David Golemon - Primeval

When Henri and Everett started running after Will and Jack, they saw something pacing with them through the woods beside them, just on the other side of a line of trees. It dwarfed them as they ran. They would speed up and the shadow in the darkness would speed up. They would turn following Jack's lead, and then the shadow would mimic the maneuver.

"We have another one directly behind us, Captain," Henri said with as much grace as he could muster in the circumstance of that terrifying moment.

"Oh, shit, look," Everett called out as another of the giants was seen to their right, running just far enough away to be seen. "Jack!" Everett shouted as loud as he could. "We have some very large company!"

Everett saw that Collins was too far ahead to hear, but Mendenhall wasn't. The lieutenant half turned and saw the giant shadows as they raced along beside them and he yelled out an incoherency and doubled his efforts to catch up with the colonel, or more to the point, the only man with a weapon.

"May I suggest we give the colonel the time he needs?" Farbeaux shouted and then turned into the trees to his right.

Everett couldn't believe Henri was about to give himself up like that. His bosses in France really must have threatened him. In any case, the SEAL captain wasn't about to let the Frenchman show him up, he also peeled off, only to the left.

As Will chanced a glace backward, he was shocked to see an empty trail where Everett and Farbeaux had been. He shook his head knowing the captain and Henri must have met a fate that he was trying desperately to avoid.

Sarah, Ryan, and Lynn had only gone fifteen feet into the caves interior when they stumbled into the large, black object. Lynn let go of Ryan long enough to reach down and feel the thing they had stumbled into. She swallowed when she felt the condensation on the dark casing. She ran her hands along the surface and felt the heat just beneath. She moaned and that was when Ryan also touched it.

"Feels like a giant pocket warmer."

"Yeah," Lynn said straightening up. "You could call it that, about five hundred megatons worth."

Ryan straightened like a man shot from cannon. He swallowed and started wiping his hands on his pants.

"What?" Sarah asked, taking an involuntary step back.

"That's right, you've missed the discussions to date, this thing here, this massive nuclear device is what Mr. Alexander is looking for."

"Harrumph," Ryan said clearing his throat. "And his reason for that is… "

"Oh, I forgot, he's a traitor to Canada and wants to start his own country in Quebec," Lynn said as plainly and as simply as she could.

"Okay, that makes some sense — I guess," Ryan said.

"No, Mr. Ryan, it makes all the sense in the world."

Ryan looked around and saw that the cave had a wide-open shaft that was situated against the far wall. The opening was about ten feet in diameter and it looked deep, possibly hundreds of feet.

"Look, why don't we just push the weapon down this hole. Alexander would never find it down there."

"That wouldn't be very nice, Mr. Ryan."

A light suddenly clicked on, and standing only a few feet away was Punchy Alexander, bloodied and out of breath, and in the backlight they saw Dmitri Sagli and three of his commandos. Alexander had them covered with his automatic and Sagli looked to be enjoying the moment as he approached Lynn and slammed his fist into her stomach. Ryan reacted without thinking: he hurled himself into the smaller Russian, but after the death of his partner over the woman he had just slammed to the ground, Sagli saw Jason's move long before he tried it. He reached up and slammed the pistol he was holding into the head of Ryan and he went down hard onto the packed earth of the cave.

"Ms. McIntire, Jack will be so pleased to see you, almost as much as I. You and the colonel's sister will come in very handy when it comes time to complete our business here."

Sagli turned on Alexander and whispered something Sarah failed to catch.

"Have the men cover the cave's opening. If the animals try to gain access, shoot them all. They can do that, can't they?" he said sarcastically. "I mean, they are capable of covering a bottleneck?"

"You are missing the point here," Sagli said angrily. "We have to leave here at some point, you fool, and those things will be waiting."

Alexander smiled. "No, I think they'll go for whoever runs interference for us," he said as he stared at Sarah.

In three minutes in the light of four flashlights taken from the packs of the commandos, Alexander had the access port to the Hyper Glide device illuminated and opened. The warmth he felt from the outer casing told Punchy that the weapon was still viable and it had been contained since its violent end in 1962. He closed his eyes, feeling the power at his very fingertips. Soon this lone device, split into twenty smaller weapons would give him the power to make his own country, and with the radical element of the French-speaking population, it would be a simple transition.

"I can't believe that you actually think you can do this. This isn't a movie, Alexander; this is the real world, a coup in a civilized Western country?" "

Alexander looked up at Lynn, swiped some of the moisture from his face and smiled.

"A coup in a province that is awaiting a chance of a lifetime. They'll willingly threaten any nation for the chance to be their own country."

"Quebec? Do you think even the most ardent supporters of separation of state from country will follow you, or allow you to stay in power using threats to the security of their friends as persuasion?"

"Yes, I do. I know them and I know the element that they seek: power, my girl, it's always power. And in the right hands, it's such a liberating feeling. Yes, I will have almost total support. Even the United States will find it preferable to the rebellious nature of Canadian policy." Alexander had had just about enough of Lynn so he nodded toward Sagli who immediately reached out and slammed his fist into the side of her head. She fell and struck Ryan as he lay on the cave's floor.

"You bastard," Sarah said as she leaned over and checked both Lynn and Ryan.

Alexander waved Sagli over and then stood.

"My friend, knowing Colonel Collins as I do, and his tendency to be the hero, he should be very close to the opening of this cave. Please step forward with one of your commandos and ask him to join us. It's time he does his part."

Sagli gave Alexander a strange look, but shrugged his shoulders and pulled one of the Spetsnaz toward the mouth of the cave.

"There's no need, Punchy, I'm here."

Alexander quickly grabbed Sarah and brought her to his front, placing the nine-millimeter to her head.

"No need to do that, I have no weapon," Collins said from the darkness of the cave.

Sagli had stopped dead in his tracks as the man beside him went to one knee. The Russian mobster held a flashlight and he pointed it in the direction of the voice. In the light, Jack stood erect and his hands were held out in front of him, palms outward.

"I knew you would get away, Jack. One can always depend on you giving it your all," Alexander said as he forced the muzzle of the gun into Sarah's temple.

"Don't do that, Punchy" Collins said with cold intensity.

"Don't be so melodramatic, Jack, my boy. Now come on, let's finish up here. The access panel has been removed and we're ready for your expertise."

As Alexander finished speaking, there was a loud noise from behind as Mendenhall, Henri, and Everett burst through the opening, yelling and happily slapping each other on the back.

"They're big, but we're faster!" Carl shouted as he helped hold Farbeaux up from the exhausting run they had just endured.