David Golemon - Leviathan

Finally, the warning horn sounded and Leviathan broke into bright, daylike illumination. As the Event Group looked out of the observation window, they saw a natural ice cave, immense in size.

"We discovered it thirty-five years ago. My parents… estimated that the cave was naturally formed over two hundred thousand years ago by… seismic activity from Mount Erebus to the south. It was possibly a giant air bubble the size of England that rose from the sea floor."

Leviathan gently rose to the surface of a small interior sea totally encased in ice. The water was calm as the giant submarine eased onto the surface.

"Attention, deck watch to the sail, deck watch to the sail. Riggers and security report to the docking commander. Attention, all hands, Leviathan has arrived at our destination."

The Event Group felt Leviathan shut down her engines as the great submarine settled on the surface of the inland waterway. Thrusters maneuvered her close to the center of the trapped sea.

"Welcome to the end of the world as we know it," Alexandria said, blood now lining her lips. "This is where our… journey ends. I suspect this is where Sergeant Tyler will gather whatever his… reward is, and the symbiants will make… their final… stand against mankind."

To Jack, Carl, Niles, and the others, that was an ominous announcement.

"I'm sorry, Captain Heirthall, but we're leaving this little shindig, and if we can, we're going to bring this whole place down, and Leviathan with it."

All eyes turned to Jack. Even Farbeaux set his half-finished drink down and pushed it away.

"It is about time you said something noble, Colonel. You were beginning to worry me."

Jack walked over and stood before Dr. Trevor. Everett joined him, quickly reached out, and again pulled the doctor to his feet. He eased the smaller man into himself and smiled.

"Captain Everett drew the short straw this time around; he gets to ask you questions. Do you have your persuaders, Captain?" Collins asked, looking from Carl to the double hatchway. He knew that any minute Tyler and his men were going to start cutting through to get at them and finish what he had to do. Jack knew Tyler was trained enough to know he couldn't leave an enemy onboard while he was ashore. He would definitely attack.

"Yes. There wasn't much to choose from, since we'll need all the bullets in the commander's pop gun, but Ryan gathered up a couple of nice persuasion instruments."

To the doctor's horror, Everett let go of him and brought up a steak knife and a shiny corkscrew.

"The corkscrew is compliments of Colonel Farbeaux."

"I don't know what I can tell you," Trevor said, looking at the ordinary kitchen implements that now held a whole new world of possibilities. "Obviously the captain forced Sergeant Tyler and Yeoman Alvera's hand earlier than they expected."

"Is the rest of the crew loyal?" Everett asked.

"I don't know who is…" Trevor screamed as Carl poked him in the ribs with the corkscrew.

"Jack, what are you doing?" Niles asked, approaching them.

Collins turned and looked at his director.

"Torturing Dr. Trevor for information," he said plainly and without humor.

"Oh. Carry on."

Any hope that Trevor might have had left with Niles Compton as he returned to the senator and Alice.

"Okay, okay… the crew is unaware of what the syms and Tyler are doing. I never knew the plan for their disposal." Tyler felt the corkscrew scrape his skin through his coverall once more. "Or if they were to be disposed of at all."

"What are the syms planning?"

"Tyler will take command of Leviathan . That's his reward."

"For what?" Everett asked, not needing to poke the doctor again; his eyes warned of what he was capable.

"The syms will control the sea with Leviathan at their disposal. Most of the world's navies will be destroyed in the port attacks; the rest can be picked off piecemeal by Tyler. He isn't in it for money, he's in it for power."

Jack reached out and took the steak knife from the table where Everett had laid it. He placed it to the doctor's neck.

"And your reward for assisting in mutiny?"

"The Heirthall fortune," he whimpered.

"Ah, the gold and jewels of the Monte Cristo legend."

Trevor's eyes flicked to Henri Farbeaux as he joined the trio.

"Good to see that there is old-fashioned avarice alive and well in the world — that everything isn't all idealistic nonsense."

Jack lowered the knife and turned toward Farbeaux.

"Colonel, no more drinking. We're going to need you."

Farbeaux smiled and then saluted Collins mockingly. Then he looked straight into Trevor's eyes. The mention of the Heirthall treasure interested him immensely.

Before Everett could continue, there were noises coming from the hatchway, then a sudden shower of sparks.

"I guess our time's up," Everett said.

"Okay, get the captain behind a table. Ryan, Mendenhall, get us a barricade set up, a thick one."

Everyone started moving, tipping tables and piling chairs.

"One pistol, Jack. All we're going to do is maybe hurt someone and make them mad at us," Everett said as he tossed Trevor to the floor and dumped part of the conference table in front of him.

Before anyone could react, a locked access door above the observation glass sprang open. All they saw was a man drop into the compartment and dive for cover.

The attack on the observation deck had begun, and it came from a surprising front.

Tyler was watching his security team cut through the same hatchway they had sealed an hour earlier when he was approached from behind by Alvera and three of the sym midshipmen. She watched the progress on the hatch without comment for a moment. Her startling blue eyes did not waver from the bright torch. "The crew and officers were successfully taken in their quarters?" she asked Tyler without turning to face him.

"Yes." Tyler turned to her, annoyed. "Shouldn't you go back to your station on the bridge?"

Alvera stopped watching the men cutting through the hatchway. She turned briefly to the midshipmen accompanying her. Then she turned and looked more closely at Tyler, and actually took a menacing step toward him. He tried not to show his fear of the young woman, but failed, as his eyes could not hold her intensity.

"Explain to me again, since you have seized control of the most powerful vessel in the history of your world, how you can be trusted? A man willing to kill millions of his own species is also a man capable of betraying the partners who assisted him in achieving that great power. Why should we trust you?"

"Because the only ally you'll have after the death of Captain Heirthall is me and the members of my security team. I need you, and you need me. Your kind will live, and I will have Leviathan . You'll have control of the sea, and I'll have control of the one thing that guarantees it for you."

Alvera looked more closely into Tyler's face. Her blue eyes intensified as she gazed, trying to uncover the lie that she suspected was just under the surface of his features.

Tyler swallowed, but held his ground.

"You acted too quickly. The captain still has the launch codes in her head. Without those codes, we can't act against the naval powers of the world. Thus far your judgment is not quite adequate to wield the power of Leviathan , Sergeant."

"Obviously I had to act sooner than planned because Heirthall was being entertained by the men and women she brought aboard, despite your implanted sym. She was in far more control than you ever believed, Yeoman. Act is what I did, to cover for your errors in judgment." He swallowed. "Now, I have a question for you ," he said, forcing himself to continue. "Are you prepared to do what you have to do? Can you kill more than eighteen hundred loyal members of Leviathan 's crew — men and women you have worked with for years? More importantly, can you do what you have to do in regard to the children? They are just as loyal to the captain as her crew."