Frank shook his head shortly. “I don’t know. It might still be able to generate gel pressure but it’s definitely lost its speed. Those enzymes were meant for a kinetic reaction – to charge an enemy. And now they’re being used just to keep it on its feet. Which means Leviathan will be moving really, really slow. You’ll probably be able to move as fast as it can, to a point.”
Silence.
“Thor took its heart,” Connor said, bitter. “He took the best of it with him.”
“Yes,” the scientist added after a moment. “But if my guess is right, I’d say that Leviathan has enough enzymes left for one good, hard fight. It can continue for maybe a few hours. And then …”
Connor waited. “And then?”
“It’s impossible to say, Connor. If Leviathan can’t get through the power plant to reach the lake, it might curl up and go into hibernation. To try and pull nutrients from the air and ground. Or it might just die. I don’t know.”
“But it won’t go into hibernation if it’s close to blood,” Connor said, frowning. “It likes the taste too much.”
Silence, and Frank answered. “No. if Leviathan is close to a kill, it will probably go for broke.” He waited a moment. “But don’t forget this, Connor. Even if Leviathan is close to death, it’s going to die hard because it will know instinctively that everything depends on victory.”
Smiling bitterly, Connor nodded, turned away.
“How are you gonna kill it?” the scientist asked.
Connor hesitated. “Thor is the one who killed it, Doctor. All we have to do is finish it.”
“And how are you gonna do that?”
“I’m going to fry it.”
“You’ve already tried that.”
“I made mistakes.”
“What kind of mistakes?”
“I hit it from the ground up, or from the head,” Connor replied. “Or I used too much power.”
“How could you ever use too much power? That thing’s got the resistance of a mountain.”
Connor released a hard breath. “I hit it with 100,000 volts, and that was too much because it blasted it clear across the cavern. I hurt it, but I don’t want to hurt it. I want to put it down for good.”
“So you’re going to hit it with less power?”
“No,” Connor shook his head. “I’m going to hit with as much or more. But I’m going to try and hold it and hit it. I’m going to put it in a place where it can’t escape the current. And if I can hit it with 100,000 volts or better for at least a minute, I think I can make that superheated blood fry its brain. I’ve got to either do that, or I’ve got to throw a current as big as a lightning bolt through its chest and blow out its heart.”
“Blow out its heart?” Frank’s face was suddenly rigid. “How are you going to blow out its heart?”
Connor gazed at the two severed sections of the Norwegian power line, positioned just inside the doorway. “I’m not sure, yet. But I’ve got some ideas.”
“Hey, Connor.”
Connor looked down, silent.
“I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry about Thor.”
“I appreciate that.”
“He was a good man.”
Connor’s eyes narrowed. “He was a hero, Frank. He was a hero in an age that doesn’t believe in heroes. Nowadays people prefer to believe in whatever gets them by or saves them money. Everything else can be sacrificed. Usually is. I know, because I’ve been there my whole life. But Thor believed in God and Satan and good and evil and the whole nine yards. He believed that you stand with one or the other. And I think the man was right. I never knew a better man and never will because he was the real thing. He was someone who stood on what he believed and wouldn’t get off it. The rest of us are just sauce.”
Silent, Frank nodded.
Beth stood, removing the heavy black communications head-set. “I got through, Connor! We’ve got a C-130 coming out of Neskaupstadhur and there’s a North Atlantic Sea Patrol cruiser forty miles southeast running on calm seas. It should be here in less than two hours.” She paused, staring. “Now all we have to do is get out of here.”
“No, Beth,” Connor said. “Now all we have to do is kill that thing.” He turned to Frank. “Do you have control over the fail-safe?”
Frank nodded.
“Will GEO set if off whenever you give it the command?”
Another nod.
Connor lifted his gaze at Beth. When he looked back at Frank his face was almost white with emotion. He spoke loudly so that Beth could give her blessing, her agreement.