Leviathan

As Collins turned away, he heard another of the symbiants fall from the access hatch. Then another, and another. He turned quickly and fired into the mass of clear membrane of the first. He saw the bullets enter the creature's gelatinous flesh, but all they did was make it shy away as the next set of bullets found the mark. Then it started after Collins with a hideous scream.

Farbeaux was torn between watching the spiral staircase, where he heard sounds of men running, and the hatchway, where the sparks of the cutting torch had stopped. The decision was made for him as the right-side hatch was thrown back and an object was thrown in. Farbeaux and Lee hit the deck as the flash-bang grenade went off with a bright flash and deafening explosion. In the middle of all of this, Ryan, Mendenhall, and Everett came rushing down to the main deck. They hit the floor, stunned. It was Jack who automatically started firing at the assault element coming through the hatch. He caught the first two unaware, and they crumpled to the floor. When he took aim at the third and fourth as they rushed in from the companionway, he heard the syms flopping down the stairs. He quickly turned, fired upward, and then hopped over the railing the last ten feet. Hitting the deck rolling, he felt hands on him. He looked up and saw Sarah as she helped him to his feet.

Farbeaux had risen from their cover and started firing into the opening. Lee turned his attention toward the staircase and fired in that direction. Then all of the action stopped at once.

"Colonel, there is no escape. Surrender now, and we will call the symbiants off. Refuse, and I guarantee you and your people a harsh death. You have never seen the syms feed--I assure you it is not a pretty sight."

Jack and the others saw that the symbiants had paused at the higher level. They were moving around, watching them through the smoke, their illuminated eyes penetrating even from that distance.

"We want the captain. Give her up and we'll put you on the surface of the ice shelf. That won't guarantee your survival, but it's a better fate than facing the symbiants," Tyler called out.

Collins took a breath and looked at Niles. Compton in turn looked at Heirthall lying between Alice and Virginia.

"They won't ever ... get the ... launch codes ... I swear. Ginny, Dr. Compton, you and your people have done ... all that you can."

Niles looked back at Jack and shook his head.

"Sorry, Sergeant, I guess you have to come and get us," Jack called out, and then he, Ryan, Mendenhall, and Everett took up positions next to Farbeaux and Lee.

"I can't say that I am happy with your decision-making, Colonel," Henri said, not taking his eyes off the hatchway.

"Colonel, I am accessing the view screen on the observation window. Judge for yourself what the consequences are before deciding," Tyler shouted.

As Jack turned, the view screen in the upper portion of the viewing glass illuminated. The picture showed a fish-eye view of one of the crew's quarters. Men and women were struggling to get higher in the compartment as seawater rose beneath them. Although the picture had no sound, Collins knew they were screaming and yelling. Several of the more experienced crew were trying desperately to open the hatch, diving and then surfacing for air.

"There are three more compartments like that one, Colonel. Surrender, and I'll let the crew go along with you."

Collins lowered his head.

"Jesus, Jack, that bastard is holding all of the cards," said Everett.

"I daresay he's right, my boy," Lee said as he lowered his weapon.

Jack stood and slowly walked to the open hatch. He safetied the handgun and tossed it out into the companionway.

The battle for Leviathanhad ended.

As the elevator took Tyler's security team, the Event Group, Farbeaux, and Captain Heirthall up through the skyscraperlike conning tower, Jack watched Alexandria. She was deteriorating fast. He looked down at Sarah, and he could tell she was seeing it, too. The captain clung to Virginia, holding on to something of herself she could still feel and touch. As far as he knew, she hadn't been medicated since their arrival in the Ross Sea, so her speculation that the symbiant implant had died was true.

At the topmost deck of the conning tower, Tyler opened a large access hatch and they were shown outside for the first time in two days. The bridge overlooked an amazing sight--a cavern that was eight hundred feet high and a mile in length. On both sides of Leviathan, to port and starboard, and only seven hundred feet away, were the sheer walls of the naturally formed bubble. The ice, illuminated by lighting placed by Heirthall and her crew years before, made the cavern gleam with a natural beauty no one outside of Leviathanhad ever witnessed before.