"It will do no good to flatter me, Colonel."

When the doctor left sickbay half an hour later, he escorted Collins back to his Group and then made his rounds of the departments, checking for deep submergence sickness amongst the crew. Henri Farbeaux eased himself out of his bed. He steadied himself, then slowly limped into Dr. Trevor's private office. He saw the file cabinet where he had watched the doctor place Jack Collins's file. It wasn't locked. Because of that, he wasn't interested enough to check it. He went down the three rows of drawers until he came to one cabinet secured by a built-in lock.

"Eureka," he said, smiling as he removed a small clip he had stolen from his own IV drip. He twisted and bent it until he had the shape he wanted, then inserted it into the lock. He raised his brows when he heard the click and the lock disengaged.

"A little too trusting, Doctor," he whispered as he pulled the drawer open.

There were at least three hundred thick files inside. He recognized some of the names as crewmen onboard Leviathan. When he didn't find the one he wanted, he opened another cabinet. Then his eyes caught the one file he wanted. He pulled out the thick chart and then closed the drawer.

He looked at the name again--Captain Alexandria Olivia Heirthall.

Belowdecks, Samuels watched as reactor numbers three and four went offline. He maintained reactor one at 50 percent for pressure control, and took power down on reactor two to 60 percent, maintaining life support and their current speed at thirty-five knots.

"Mr. Samuels now has the conn," Alexandria said from her observation suite.

Commander Samuels took a deep breath as the sound of the four reactors started winding down, and Leviathanslowed as they went deeper into the trench.

Outside the pressure hull, Leviathancontinued on a journey to a spot in the earth's depths, where the hull would be taking on twenty-eight tons per square inch. The magic of the Heirthall science was the only thing keeping every man, woman, and child onboard from being crushed to the size of a microbe--and still she went deeper.

The final deep run of the magical Leviathanhad begun.

PART FOUR

FROM HELL'S HEART

Why does man believe that intelligence, coupled with thumbs, sets him apart from the rest of the natural world? It is the soul of a creature that truly sets species apart, and in that regard, humankind is sorely lacking, and thus has created Hell upon his Earth.

-- Captain Octavian Heirthall, 1865

17

"I have no idea where to go from here," Jack said to Carl, far away from the others. He felt the bandage on the top of his head.

"We're too deep for any sort of attack on the crew, at any rate, Jack."

"Right now that's the only saving grace--she can't kill anyone down here because she's the only person in the world who can go this damn deep."

Everett was about to respond when the hatchway opened and Sergeant Tyler stepped into the observation compartment with four of his security men. They were quickly followed by Virginia and Captain Heirthall.

The security team took up station on either side of the hatchway with their automatic weapons at the ready across their chests. Virginia walked in with her head lowered and joined Alice, Sarah, and the senator at the large table. Niles took a step forward, but Tyler held his hand up to stop him from advancing.

"Has it been reported to you that your Sergeant Tyler here nearly killed Colonel Collins? Did he do it of his own accord, or was he acting on your orders?"

Alexandria Heirthall sat in the nearest chair and closed her eyes as she felt the rush of the Demerol finally taking effect. Then she looked at Compton. She mentally fought the urge to turn on Tyler, instead looking at Jack.

"My apologies, Colonel, for the sergeant's temper. We are all under tremendous strain."

"Is that what you call it? My God, woman, you and your trained killer are damn well out of control!" Lee said, pointing at Tyler with his cane. This time Alice didn't try to silence him.

"And now do you believe that the world will sit idly by and have you threaten the starvation of millions of people? Men like the ones onboard Missouriwill keep hunting you," Niles said as calmly as he could.

"I'll do what I can for the survival of my people, my vessel, and for the life in the seas, Dr. Compton. Moreover, I have never once doubted the bravery of your nation's submariners. I just thank God they have a captain that understands the limitations of American naval science."

Alexandria finally seemed to focus with dilated eyes as the heavy dose of Demerol hit her system in earnest. She looked into the faces staring at her from around the observation deck. Then she stood with what looked like grim determination, fighting the helping as well as the debilitating effects of the drugs in her system.

She paced to the front of the compartment, then stopped and turned to face the Event Group. Virginia was now seeing a very different woman from the one she had seen less than thirty minutes before, maniacally piloting Leviathanon her deep run into the trench. She was now calm, and although drugged, seemed more in control emotionally.

At that moment, Commander Samuels stepped into the compartment and stayed by the hatchway. Alexandria gestured for him to come forward.

"My apologies, James," she whispered near his ear. Her eyelids fluttered, closed, then opened. "I believe it's time I explain a few things to you and our guests. Please stand by the hatchway, and take this." Alexandria slipped a small .32-caliber pistol into his hand. He pocketed it and then turned away.

She cleared her throat and waited for Samuels to take his station.

"My ancestor, Roderick Deveroux Heirthall, was the first to discover what I am about to reveal to you."

Tyler looked from Samuels to Heirthall. His features were twisted and ugly.

"Captain, I ask you not to do this," the sergeant said, taking what everyone thought was a menacing step toward Heirthall. "These people won't understand. No one will."

"Sergeant Tyler," Alexandria said, looking fatigued, "you are relieved. Report to your quarters, and inform security to stand down." She steadied herself against the sill of the observation window.

Tyler abruptly turned to the hatchway and then out of the compartment, roughly brushing by Samuels. His security team quickly followed him.

Heirthall nodded and Samuels closed the hatch. She rubbed the back of her head, then shook her head as she advanced toward the glass where Niles was standing.

"Now." She looked up at Compton, who stood challengingly before her. "I believe we are at a point in the trench system where we can begin to answer some of your questions, Dr. Compton." She reached into her pocket and brought out a small bottle of pills. Without looking, she turned the bottle up, and shook two pills into her mouth, and dry-swallowed them. "Then I will tell you the reason why you are here."

Alexandria nodded toward Samuels, who moved to the control chair and threw a switch. The protective shields of the massive observation windows began to part. To the Event Group it was as if they were looking deep into the darkest void in the entire world. As their eyes started adjusting to that blackness, they began to see the swirl of unnatural colors surrounding the bow of the giant vessel. A glow of bluish-green light extended outward to almost to sixty feet, showing a sight that no man outside the crew of Leviathanhad ever seen before.