In a breath he had staggered up, somehow clutching the grenade launcher. He heard Barley shouting, sensed the big black man running forward, still holding the LAW.
Leviathan came over them, blazing in flame.
With a roar it charged into the cavern, in their midst almost before Connor could react. The Dragon hit the power plant in a rush, blasting forward in a haze of black that was over Connor in a thunderstorm of fangs and claws. Then Connor heard Barley's shout and dropped as the air shattered with the colossal concussion of the LAW.
Connor sensed something black and bestial roaring over his head, sailing aflame through the air. And in a daze he saw Leviathan's monstrous head whirl to lock savagely on something and then its long foreleg had lashed out wildly toward ... Jordan!
Yet the devil-claws missed the child to strike a maze of cables and the gazebo was torn violently from the ceiling, Jordan and Beth screaming together as it descended with a rending crash to the floor.
“NO!” Connor screamed.
A wounded roar struck the opposite wall of the power plant far behind them but Connor didn't turn to it, had all but forgotten the Dragon as he gained his feet, running forward. He saw Beth pitch forward, unconscious but still holding Jordan tight and secure in her arms and with a terrible cry Connor leaped over shattered steel to catch them in his arms.
“Beth,’ he gasped, crying out, on his knees. “Oh, Beth ...”
He cradled his wife gently in his arms and hugged Jordan close. And then by some primal survival instinct he turned his head to see Leviathan on the opposite end of the cavern, on fire from the impact of the LAW.
Ravaged, the beast was galactically enraged.
Hell on earth, it rose raging.
Barley was running to the middle of the cavern, waving. “Frank!” he screamed. “Get 'em out of here! Forget the plan! Forget the plan! I'm gonna blow this place and bury this thing! Get out of here! All of you get out of here!”
Leviathan screamed and lashed out, shattering a support beam.
Faintly Connor leaned forward, clutching Beth and Jordan close in his arms. It was a single moment of bright, shining hope in utter blackness, a moment of holding his wife and son close as a pure hell-born beast of unstoppable strength rose before them, gathering itself to kill them, to kill them all.
“Beth,” Connor gasped. “Come on, darlin’ ... Come on, baby ... We've got to ... We've got to get out of here ...”
Beth pitched forward, blood on her shoulder. Connor cried out, holding her closer. “Oh, Beth ...”
And then Frank was there, yes, Frank.
The scientist bent quickly over her, taking her firmly and gently from Connor's arms. And Connor leaned back, staring in shock and tears, kneeling as he held Jordan tight.
As calm and blessed as a surgeon, Frank touched Beth's neck, his hands so calm and confident, so gentle. Then he did something sensitive and caring and touching that Connor didn't understand before he reached under the railing to lift Beth effortlessly in his arms, turning.
“She's alive, Connor!” he gasped, his eyes bright and loving. “Come on, buddy! We've got to get out of here! Barley's going to—”
“Look out!” Barley screamed, and Connor whirled.
It was too late.
Leviathan lashed out, smashing its tail against the far end of the gazebo and together they were sailing through the air, struck by the near end of the railing and Connor lost it all in the roaring madness, charging all his soul to hold Jordan close. Then he struck a steel girder with a mind-shattering collision, and he was spinning to fall to the ground with his son slung far from him.
Connor landed screaming, reaching for his son and not knowing where he had gone even as he heard the reptilian roar and somehow in his mind saw the Dragon rising above them, so close.
“Jordan!” he screamed.
And then he saw Jordan.
So close!
The child cried out in pain.
Leviathan stood high on its hind feet, glaring, savoring the moment. It took its time to strike terror and remorse and whatever else could be struck in the hearts of its victims. And Connor knew with finality that this was far, far more than a beast.
It would be the end of the world.
If it could be.
Then Barley was before it, in its teeth, screaming and firing up with a continuous stream from his blazing M-16 that Leviathan all but ignored until it suddenly glared down, irritated, fangs parting. It swiped out with a contemptuous foreleg and Connor saw the lieutenant blasted wildly to the side.
Barley was hurled incredibly high and hard across the cavern to smash into a broken stand of girders, spinning off the heap to crash with bone-shattering force.
Connor cried out, hurt by the sight. But almost instantly, incredibly, Barley was on his feet again and Connor wasn't even surprised. The lieutenant rose, staggering forward, always always back into the fight but Connor understood somehow that not even Barley, as much a man as he was, could stand after that – not after that. Barley took two staggering steps, screaming in rage and drawing a pistol to fire a full clip, firing until he fell heavily onto his face, deathly silent in a silence that reached fully across the cavern.