Collins looked at the coiled wire. He tilted his head in thought.

"Shock ... electric shock--under control center."

Virginia knelt and listened, but Alexandria had blanked out once more.

Jack heard the captain, and then he knew what her makeshift plan consisted of.

"Virginia, I need you to pull off that engineering stuff you're so fond of bragging about," Jack said as he reached down and took the wiring. He then explained that she had to return to the crawlspace.

Everett, Mendenhall, and Ryan watched as Jack detailed his plan to Virginia. They all raised their brows when they heard it, but they knew it would be their only chance without losing a lot of the people. Virginia nodded and accepted the task.

"Leave the captain here with her people. They aren't trained to take on people like Tyler, plus the captain may need them if this damn thing works. Doctor, you have to rig this thing in five minutes."

Tyler waited with fifty of his men at the forward access companionway into the control center. He was angry, as he knew he had lost a chance after finally breaking through into the auxiliary control suite, only to find that Heirthall had vanished. They had emptied weapons into the crawlspace beneath the deck, but he now knew that that woman had nine lives. He surmised that attacking the control center was the only logical move for the captain. Thus far, he had to give Heirthall and that damnable Collins credit--they had thwarted him at every juncture in trying to subdue them. However, he now knew their only choice was to come through him and his men.

ICE PALACE

Farbeaux formed a plan in a split second. His mind started clicking just as it had before the death of Danielle, his wife. It felt good to have purpose once more.

As the sea crashed against the carved buildings, the salt deteriorated the walls, and the giant halves of the ice shelf separated for good. The sky one mile above the ancient ice hit the sea for the first time in two hundred thousand years. Ice Palace was floating, and its ice shores were only thirty feet from the cresting swell of sea.

"Sarah, get the children in order. This section of ice will be unstable in the next few minutes."

"What?"

"He's right, look!" Niles called out.

Sarah and the others looked around and saw that the building had a decided tilt to its foundation. The children were starting to lose their footing as the giant ice floe started to tilt backward.

"I believe this shelf is now what is called an iceberg, dear Sarah. It is going to flip over. The Ross Ice Shelf is no more. If we don't do something, we'll be thrown into the sea, and with my injured hip, I don't think I could swim to McMurdo Station."

Sarah responded quickly, gathering the children together with the help of Lee, Alice, and Robbins.

"I hope you have a plan," she said.

"As a matter of fact, the answer to our situation is right in the lower rooms of this enclosure. Now, we need everyone to go down and assist in taking the items we need." Farbeaux started down first, followed by Sarah just as the enclosure tilted to thirty degrees. The stable half of the remaining shelf was starting to drift farther away.

They had but moments remaining before the section they were riding would flip over into the freezing sea.

LEVIATHAN

As the second group of Tyler's mercenaries waited, Collins caught them off guard from behind when he cleared his throat. He and Everett stood facing the men with their hands up. Ryan and Mendenhall were standing behind them, angry at having to surrender without a fight.

As Tyler's men rushed forward to take them into custody, Everett looked over at Collins.

"Ballsy, Jack, I'll give you that."

"Yeah, but can you think of a better way to get into the control center without getting everyone shot to hell?"

As they were pushed out of the companionway toward the rest of Tyler's men, Everett had to smile.

"It is good to have you back from the dead, Colonel. My life would have been as boring as hell without you."

ICE PALACE

They had struggled to get one of the oversized Zodiacs to the main level and out of the steep incline, which had become even more dangerous. As Henri pulled the air bottles that inflated the giant Zodiac, a massive cracking sound rent the air around them. As they looked up, the far-back portion of Ice Palace disappeared into the water and the surviving half went skyward, tossing everyone off their feet. Then it slammed back down into the sea. The Zodiac flew from the small shelf and went flying into the water, eighty feet away. The rough seas started tossing it about like a toy boat.

"We've had it!" Sarah said. "We wouldn't last three minutes in that water trying to retrieve it!"

"Can we get one of the others?" Alice asked loudly over the cracking of ice, with Lee assisting her in standing.

"We're out of time," Henri shouted as a large crack zigzagged through the center of the main building's remains. It was an exact center cut, separating the front half from its middle. The stairwell leading to the lower level was starting to separate from the front.

As they stood on shaking ice, they didn't see Gene Robbins looking about him, his eyes settling on the frightened children. He was shocked when he closed his eyes and his thoughts went to Captain Everett, a man he outwardly despised but inwardly envied for his blind bravery. Robbins quickly made a decision.

Garrison Lee saw a blur of motion and heard Sarah yell out. As he turned, he knew he was too late. Robbins sprinted for the edge of the ice and dived headfirst into the freezing Ross Sea.

"The fool, he's just killed himself!" Niles said as the frustrated Lee slammed his broken cane against the ice, angry he didn't think of doing the same thing himself.

"Yes, Director Compton, he has indeed just killed himself," Farbeaux said, watching Robbins's weakening strokes as he splashed his way toward the floating rubber boat. "A magnificent gesture"--he turned toward Niles--"for a traitor, wouldn't you say?"

As Henri shouted his rebuke to the others, Robbins went under the rising sea and reached for the Zodiac. They waited, frightened that he wouldn't resurface from under the freezing water. Then they were relieved as he splashed up to the surface. Ice was forming on the computer scientist's face and hair as he tried desperately to get his limbs to function.

"His body is shutting down," Lee said sadly. "Come on, son, push, push!"

Robbins pulled the Zodiac to within ten feet of the shrinking shelf, and then pushed with all of his remaining strength. The giant rubber boat bounced over one swell and then struck the ice as Sarah, Niles, and Farbeaux grabbed for it in a desperate moment of near-panic.

Lee couldn't believe what had just transpired.

"Swim, Doctor, swim toward us," Alice shouted as a section of the grounded side of the ice shelf calved away and fell into the sea with tremendous force, creating an impact wave of more than ten feet that rushed toward the struggling Robbins.

"He can't, his body has already died," Lee said. He watched as Robbins looked toward them with an expressionless, ice-covered face. The ten-foot wave rolled over him and he disappeared.