Leviathan

"Good God," Lee said as he watched in amazement.

They saw a shape rising from the depth of the clear sea. They would never know that this particular spot in the gulf was chosen specifically for its clarity. They watched as the bow of the great vessel rose through the depths, rounded and giant. The submarine broke the surface of the gulf of Mexico with an explosion of white water and sea spray, then kept rising as if it were fighting to free itself of an unwanted and hostile environment. It rose, seemingly never ending, and then rose even more. They saw the co

"I ca

The massive submarine finally reached a point where its forward bulk outweighed its stern and the giant ship started to fall toward the sea below. The gulf beneath its hull was crushed as the behemoth crashed into the water, sending forth a wave two hundred feet into the air. The mist from the top of the wave reached as far as the hovering aircraft.

Niles started measuring with his mind's eye. The vessel was well over a thousand feet in length, possibly more. He couldn't begin to calculate her displacement to

Niles could see two large, finlike, harsh triangles--powerful-looking bow-planes slicing the waters just under the surface--and then finally two towering, angled, hundred-foot-long, fifty-foot-high tail fins sprang from the sea like the dorsal fins of a monster shark. As they held their breath, the vessel's bow opened up and revealed a glass nose hidden under a retractable armor front, and they could see that the glass covered at the very least ten decks of the forward parts of the vessel. The giant submarine continued to run on the surface, sending out very little tail wake from her power plant at the stern. Seagulls, after the initial shock of her arrival, started flocking around the skyscraperlike co

"On behalf of my captain, I welcome you to Leviathan."

Lee turned and looked at the man, who was watching them all with an intent gaze. He recalled a poem from the time of the Civil War, which he memorized in his college days and deemed appropriate now that the man had placed a name to the great vessel.

" 'Lo, as I am swallowed by the salt-laden waters, I am cursed to behold the shape and dark intent of my enemy, the very destroyer of men, thus as I am laid asunder, water invading my soul, there, under the waves, travels the monstrous grace of Leviathan, God of the Sea, and Master of the World.'"

As the four tilt-wing aircraft started forward, the lead craft banked hard and started settling for the deck of Leviathan. As it approached, two large doors, over seventy feet in length and just aft of the co

The tilt-wing settled to the deck and her engines started to spool down. Then one of the other craft settled beside them and the remaining flight behind. Compton turned and sat in his seat while looking at the others.

"This is not the first such vessel to carry the name," Lee commented.

The tall man rose from his seat and completely removed his body armor, his eyes watching Lee. The rest of his men were now fully awake and seemingly glad to be home as they joked and made their way to the rolling stairs that had been pushed into place.

"Correct, Senator. This is the third vessel to carry the name Leviathan," he said, handing his armor and weapon to the nearest man.

Niles looked at Garrison Lee, who winked. "Vault 298907, level seventy-three, inactive file."

Recognition etched Compton's face as he remembered one of the Group's more prized possessions. He knew what vault the senator had referred to, and now he knew one of the reasons for the vault's destruction.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you would follow me, please." The man hesitated and looked at Henri Farbeaux. "I will ask you for your word as a gentleman to behave upon this vessel. We will tolerate no activities that may harm the crew or systems aboard. If you can't agree to this request, we can set you adrift before diving. You will be picked up within the day, I assure you."

Farbeaux stood and looked at their host and then at Niles and Sarah, who in turn were looking at him expectantly.

"Why of course, my word as a gentleman," he said without a trace of humor.

The man held the colonel's gaze a moment, trying to detect any form of deceit, and then he turned for the large doorway.

As they gained the stairs, they saw at least a hundred men and women moving about the hangar deck. They were busy with tasks such as washing the four aircraft down, freeing them from metal-eating salt. A loudspeaker echoed among the fifteen helicopters and four tilt-winged aircraft.

"Stand by to secure hangar doors. All hands make ready for submerged operations."

Garrison Lee leaned on his cane as Alice placed one of her hands on top of his and watched the sunlight of the outside world be slowly shut out. The giant doors hissed closed above them with a finality that made Alice cringe slightly.

Sarah watched the crew members around them as they secured the tilt-wings to the hangar deck with long nylon straps, using come-alongs to tighten them to piano-wire tightness. Arrayed along the wall were projected and enhanced electronic readouts displaying the exact weight of what was carried in the hangar. She was amazed that an object that could travel under the sea could tolerate such weight, as it had to be a hindrance to their speed. She was also amazed at the ethnic makeup of the crew; black, white, Asian, and others worked together side by side with children not more than sixteen.

The tall man was again watching them.

"If I may ask, what is your function aboard this vessel? Or are you just the resident killer and kidnapper?" Niles asked as he rolled down the sleeves of his white shirt. The eyes behind his glasses held firm against the glare from the tall man.

He smiled at last--a cold, mean-spirited smile.

"I follow my orders. However, I amthe resident security specialist and special forces commander for Leviathan--Sergeant Tyler, Benjamin Tyler. And if I hadn't been good at what I do, the people back at your ridiculous little complex would be burying quite a few more associates today." Tyler gestured toward a young woman who was standing by at one of the larger consoles awaiting his orders.

They watched as the young woman walked over. She was dressed in a red shirt and blue shorts, different from the hangar deck crew who wore blue jumpsuits, not unlike the military members at the Event Group. Her brown hair was braided--coiling around both ears--and her smile was genuine. Her eyes were deep and dark blue, with a ring of soft silver around the pupils. She was an amazing-looking girl.