David Golemon: Primeval

Mendenhall looked up, a sad look came across his face as he took in the colonel.

"Not a bluff?" was the simple question.

"No, not a bluff," Jack answered as he let go of Will's shoulder, and winked at his young lieutenant.

"Perhaps you could help me stand up, Colonel Farbeaux?"

"Yes, Lieutenant, I think that would be best."

Everett had gone over to Ryan and Lynn and found both just coming around. Jack kissed Sarah on the top of her head, but that didn't stop her from plopping to the ground as the last few moments caught up with her. Collins went to his sister and lifted her off the ground and Farbeaux shone the light on them both as Lynn's eyes fluttered open.

"When you were a kid, you always managed to fall asleep at the end of the good movies," Jack said, smiling, "or throw your hands across your face at the scary parts."

Lynn didn't say anything. She just placed her arms around her big brother and hugged him.

"Okay, I missed something again, didn't I?" Ryan said as he tried to gain his feet. Grimacing, he sat down again, leaning against the wall well away from the bomb.

As Sarah stood, watching Jack and his little sister, she heard someone behind her. She slowly turned fully expecting to see another animal, but instead she saw an older, slightly built man leaning against the cave wall. His hair was wild looking and his glasses were bent so badly that it was difficult to figure out how he was able to see. The cave wall was clearly all that was holding him up.

"Charlie!" Sarah said as she reached out to help him.

"I'll be damned," Everett said as he raced forward to help Sarah. "What in the hell have you been up to?" Carl asked when he smelled the odors coming off of Ellenshaw.

"I'm not going to dignify that with an answer." Charlie looked around. "I see my savior saved you nonbelievers as well."

Jack walked over after propping Lynn up next to Ryan. The lieutenant, who was really seeing her for the first time, suddenly leaned over and kissed her on the swollen lips. It happened so fast that she couldn't even get angry, but she could give him a shocked grin as she took stock of the wiry little navy aviator.

"Sorry," Ryan said. "Just thrilled to be alive."

Ellenshaw wearily sat down in the glorious light. His eyes had adjusted to the dark well enough to see what he was dealing with.

"I would say Giganticus Pythicus is a fact — to be taken out of the realm of myth and legend forever? Does anyone disagree with my theory?" Charlie looked at the faces turning toward him in the shadowy cave with a smug look on his face. When no one said anything, he was satisfied. "Good," he smiled through his obvious pain as Sarah patted him on the back. "Colonel Farbeaux?"

"No, you have no argument from me, Professor. What I saw here tonight—"

"No, Colonel, I was about to say you may want to look in the cave just a little farther back — you may find two wagons and the ornate box that this used to lay in." Charlie Ellenshaw tossed a small object toward Farbeaux and he caught it in midair. He shone the light on it and then smiled.

"So, are you going to accept such a large payment for doing your duty, Colonel?" Jack asked, already knowing the answer.

As Farbeaux looked at the second half of the Twins of Peter the Great, he returned Jack's smile.

"Bad guy, remember?"

Collins nodded his head, satisfied that Henri was still Henri.

"Hey, where is the girl?" Ryan said looking around with another flashlight he had picked up.

"I believe young Marla ran in that direction," Charlie said as he pointed toward the rear of the cave.

Before any of them could follow the trail back into the dark interior of the cave, they were shocked when one of the Sasquatch appeared from the front. It roared and then stepped into the light. Jack and the others watched as it angrily kicked at the bodies of Sagli and his commandos. The bodies were tossed as if they were nothing more that beanbags. The beast roared again. They all saw the small bones that were entwined in its long hair. The club it carried struck out at the rock wall, knocking free stone and dirt with the powerful blow.

"I thought they were on our side," Mendenhall said as he took in the giant, Bigfoot.

"Look at its side, it's been shot, and it looks to be a mortal wound," Charlie said, actually stepping forward until Jack halted him.

"Doc, I don't think it cares who shot it; it only sees us at the moment."

The beast roared for a third time. With its mouth wide they could see the blood as it coursed through the throat from another wound they couldn't see. The great animal kicked out once more, its large foot striking the Hyper Glide, sending it into the stone wall of the cave.

"Whoa!" Ryan said as he grabbed Lynn and retreated a few steps. The beast saw the movement and screamed once more, making all of them cringe.

"Don't move, the weapon can't be armed without the code," Collins said, gesturing for Ryan and Lynn to stop moving.

The beast saw the two stop and stare at it, and it obviously thought that was a threatening gesture. This time it swung the massive club and again it struck the large bomb on its outer casing. When it did, the outer primer popped free and that was when they saw the electronic display on the Hyper Glide come to life. The numbers were the old-fashioned kind seen at NASA in the early days before LED lights. The bright numbers started counting down from five minutes."

"Oh, shit," Farbeaux said. For the first time his cool was evaporating. "Colonel, you seem to be taking this current situation rather calmly."

Collins watched the device as it counted down, but at the moment he was more concerned with the enraged animal before him.

"The Hyper Glide can count down all it wants, it may be armed but it would be impossible for it to detonate."

The beast roared again when Jack spoke, silencing him. Then the animal wavered and leaned against the rock wall, finally getting weaker from its wounds.

"Now, why would it be impossible for this rather large weapon to explode?" Everett asked as he, too, watched the Sasquatch.

"Because it was designed to detonate at minus three hundred feet; it was a giant bunker-Buster. For safety of the local surface population the bomb had to bury itself in three hundred feet of earth before it went off."

The beast was breathing its last. The animal let out a cry, not unlike a human would when death was close. Then the beast laid its head to the side and rolled over to the floor.

The men and women in the cave visibly relaxed as Jack moved toward the bomb.

"I don't mean to be a stickler, Colonel, but you were wrong about the weapon not being able to be armed without the codes; so what if you're wrong about this?" Henri asked, joining him as Jack looked the bomb over.

"I'm not wrong. The device must have rotted through its wiring and disabled the sequencing of the installed code. Now look here," he said, pointing to a set of smaller numbers below that of the larger countdown digits ticking off. "That is plus or minus altitude, the numbers from the countdown have to match in sequence with the minus numbers in altitude, in this case, three hundred feet minus zero altitude, in other words, three hundred feet below ground."

Farbeaux breathed easier as he saw that Collins was right, at least he hoped so.

"Well, I guess we'll find out in four minutes, but may I suggest we use that time to—"

They were all caught off guard when the beast half rose and roared once more. In its death throes it lashed out with its large club and barely missed the Frenchman and Jack as they dove away from the strike. Instead of hitting them, the club struck the Hyper Glide one last time. The powerful blow sent the weapon sailing against the wall one more time. Only this created the bounce that would kill them all. It struck the floor and then the giant weapon teetered on the edge of the large shaft that Ryan had found earlier. As Jack jumped for the weapon to steady it, it tilted and went down. They all were stunned. They heard the Hyper Glide collide with the bottom of the shaft far below them just as the animal lay its head down and died.