A choked cry of agony escaped him as his boots slipped off the wall and his entire weight went solidly to his fingertips, shredding his fingernails. He scrambled for a more secure hold on the smooth wall, slipping, scrambling again, slipping . . . Teeth clenched in pain, Thor cast a wild look down—pain, fear, darkness, an abyss ... Bellowing in agony, unable to ascend or climb, Thor clung savagely at the edge of a long and bitter darkness.
* * *
“Can GEO track Leviathan?”
Frank answered Connor's terse question as they moved. “Yes. GEO always knows where Leviathan is.”
“So where is Leviathan now?”
Lightly touching the headset, Frank asked, “GEO, what is the exact location of Leviathan?”
“Switch to the speaker system,” Connor said. “I want to hear this.”
“Leviathan is in Alpha Corridor,” the computer replied over the speaker system in its impersonal voice. “Leviathan is standing at the Observation Room.”
Halting in place, Frank stared at nothing. Connor froze beside him, watching. A cold pall of silent fear seemed to cross the scientist's face. His hand continued to touch the headset.
“GEO, what is the brain activity of Leviathan?” he asked.
“Leviathan's EEG activity is at maximum speed and maximum intensity.”
Head turning like a doll, Frank looked at Connor. “GEO,” he asked more quietly, “how long has Leviathan been stationary at the Observation Room?”
“Leviathan has been stationary at the Observation Room for forty-six minutes and twelve seconds. ‘
Frank's face went white.
“What is it?” Connor asked.
“It's about to attack.”
“How can you know that?”
“It's standing beside the Observation Room so it can study the structural integrity of this place.”
“Study the structure? It's an animal!”
“We've got to move,” Frank said, running forward. “We've got to reach Chesterton before Leviathan reaches the entrance of Alpha Corridor. I think that it's discovered a way to defeat the vault!”
* * *
Chapter 16
A graveyard-dead disbelief rose from the depths of Chesterton's sullen eyes. It was the look of a man who absolutely could not believe the dismal, dark fate that had been delivered to him.
“Give me that again, Doctor,” he muttered.
“All right,” Frank said, leaning over a computer terminal, “let me put it to you as simply as possible. Leviathan is a programmed organism that has specialized knowledge available to it from memory implantation.”
“What kind of knowledge are we talking about?”
The scientist raised his hands. “Any kind of knowledge, Chesterton! Leviathan has an entire encyclopedia of knowledge in its memory network. It has knowledge of countries, capitals, ocean currents, climatic conditions, national populations. It had to have all that information if we were ever going to release it into the lake. It had to know how to find its way to the targeted armies, capitals, whatever. It had to—”
“Wait a minute, Doctor. I thought Leviathan's memory implantation dealt mostly with military tactics.”
“Yeah, Chesterton, Leviathan understands whatever tactics your people put on those tapes. But Leviathan has a constantly evolving neural network that is always—”
“Frank!” Chesterton slammed both hands on a desk. “I'm tired of science reports! Just give it to me in English!”
“Fine!” Frank responded, leaning back. “I’11 make it simple for you, Chesterton.” He pointed solidly at the Alpha vault. “Leviathan is about to come through that vault like a freight train! And you'd better get ready for it because nothing can stop it!”
“You said it can't melt titanium!”
“Now I’m saying that Leviathan has found a weakness in the construction that even we don't know about. And you'd better believe me, Chesterton, because I know this creature.”
Frowning, Chesterton stood silent a moment “All right, Frank,” he said finally. “Then tell me this: What is that thing going to do when it comes through that doorway?”
“The first thing it's going to do is knock out the lights.”
“Then it will be in the dark,” Chesterton muttered.
“It doesn’t need light, Chesterton.”
“It can see in the dark? You never told me that!”
“You never asked.”
“I ... I cannot believe this.” Chesterton lowered his head with the words, looked up after a moment. He placed his hands on his hips, leaning forward as he turned to Barley. “Lieutenant! Take all the C-4 and dynamite and whatever else you can find, and rig it up with a microwave switch at the exit of Alpha Corridor. And get it done yesterday!”