Текст книги "Leviathan"

Автор книги: David Lynn Golemon

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They watched as the young woman walked over. She was dressed in a red shirt and blue shorts, different from the hangar deck crew who wore blue jumpsuits, not unlike the military members at the Event Group. Her brown hair was braided–coiling around both ears–and her smile was genuine. Her eyes were deep and dark blue, with a ring of soft silver around the pupils. She was an amazing-looking girl.

"This is Yeoman Felicia Alvera. She will show you to your quarters so you may rest and change clothes. We are conducting operations this afternoon, so your lunch will be served in your staterooms. The captain sends apologies."

"When you say operations, you mean attacking merchant shipping and killing more innocents?" Niles asked.

"Is there such a thing as innocence in your world, Doctor? Even in this world we have our faults, and at times, very little innocence." Tyler turned and strode quickly away.

"I must apologize for the sergeant. He has his manner; that's why we don't allow him out very much," the yeoman said, smiling. She saw her humor did not sit well with Leviathan's new guests, so she cleared her throat and gestured to her right. "If you'll follow me, please."

Niles allowed the senator and Alice to fall into place behind the woman so he could assist the former director if he needed it. Virginia, unusually quiet, stepped up and took Niles by the arm as if fearful of something or to keep Niles in check with his insults, he wasn't sure.

"After you, dear Sarah," Farbeaux said with a wave of his arm.

"Colonel, just because there are no armed guards on us does not mean we are not being watched."

"I've already spotted ten security cameras, my dear, and they are tracking us, indeed. Someone is quite interested in our little group."

Sarah just realized who it was she had given the warning to. This man had a sense about him that others could only dream of. He was a survivor beyond measure and a master predator. She decided she would keep close to Henri Farbeaux. She took his arm to steady him and they followed the others.

The group stepped into a plastic-lined, carpeted elevator that blended well with the bulkhead. The yeoman waited until all were inside and then said aloud, "Deck ten."

As the elevator doors closed silently, they all felt the movement of the car. In just about ten seconds, they felt the elevator glide to a soft stop, then another strange feeling began and that was when they realized they were moving horizontally. They followed their progress on a multicolored chart on the wall that depicted their car moving at a rapid gait along a multitiered grid. The elevator traveled another thirty seconds and then stopped. The doors slid open with only the slightest hiss.

" Deck ten."

Sarah looked at Alice and Virginia as the computerized female voice controlling the elevator announced their deck.

"Is that–?"

"If not, she has a sister," Niles said as he commented on the computer-controlled voice. They were all startled when they realized it had the same sexy and embarrassing audible print as their own Europa system at the Group.

"This woman must make a fortune doing these damn recordings," Sarah said as she followed the yeoman out of the elevator.

"If you're speaking of our computer's voiceprint, it maybe just like your system." She gave a small laugh. "It's recorded by a little old lady in Akron, Ohio." She gestured for them to step free of the elevator. "She's seventy-six years old."

"Oh," Sarah said as she waited for Lee, Alice, Niles, and Virginia to catch up with her and Farbeaux. She frowned toward Alice. "Don't ever tell Carl, Ryan, or Mendenhall. It would shatter their fantasies about Europa's voice."

As they entered a very long and curving hallway, they saw magnificent laser prints of the oceans of the world lining the wall. Each was backlit and was a depiction of a bay, a sea, or a moonlight view of the Arctic. As they walked slowly behind the yeoman, they all stared at the design of the hallway. The material was unrecognizable. It had the look of hard plastic, but as each reached out to touch the material in turn, they knew it was something beyond their own engineering knowledge. It was soft in spots and hard in other areas. Large panels met at a stringer that felt and looked like painted titanium.

"All hands, prepare to dive."A loud horn sounded throughout the boat.

The wall, about five feet up from the floor, split, and a long panel slid down as it did. A stout-looking handrail slowly slid from the abcess.

"If you'll stop and take a handhold, this will only take a minute. The initial dive profile of Leviathancan be rather steep. We call it the 'the fall from grace.'" Yeoman Alvera smiled as she took hold of the steel-and-wood handrail.

"Nice," Sarah said, but taking ahold of the rail anyway.

"Dive, dive, dive."The voice was strong and clear over the hidden loudspeakers as a soft tone sounded throughout the boat warning of the dive.

The yeoman let go of the rail and stepped up to the senator and Alice.

"If you like, we have straps. Would you prefer that?"

Lee fixed the young girl with his one good eye.

"The day I need to wear a–"

"No thank you, young lady, we are fine," Alice said, giving Lee a harsh look.

As Yeoman Alvera returned to her spot, the deck suddenly angled down and they felt their stomachs go with it. Then they could tell by the centrifugal forces being applied that the speed of the great ship increased to unheard-of velocity. The young woman pointed to a red-numbered digital readout at the next bulkhead, twenty feet in front of them and over the next hatchway.

"Impossible," Niles mumbled.

The indicator was flashing numbers at an incredible rate. Their depth had gone from two hundred feet to six hundred in a matter of forty seconds. As Niles tried to follow the digital numbers, Leviathanstarted to level off and slow. Soon the LED readout at the bulkhead said that the massive boat was at nine hundred feet in depth. Then the readout changed and the numbers split, now showing not only depth but also speed.

"We will travel at this speed for the next–well, we'll be pretty steady for the time being."

Niles saw Leviathanwas cruising at seventy knots with not so much as a shiver coursing through the vessel.

They continued on their way, not seeing another crew member on their journey. Then they came to the first stateroom.

"Mrs. Hamilton, we have put you in with Senator Lee. We believe those are the accommodations you are used to?"

Lee looked slightly embarrassed, but Alice just raised her left brow.

"Good, you'll find a fresh suit in the closet for the senator. We believe we got the size right, and a nice pantsuit for you, Mrs. Hamilton."

She opened the door and allowed the two to enter. They were surprised to find their accommodation would have rivaled anything on a modern cruise ship. There was a small living area complete with desk, separate bathroom with tub and shower, a completely stocked wet bar, and a large bed dominating the room. The motif was in greens and blues with rich wood paneling.

"These accommodations were specially built for this occasion. Normally the captain–well, let's just say our berthing areas are a little more spartan and functional."

As Niles stepped aside and allowed the girl to pass, he nodded at Lee and Alice and then closed their stateroom door.

"So, our abduction was planned for a while, at least long enough to refit this deck?" he asked, following the girl.

"Oh, yes," she said slightly turning her head and looking at Niles. "We were just unsure of how many to accommodate." She looked to her right at Colonel Farbeaux. "Unfortunately, we were only expecting two people from your Group. I'm afraid you'll have to double up in your staterooms for the time being."

Farbeaux looked down at Sarah and smiled. Sarah only rolled her eyes.

The girl caught the look and gestures. "You, sir, and Director Compton will be sharing a stateroom."

As they walked to their rooms, Farbeaux frowned and Niles cringed.

"Young woman, err ... uh ... Yeoman Alvera, is it?"

"Yes, Dr. Compton," she answered with her permanent smile in place.

"You know your captain, or whoever it is that is leading you, is quite mad. I mean ... do you understand what you're attempting, although for a noble cause, would throw the world into total economic collapse?"

The yeoman stopped in midstride and looked at Virginia, Farbeaux, Sarah, and Niles one at a time, and for the first time her smile faltered. Also for the first time they saw the seriousness of the young woman.

"I understand completely your concern, but I can guarantee this matter has been thought out carefully and my captain has come to the conclusion that extreme measures must be taken now to stop the seas from dying. The incident in the Mediterranean has forced our ..." She attempted an ill-fated smile, and then corrected herself, "the captain's hand."

"The Med–what does that have to do with this vessel and its intent?" Niles asked.

"Moreover, Dr. Compton," she continued, ignoring his second question, "you will find that the loyalty of this crew is beyond reproach. I was found when I was only seven years old. I had just witnessed my mother, father, and older brother die from a chemical spill. My captain found me in very bad shape, took me in, educated me, trained me, and made me a person of pride–I am even loved here. No, Doctor, you'll find no disloyalty onboard Leviathan, and you'll also not find one soul that doesn't approve of the methods employed by the captain."

THE EVENT GROUP COMPLEX,

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, NEVADA

Collins had just left the infirmary where Dr. Denise Gilliam had given him a complete physical and pronounced Jack officially alive and back from the dead. He tried to explain to her everything he remembered, even down to the strange dreams he had had, even the small creature in the bottle, the tentacled arms and clear body floating in a solution. Denise accepted all of this with raised brows but no comment on his sanity was forthcoming.

"Well, Colonel, I would say you have a combination of memory versus nightmare. The little octopus thing says nightmare, but voices in the dark says you weren't sleeping the whole time. I would say give it more time. Meanwhile I'll get your exams to Dr. Haskins when he returns from leave; we're shorthanded until then."

A knock sounded on the infirmary door. Mendenhall poked his head inside and held up a file folder. Jack excused himself and exited the clinic.

"We found this in the cafeteria," Will said as he handed Jack a blue-bordered folder with the single word and numbers on it.

"Vault 298907," he said aloud, and opened it as he walked.

"It was found at the table the chef remembers the senator and Alice were working from. It was the only folder there, found on a chair. The other files faxed out from Arlington for levels seventy-three and seventy-four were missing. The closed-circuit recording in the hallway verified they were in the possession of the assault element."

"Maybe it just fell off the table when–" Jack's words trailed off and he slowed his pace. He closed the file and thought a moment, and then started walking. Instead of going toward the comp center, he turned at the bank of elevators.

"Colonel?" Mendenhall said, standing at the elevator as Jack went inside.

"Go to the clean level and get Captain Everett. Then you and he meet me on level seventy-three, vault 298907."

Mendenhall was left standing there as the doors slid closed.

Jack could smell the burned plastic and carpeting before the elevator even came to a stop. The doors opened and he stepped out into the long, curving hallway. Europa had restored all of the electrical systems, and Collins could see fifty men combing through the wreckage of the vaults.

He shook his head and started forward, passing one of his security men who was armed with an M-16. He stepped through the now-dead security portal and into the vault area.

Professor Charles Hindershot Ellenshaw III, head of the cryptozoology department, had volunteered for cleanup on the level, and so he had been placed in charge of documenting, cleaning, and restoring the artifacts that had been damaged. Collins saw the professor was still very upset at the wanton destruction of the vaults. Jack watched the professor run a hand through his wild white hair.

"Colonel Collins, it is so very good to see you. I and my crypto department were very pleased to hear–"

"Thanks, Professor," Jack said, knowing he couldn't take one more pleasurable greeting at how happy they were he had returned from beyond the river Styx. "Vault 298907?"

"Oh, uh ... there's not much left, I'm afraid. It's right here." He gestured to the large vault three enclosures down from where they stood. "It seems that vault and the two nearest it received the brunt of the damage, possibly because of its size, and its fragile and dangerous content."

"Dangerous?"

Ellenshaw looked at his clipboard. "Oh yes, it seems there were five hundred batteries inside the artifact–old, but with enough dried acid to have reacted with the fire, causing a considerable explosion."

"Thanks, Professor," Jack said, patting him on the shoulder and making his way to the large vault with the scorched steel door standing ajar. "And Charlie, it's good to see you, too."

Ellenshaw smiled, nodded, and then went back to work, with a last look back at Collins.

Jack had to use the strength of both arms to push the door open. The vault was filled with temporary lighting that cast shadows on the burned and broken remains of the submarine recovered in 1967. Jack remembered it had been one of the first artifacts shown him upon being assigned to the Event Group. It was also one of the more intriguing items he had ever seen during his time here.

Jack opened the file, standing next to one of the temporary light stands, and read the vault synopsis. Carbon-14 dating had placed the submarine's age at 150 years, plus or minus ten years. He lowered the file and looked at what remained of the skeletal shape of her hull. The iron had melted away during the intense heat of the fire, and her battery system, one that had even shocked the few engineers brought in from General Dynamics' Electric Boat Division, was a melted lump at the bottom of the artifact. At one time, you could clearly see that this was once a miracle of technology.

Jack had been told that it had possibly been the model for Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. At the time it was wholly believable, because you could still make out the spiked conning tower and rounded bow. At more than three hundred feet in length and displacing twenty thousand tons, she was almost the exact model of today's advanced attack navy boats.

"She's a mess."

Jack turned and saw Everett and Mendenhall standing just inside the vault.

"That she is. Tell me, Carl, you're a navy man. If this sub was built before or just after the start of the Civil War, how far do you think the technology would have advanced by the present time?"

Everett entered and tried not to splash sooty water on his jumpsuit. He dodged a hanging piece of electrical line and placed a hand on what was once the curvature of the spherical bow.

"I couldn't begin to estimate the advances this science would have made if it wasn't checked. You think we're dealing with the same people who built this?"

"Why not? It makes sense. The fact that they destroyed a link to their past is convincing enough, but seeing this–"

"From looking at the outside in, Colonel, the notes on this investigation really had nothing to say. At least nothing stands out that would make them want this artifact destroyed."

Everett and Jack turned and looked at Mendenhall. They never remembered the new lieutenant using such a long sentence before.

"What?" Will asked, wondering what it was he had said wrong.

"You're right, Lieutenant, that's all," Collins answered. "What were they afraid of us uncovering from this boat?"

Everett and Mendenhall were as perplexed as Jack.

"Whatever it is, it's in this file, and in this wreck. Either something found during the original forensics on the artifact in nineteen sixty-seven, or something we may find now. So, we need someone combing through the file, and we need another workup on the remains."

"And hope it all wasn't burned to hell."

Jack slapped the file into Mendenhall's chest. "Right, Lieutenant. You have your job. Grab anyone you need, form any team, and get me an answer."

Will took the file and almost dropped it in the dirty water; his expression said that the order would be hard to complete.

"Yes, sir.... Can I have any doc or professor I want?"

"Yes, just grab them and go. We need answers, Lieutenant, so get it done."

LEVIATHAN , THREE HUNDRED

MILES OFF THE NORTHERN COAST

OF VENEZUELA

The first officer climbed the spiral staircase slowly, making his way into the observation lounge on the lowest deck of the conning tower. He knocked, opened the hatch to the captain's private suite, and saw her sitting in the large, high-backed chair, staring silently out of the thirty-five-by-twenty-foot port window at the passing sea outside of the pressure hull.

"Captain, I am sorry to disturb you, but I thought you would want to know that you were right in what the presidents of the United States and Venezuela would try to do. We have confirmed the sailing orders of four crude oil tankers from Portsmouth this morning. They have Royal Navy escort, with at least one Trafalgar class submarine shadowing them."

"Venezuela?"

"Two tankers with Chinese and Venezuelan escort vessels," Samuels answered, looking away from the captain as he did. When he looked back up, he could tell the captain was thinking with eyes closed, as was the custom for the master of Leviathan.

"Will we allow them passage, as you wished to do this morning?"

As he watched she opened her eyes, and the first officer saw that at the moment she wasn't medicated. Her eyes were clear and full of fire–hate-filled and angry.

The captain stood in the green-tinted sea reflection mixed with the darkness, and then stepped from the raised platform. She stepped slowly to the large rounded window and held a gloved hand to the thick glass, then leaned against it with a sigh.

"Captain, are you all right? Would you like the doctor to–?"

"The planned attack is ready?"

"Yes, Captain, but your orders were to avoid any further bloodshed."

"I have a change of orders for you. You will target the warships only. Leave the tankers, they are to go on their way unmolested. I suspect a small deceit, at least on the British and American side of the board. I also do not want one Chinese or British warship, or the Americans if they join them, to ever see port again. Loss of life be damned." The captain slapped at the glass and then took a step back. "They are testing the wrong person, James; explain to them in no uncertain terms how Leviathancan be in two places at one time."

"Perhaps we can meet with our guests first.... I mean, Captain, we have the time; these vessels will take a week or more to reach their destinations. We could avoid the loss of life while we explain why we have taken actions in the Gulf of Mexico."

"Mr. Samuels, we need fortitude in doing what needs to be done. We are not fighting for ourselves. There has been too much loss of sea life in the Med to lose what we have in the gulf. Now, please, do as I command."

The first officer bowed his head. "Yes, Captain."

"James, you have never hesitated in following my orders before now. Perhaps you had better explain your hesitancy in this instance."

The first officer paused at the large hatchway, then slowly turned.

"I will never question your orders, Captain. However, you're countermanding everything you laid out before we sailed. I am wondering if maybe you're not telling me something–your health, the sessions with the doctor? And why is Sergeant Tyler present at most of these appointments?"

The face never turned from the window, but he could see that the captain's eyes were closed and she was biting her lower lip. For the life of him, he could swear she was in conflict deep within herself.

"I ... I don't recall meeting with the ..."

The words stopped as she turned and made her way back to the large chair, signaling an end to his questioning.

"I will report on the attack as soon as we have long-range damage assessment, Captain."

He waited for a response, but when none came he slowly left the private control room.

As the captain sat with eyes closed, she tried to remember the last medical session with the ship's surgeon, but she couldn't recall anything through the pain of her current headache. She remembered the early morning visits to the sickbay to check on Colonel Collins–those moments were clear, as she remembered forming her plans. If these other sessions had happened, why was Sergeant Tyler present? If he was, she must get an explanation as to why.

Niles heard the knock on the door just as Henri Farbeaux stepped from the bathroom, looked at him, and saw he made no move to answer it. He tossed the towel he was drying his hands on over his shoulder and opened the door.

"Excuse me, gentlemen. Our captain has asked that you join the first officer in the command center," a young-faced officer said, stepping aside and allowing the senator, Alice, and Virginia to step by him. "The others are ready to go, as you can see."

Niles, resplendent in his issued red jumpsuit, walked past Farbeaux and out into the companionway.

"Colonel?"

"I think I'll stay."

The officer kept his politeness. "The captain has informed us since you are an uninvited guest onboard, you are highly expendable, so please, Colonel, come with us."

Henri smiled, pulled his jumper top up, and bowed. "Your power of persuasion has moved me. I must thank your captain in person."

"You'll have that chance very soon, sir." The officer closed the door, the polite smile gone when he knew they could not see.

As they were shown to a rail overlooking the control center–the very brain of Leviathan–they were stunned. With the dimensions of a basketball court, it coursed with a pulse that was electric. At least sixty technicians operated stations that were unrecognizable to anyone but a science-fiction aficionado. There were large-screen monitors and 3-D displays of their surroundings. The tech stations were bathed in dim lighting of greens, blues, and reds. Sonar stations, weapons, environmental control–but that was as far as Niles and his knowledge went. The other stations were as much a mystery to him as the origins of this vessel. There were holograms showing the status of missilelike weapons and torpedoes. An even larger hologram, which showed the distinctive shape of Leviathanas she sliced through the sea underneath the surface, took up what they thought was the navigation platform. The navigation console was like a cartoon, animated and accurate in every detail.

"Officer of the deck, we are at station precisely three hundred miles offshore of Venezuela. We have multiple surface contacts. Air search is negative at this time," a female operator called out.

As they watched, they saw the first officer for the first time. The man was of normal height, maybe six feet, one inch. His hair was blond and he was clean-shaven. His uniform was impeccably starched, and it wasn't a jumpsuit. His attire was tan, almost as if he were serving in the U.S. Navy. He didn't sit in the large command chair that sat upon a raised platform, but stood at its side with his arm resting on the pedestal above as he studied the hologram of Leviathanand its surrounding waters in a five-hundred-mile circle.

"Very well. Long-range sonar, what do we have off the Scottish coast?"

Niles turned to a brown-suited Senator Lee, somewhat jealous that he and Alice were accorded the comfort of civilian clothes. Lee even had his customary bowtie.

"They have a sonar suite that can operate that far?"

"I suspect we may be in for a lot of surprises, Niles, my boy," Lee answered.

"We are picking up the power plant noises of the HMS Monmouthand her sister frigate Somerset;one Type 45 destroyer, HMS Daring;and one Type 42, HMS Birmingham. Two other destroyers have yet to join the convoy. We also have the prop signatures of VLCS tankers– Exxon Gale, Palace Guard, Texaco Sky, and the Shell Madrid. Propeller depth indicates fully loaded oil bunkers."

"Thank you. Weapons, give me a status report, please." The first officer bowed his head and closed his eyes as he listened to the reports.

"Torpedo tubes one through ten loaded with standard Mark eighty-nines. Standard war shot with delayed sonar activation; their computers are active in the tubes and tracking. Vertical tubes ten through fifteen are hot with type-forty Vengeance cruise missiles, and outer doors are ready at your discretion."

"Very well. Diving officer, make your depth three hundred; slow speed to five knots."

"Aye, chief of the boat, slow to five knots; make your attack depth three hundred."

The command was relayed to the helmsman and planesman sitting in airlinelike pilot seats. They wore strange-looking helmets that covered their entire heads as they watched their virtual-reality displays that were invisible to all others, followed their orders, and made their speed and depth adjustments. Leviathanstarted a climb toward the surface.

"Goddamn it, they're attacking two different convoys," Niles said, stepping forward.

Farbeaux quickly grabbed Niles by the arm and stayed him.

"Mr. Director, if they are forced to shoot you, a stray bullet may very well strike me, and that just would not do."

Niles closed his eyes and nodded, getting Farbeaux's meaning and intent. He was placing the others in jeopardy, and Henri pointed that fact out using his dry wit. Sarah nodded once in thanks, and Farbeaux looked at her intently.

"Officer of the deck, we are at station. IP is achieved."

"Thank you, helm. Weapons, you are free to launch forward tubes one through ten. Give me a full spread and let me know when the weapons have achieved station keeping."

"Aye." The weapons officer turned a key in his large console and then pushed the brightly illuminated buttons lining its top, one at a time, until they were all green.

Lee, Farbeaux, Virginia, and Lee all noticed that when it came to the launching of weapons, the crew of Leviathanused the old-fashioned, hands-on way, rather than trusting the holographic imagery technology.

"Tubes one through ten are empty, and torpedoes are free of the boat. All are traveling hot, straight, and normal." The weapons officer watched the large hologram in front of him. The small torpedoes (at least compared to the size of Leviathan)were seen traveling away from the red depiction of the submarine. "Weapons have stopped dead in the water and have gone to passive search. We have achieved station keeping for delayed-attack profile." The torpedoes floated in the water and were now arrayed like an open fan, just sitting there.

"Thank you, Mr. Hunter. You have permission to fire vertical tubes. You are weapons-free." The first officer lowered his head, brought his right hand to his chin, and waited. When the weapons officer reported all tubes and weapons were launched, the first officer chanced a look into the gallery fifty feet above the control center. He looked at each accusing face in the semidarkness above him, then just as quickly looked away.

They all watched the hologram at the center console as five missiles lifted away from her hull just forward of the conning tower. They traveled up and out of the water, which was represented by a soft green, wavy surface. Then, three hundred feet into the air, the five cruise missiles turned and headed east.

"Mr. Hunter, you have the conn. I'll be in my cabin."

"Aye, sir, I have the conn. Navigation, set your course to three-two-zero. Let's take her to the ice."

Niles took a deep breath and looked at the senator.

"Whoever they are, we just learned that they are entirely capable of doing what they threatened to do, and that means a very slow and very painful strangulation for the world."

The others turned and followed Niles out of the observation gallery, never knowing that eyes were on them from the deep recesses of the balcony overlooking both the gallery and the control center.

The captain of Leviathanstood motionless in the dark and watched the members of the Event Group slowly file out. Then the large eyes closed and the head lowered, and as it did, hair the color of the darkest pit of hell fell free and covered the captain's face and shoulders.