We cannot leap beyond available facts.”

“
I know this creature, Mr. Adler!” Frank slammed his hand onto the desk. “I know how it thinks! It would never have attacked the cell this morning unless some instinct prompted it.”

“
And that instinct could have been for food” Adler responded. “It could also have been sheer bestial anger at being contained in the cavern! It could have been any number of things!”

“
But it wasn't any number of things!”

“
Has GEO confirmed your presumptions?”

“
No, it doesn't work like that. GEO can only monitor Leviathan's body statistics like its heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, brain activity or whatever. The program chip that was designed to control Leviathan was never implanted, and it wouldn't do any good to implant it now because Leviathan's DNA has completed the instinct that the control chip was supposed to project.”

“
What do you mean?” Adler stared.

“
Forget it, Mr. Adler. It's complicated.”

“
Yes, of course, Doctor.” Adler smiled. “But I am a complicated man. Explain it to me.”

Frank swore softly.
“The part of Leviathan's brain that would have been controlled by the mission control chip has already been overcome by Leviathan's Hunter-killer Mode instinct. It's like ... like someone who has a weak eye when they're a child. If nothing is done to make that eye fuse the proper nerve connections to the brain, then that eye will always be weak. There won't be anything physically wrong with the eye itself, but the visual part of the brain that would have controlled that eye will be taken over by the other eye, the strong eye. And when that happens, it can't be reversed. The nerves are fused and that's it.”

Frank paused, catching a breath.
“Leviathan can never be controlled, Mr. Adler! The part of Leviathan's brain that could have been controlled has already fused to something more powerful. It's been taken over by the Hunter-killer Mode. It's an instinct-reflex that regulates synapses.”

“
Yes, I see,” mumbled Adler, nodding. “So all GEO can do is track Leviathan, tell us where it is. But as of this moment, Leviathan controls itself.” He leaned back, cradling the back of his head in his hands. “Yes. And just what do you propose we do, Doctor?”

“
I propose that we totally abandon the island and initiate GEO's nuclear fail-safe.”

Adler was suddenly upright.
“Surely you fail to understand what you are saying.”

“
I understand exactly what I'm saying,” Frank rasped. “GEO has a nuclear fail-safe. It's built into the lowest center of the cavern, and it's strong enough to vaporize this entire island. It's designed to trigger itself if Leviathan ever activates the detectors at the island perimeter or if Leviathan is ever escaping without authorization into the ocean. You know that that was a safety measure I insisted on from the beginning, and I got it.”

“
But Leviathan hasn't escaped,” Adler retorted. “GEO ... GEO cannot simply activate the—”

“
I can activate the fail-safe,” Frank replied. “I can't deactivate it once it has begun. But I can push the button.”

“
Doctor, Doctor, please, you are not thinking logically. If Leviathan must be terminated, we should simply allow Chesterton to—”

“
Chesterton doesn't stand a chance and he knows it,” Frank said, leaning back. “If Chesterton and his men ever opened up with their weapons, Leviathan would come out of hibernation like a rocket. You don't know what you're dealing with, Adler.” Frank purposefully dropped the mister. “There is nothing in this cavern that can stop Leviathan except the fail-safe.”

Adler rose to his feet.
“I will not sanction the nuclear vaporization of a billion-dollar experiment! Particularly since Leviathan is still asleep in the Containment Cavern, and we have no means whatsoever of knowing with any certainty that it is in this so-called Hunter-killer Mode!” He placed his knuckles on the desk, leaning into it. “That is the end of this discussion!”

Silence.

“I’m going over your head, Adler,” Frank replied finally. “I’m going to Stygian Enterprises on this, and I'm going to tell them your judgment is unsound. I'm going to tell them that you are unsound, that you're being criminally irresponsible! I'm going to tell them that you're unnecessarily putting the lives of everyone in this installation at stake—the project itself at stake—because you can't realize the danger we're in!”

Unexpectedly, Adler smiled.

Air in the doorway shifted and Frank turned, realizing instantly. He saw the host of implacable and disciplined faces staring knowingly at the contest of wills. He recognized men who presumed themselves to be far more responsible and far more advanced in this arena of science. There were at least ten of them in the room already. More were gathered outside. And their focus on Frank was condemning. Disappointed.

“As you can probably guess,” Adler said, leaning back from his aggressive position, “I had anticipated this on your part, Doctor. So after our meeting this morning I placed calls to the United States Government and Stygian Enterprises. As of this moment we have a new science team, Doctor. And Colonel Chesterton has also received orders to be relieved of command.''

“
I want to talk to the company myself,” Frank said coldly.

“
I'm afraid the lines of communication have now been encrypted,” Adler responded. “So there will be no civilian or military communications from this facility without the proper code, which only myself and Colonel Chesterton's replacement possess. I informed the company that the sensitivity of the project at this critical moment mandated additional security measures.”

Frank's head tilted.
“So you're saying I can't talk to the company?”

“
What I'm saying, Doctor”—Adler moved around the desk, distinctly pugilistic despite his age—”is that I am now singly in charge of this facility's communications. Please understand, this is a sensitive situation. We stand on the brink of a brilliant triumph. And I know even better than you why we must follow through as soon as possible.”

Frank glanced at the faces behind him, at Adler.
“What are you going to do?”

“
I'm going to complete the tests,” Adler replied, smiling. “And I am going to complete them on schedule, just as I've been ordered to do. Rest assured, Doctor, they will all be done with adequate safety measures. But they will, indeed, be done. Then we will finally see what kind of power Leviathan truly possesses.”

Frank felt himself surrendering to the situation. He shook his head dismally, nothing else that he could feel.

If you wake that thing up it's going to kill you, Adler,” he said. “It's going to kill every one of us.”

* * *

“
All ancient civilizations documented encounters between man and leviathans,” Thor said in the patient tone of a scholar.

“Early historians record that leviathans were beasts of unequaled power and rage, supreme on the earth in strength.”

Connor frowned, silent.

“First,” Thor began, “I’ll you what Job, the oldest book in the world, says about Leviathan. Then we will proceed from one text to another, examining the evidence.”

With a smile Connor said,
“You sound like a scientist, Thor. You're talking about this leviathan, or dragon, like it was a real thing.'‘

“
It was real.” Thor nodded simply.

Connor held Thor's ponderous gaze. He tried to sound respectful when he finally spoke.
“You're saying that dragons were real creatures? I mean, like fire-breathing and the whole nine yards?”

“
I only repeat what history records,” Thor replied. “But I believe that a dispassionate analysis of history can reveal hidden science.” He sniffed, moving past Connor's skepticism. “Now, the forty-first chapter of the book of Job, a brilliantly written historical exegesis of science and culture despite servile objections of critics, records that Leviathan ruled both the sea and the land. It says that Leviathan was unequalled on the earth for physical power, and that it was armored with scales the size of shields, each overlapping the other so tightly that air couldn't pass between them. Job says that Leviathan's heart was hardened as a lower millstone, its skin utterly impervious to weapons. Arrows and lances had no effect against it, and its strength could shatter iron or bronze like straw. Its eyes glowed like a red dawn, and fire was kindled in its mouth. It could set coals ablaze with a blast of its breath and—”

Connor sat up.
“What did you say?”

Anticipating skepticism, Thor nodded curtly.
“Yes. It was known to breathe fire,” he added.

A silence passed, Connor seeing in his mind the steel plate melted into shreds beyond the wiring. He thought about confiding it. Decided to wait.

“Sorry,” he said quietly. “Go on.”

“
Historically,” Thor continued without hesitation, “the largest and most powerful of all the leviathans was the Heraldic Dragon. But the entire species of leviathan was apparently a family of closely related creatures, some more powerful than others. The lesser leviathans were known as wyverns, amphepteres, or guivres. And the prehistoric plesiosaur may have also been incorrectly included in the species, but the plesiosaur was not a true leviathan. It was simply an ocean creature which, by all the evidence, survives to this day. The rest of the leviathans, however, were smaller and weaker images of the Heraldic Dragon. But the Heraldic Dragon was the greatest of all leviathans. It was unchallenged in size and strength and was said to have defeated entire armies in battle.”

“
Just how big was this thing?” Connor asked.

“
It is unknown. Apparently the size of Heraldic Dragons could vary. Many of the largest dragons were observed in England, India, and North Africa. In the ancient world, Africa was infamous for large leviathans. And during the height of the Roman Empire, when Rome controlled North Africa, there was even a Roman Legion that engaged a leviathan in battle.”

“
When?” Connor asked. He had a need for specifics.

Thor didn't hesitate.
“In A.D. 67 the Roman historian Octavus Livy wrote that he personally witnessed a savage and bloody battle between a single leviathan and the Eighth Roman Legion, led by General Scipio Regulus. The battle occurred in what is now Libya and lasted for almost a week. Livy wrote that over three thousand Roman soldiers were killed in the encounter.”

Connor stared a moment.
“That's incredible. The Romans were disciplined fighters.” He paused again. “What started the battle?”

“
Livy writes that the leviathan attacked the Legion without warning,” Thor answered. “There was no reason, no provocation. Apparently, Leviathan was a beast of unnatural hostility. That agrees with other historical accounts of its temperament. But once the battle was engaged, it was a battle to the death. Livy recorded that the Legion fought effectively against it, but the leviathan was heavily armored and couldn't be wounded. Eventually, recognizing a complete defeat of his six thousand men at hand, General Regulus ordered a desperate retreat. The surviving Roman soldiers then built siege engines, like catapults, for hurling heavy stones. Afterwards, they attacked the leviathan again and eventually cornered it in a small canyon, where they crushed it with repeated blows.”

“
So leviathans were prone to attack people?” Connor asked, uneasy.

“
Apparently, yes,” Thor replied, brooding. He had become more Icelandic as he continued, darker and more somber. “In the eleventh century it was recorded by Byliny, a respected Ukrainian historian, that a leviathan had terrorized the steppes of Western Russia for decades. It was called Gorynych and was supposedly responsible for slaughtering a large number of villagers. It was finally killed after a savage, month-long battle with a legendary Ukrainian hunter named Dobrynja, who hunted the beast down and killed it to avenge his brother's death.”

“
Just one man?” Connor broke in. “A single man killed a leviathan?”

Thor shook his head.
“I believe, from the oldest and most accurate description of the beast, that what Dobrynja slew was a wyvern and not the biblical Leviathan or mythical dragon.” A pause. “It was obviously not a creature equal to the size of the leviathan that attacked the Roman Army in North Africa. That leviathan was almost certainly the heraldic dragon, and no single man who ever lived could defeat such a beast in combat.”