The door's bolts clanged shut and instantly they stepped back, reloading, reorganizing, moving through the heavy smoke of rifle fire that hovered like fog in the air. Connor was suddenly aware of the thick smell of gunpowder, felt the warmth of the overheated rifle barrels.
The niobium-titanium vault shook.
Struck hard.
Dust cascaded from the cavern roof, a faint cloud. Then another impact shook the door, and another. But the vault held, withstanding the attack with a solidity that the fire shield of the Observation Room had lacked. Again and again the vault was violently struck while wild-eyed soldiers backed away, smoldering weapons leveled. And Connor was with them, eyes fixed on the niobium-titanium door. Dimly, he noticed Frank still on the floor in front of them. The scientist hadn't moved since the vault closed, was still kneeling a few feet in front of the gray wall.
A full minute of pounding.
Until ... nothing.
The vault stood in silence.
After a strangely still moment, Connor walked forward. He stared down and then he kneeled, studying Frank's face. Even though Connor was still breathless, he managed to speak.
“Is that door going to hold it, Frank?”
The scientist blinked. “It'll hold it for a little while, Mr. Connor. But Leviathan will find a way to defeat it. I guarantee it.”
Connor said nothing. As he stood the cavern went suddenly dark, a total and complete blackness that fell across them like cold midnight. A flashlight was instantly beaming in Chesterton's hand as he came forward, to stand beside them.
“What happened, Doctor?”
“GEO has initiated Lockdown Mode,” Frank replied, staring at the vault. “The computer interpreted Leviathan's escape from the holding cell to be a breach of internal security, so GEO is doing exactly what it's programmed to do. It's shutting the vaults of every corridor.”
Chesterton paused, silent. “Does that mean what I think it means, Frank?” he asked finally.
With a slow blink Frank replied, “That means all the corridor vaults have shut automatically, Colonel. And they can't be reopened as long as GEO is tracking Leviathan outside the holding chamber.”
Emergency lights blinked on, eerily red; the entire Headquarters Cavern was lit with a dark scarlet glow. Trying to contain a sudden fear, Connor leaned forward. “Frank ... does that mean that the vault at the elevator shaft has shut down? Is the elevator shaft closed?”
Frank stared, fearful.
“Yes, Mr. Connor. It means we're locked in this cavern.”
* * *
Chapter 14
Make contact with my other platoons!” Chesterton bellowed, and Barley was instantly on the radio, calling out. Still shaken from the climactic battle, Chesterton whirled to Frank. “Is there another vault at the opposite end of that corridor where my men were stationed? Is that thing locked in Alpha Passage, or can it still get to my other platoons?”
“All the passages led to the Containment Cavern,” Frank said, bowing his head. “The company never installed vaults at the far end where the tunnels converge in the cavern.”
Chesterton's anger intensified dramatically. “Are you telling me – “ He pointed to the vault, “– that if my platoons didn't make it out of those tunnels before those vaults closed they're trapped inside the tunnel with that thing?”
Eyes closed, Frank nodded.
“Barley!” Chesterton roared. “Can't you raise Charlie and Beta Squads on the A-unit? Get me some response!”
Disciplined and controlled, the muscular lieutenant kept keying the handheld radio, calling for a response. Finally there was a chaotic reply engulfed with gunfire, shouting, panic. Then a scream of human terror erupted but words couldn't be distinguished—only explosions and the cries of men dying in pain and terror, suddenly overcome by a volcanic roar.
Chesterton violently snatched the A-unit from Barley's hand. “Alpha and Beta this is Chesterton! This is Chesterton!”
“Pull back and fortify! Pull back and fortify! Do you read me?”
Silence.
Trembling, Chesterton keyed the microphone. “Charlie and Beta, this is Chesterton! Pull back and fortify! Pull back and fortify! Key the mike if you read me!” He released the mike, waiting. Then for the briefest moment a howling cry came over the radio, a horrifying expression of human suffering that was overcome by a bloodthirsty roar, bestial and merciless.
It died abruptly.
Chesterton's hand was white on the radio. “Charlie and Beta this is Chesterton! I repeat! Pull back and fortify! Pull back ...” His voice cracked. “Pull back and fortify!”
Frowning, Connor bowed his head. Then he sensed something above them and he looked up, searching. Vaguely he saw faint tendrils of smoke crossing the high darkness, a blackened cloud of burnt flesh traveling through the cavern like the ghosts of scorched souls.