David Golemon: Primeval

Jack never turned around. He stepped back a foot as Sagli adjusted his light on the others.

"Oh," was all Mendenhall said, getting the attention of the Captain and Frenchman.

"I knew there would be a catch to this cave," Everett said looking over at Farbeaux.

He just shrugged and bent over and rested his hands on his knees. "Any port in a storm, Captain" — he managed to look back up at Carl—"it's not always a friendly port, however.

"Alright, we're all here. It's time, Jack."

Outside, Collins heard the drumming of clubs against the trees come to a sudden stop, it was if the animals knew that this thing would be over soon, for better or worse. Before he spoke he felt the hand of Everett slap him on the back, and then Carl saw the strap wrapped around Jack's shoulder and then he straightened quickly.

"You sneaky bastard — what makes you think they don't see what you have dangling from your back?" he hissed through his teeth.

"Because, I told you all along when you're dealing with these people, they're not soldiers, they're just stupid," Collins mumbled back at Everett.

"If you don't get over here and enter that damn code, Jack, whatever you just whispered will be the last thing this little lady ever hears from you. And, if you could, please hurry. The wildlife around here is beginning to make me a bit nervous."

"Punchy, I think it's time we talked," Jack said, keeping his backside as far from the light as possible.

"The time for talking is over," he said as he roughly shook Sarah and actually slammed the muzzle of the gun harder into her cheek.

"Sarah, look at me," Collins said as he was now flanked by Mendenhall on the right and Everett and Farbeaux on his left. They were all four covered by the three Spetsnaz to their front and Sagli, who looked anxious to shoot, someone, anyone. "Do you believe that everything is going to be alright?"

Sarah nodded her head, not doubting, just hoping Jack had a plan.

Collins looked down at the prone bodies of Ryan and Lynn.

"They needed persuading that I was in charge. Don't worry, Jack, they're alive, and they'll stay that way, just as long as you do what is asked."

"As I said, Punchy, we need to talk."

Letting out a deep breath, Alexander cocked the automatic, letting Jack know that any pressure whatsoever on the trigger would send a bullet into Sarah's head.

"Okay, let's get this over with. Talk."

"October 1962, the United States was in the process of trying to convince the Soviets that President Kennedy was dead serious about getting those missiles out of Cuba. The threat of a blockade didn't seem to be scaring the high command, or the leadership at the Kremlin that Kennedy meant business on this issue. So, Operation Solar Flare was devised, a top-secret scenario that would take the head of the chicken off at the neck, with a weapon so powerful that the war would be over before it ever started — what's known as a doomsday device."

"You are wasting time, Jack. I am growing bored with a story I know as well as you."

"Well, here's something you didn't know, Punchy, you stupid son of a bitch. It was a bluff. The Soviets were allowed to learn of Operation Solar Flare before it was launched in October of that year. They were allowed to see not one, but two aircraft take off that night. One from McCord Air Force Base in Washington State, the other from the carrier USS Oriskany in the Sea of Japan. The Soviet high command knew they had no defense against anything like the Hyper Glide device. A highly precise standoff weapon with such a huge punch was game over for them. They folded their hand, bluffed out of the game by a bold and well-planned lie. So you see, Punchy, what you have there is a small amount of active plutonium, placed there so their detectors, stationed in vans and trucks around all of our bases, knew they must be live weapons, when all it was is a case with enough plutonium in it to light up your bedside clock."

"You're lying!" Alexander shouted. "Why would the U.S. spend millions of dollars in a recovery effort?"

"No, Punchy, I'm not lying. The bluff continued for years after; we had to make the Soviets believe we weren't the kind of country to run a poker game on them. They had to know the threat was serious and would continue to be just in case their memories failed them at some point. Colonel Farbeaux?"

"Yes, Jack?" Henri said eyeing Punchy and then turning his eyes toward Collins.

"Explain the situation to the director of Internal Security for the province of Montreal, please."

"Sorry, Mr. Alexander, the colonel's story is a fact — or more to the point, the truth about a lie, which the Americans have become pretty adept at, of late." Henri looked at Jack and nodded; Jack remained still, focusing solely on Alexander.

"Kill the Frenchman!" Alexander shouted. As the three Spetsnaz and Sagli flinched at the order, Jack saw his opening.

As Mendenhall, Everett, and Farbeaux dove for cover, Jack used his hip to swing the AK-47 up and into his hands. The weapon had been hanging upside down across his shoulder waiting for Jack's chance to use it. The first of the weapon's bright flashes caught the three Spetsnaz totally unaware. By the time one of them turned in Jack's direction, rounds had stitched across the chests of all three. As they fell, Collins trained the weapon on Sagli, who immediately dropped his gun. Jack tilted his head and pursed his lips.

"Sorry," he said as he fired a single round into the Russian's head.

Alexander wasn't taking any chances. He backed away from Collins, screaming, "I'll kill her, Jack! You know that I will."

Collins held his hand up when Mendenhall and Everett stood and made to move forward. Farbeaux reached for one of the fallen flashlights and shone it on Alexander.

"You just don't know when to quit, Jack. Well, this time it's going to cost you."

To the surprise of Collins and everyone else, he didn't shoot Sarah, but quickly aimed the pistol at the prone, unconscious body of Lynn, lying next to Ryan. As he depressed the trigger, the light in Farbeaux's hand caught a sight that none of them would have ever believed. A giant hand reached out and caught the weapon in Punchy's hand just as the gun fired. His wrist was bent up and snapped in two. Alexander screamed just as Sarah was torn from his grasp. She fell to the ground and Jack rushed forward. The light still played on Alexander as the giant beast that had came up behind him grabbed the large Canadian by the neck and lifted him free of the cave floor.

"My God," Farbeaux said as the full view of the beast was illuminated in the bright light. Jack and Sarah looked at the giant towering over them and saw not only brawn, but intelligence.

The giant ape, the reason behind twenty thousand years of myth and legends, from the Arctic Circle to the Rocky Mountains, stood erect, and the intelligence in its eyes would forever be undeniable to all who looked into them. He held Punchy, gazing calmly at the humans before him for a moment, and then it roared. And every man in the cave knew he'd been challenged, been dared to try to take what was now his. When none of them moved — though Mendenhall began visibly shaking — it turned and stepped into the darkness beyond the power of the flashlight to see it.

Mendenhall stood and walked over and sat down upon the first thing he came across. It was the casing for the Hyper Glide bomb. He sat and was actually grateful for the warmth he felt penetrating through to his wet butt. He placed his head in his hands and tried to calm his heart. It was Jack who slowly stood and touched Will on the shoulder, and even Farbeaux gingerly reached out and touched him on the opposite side.

"Will, you may want to get off of the five hundred megaton nuclear weapon."