Zero Hour

The first pulses probably hadn’t been felt except by a few kangaroos in the outback. This surge would rattle windows and shake doors. It would cause tremors up and down the rift and set the stage for what was to come, as each reverberation built upon the previous one.

He checked the monitor. The next oscillation was begi

Suddenly, the door burst open behind him. He turned in time to hear the crack of the gunshot from Kurt Austin’s weapon and see the flash of fire from the barrel. He fell backward, slammed into the viewing portal, collapsed, and slid down it, leaving a trail of blood on the thick Plexiglas.

As he slumped to the ground, he rolled toward Hayley. She was lying on the ground a few feet away.

“Thank… you,” he managed.

“George,” she whispered.

He nodded, and then his eyes closed.

Kurt rushed into the room and over to Hayley. “Are you all right?”

“I think so,” she said, begi

As he helped her up, the room began shaking violently.

“What’s happening?” she asked.

“Thero has engaged his weapon. You have to help me shut it off.”

Joe appeared in the door, supporting Gregorovich and lowering him to a seat, as Kurt led Hayley to the console. Kurt watched as she sca

“What?” Kurt asked. “Why?”

“Thero’s done something here. He’s distorted the pattern, stretching it like a rubber band. The next wave will take longer to arrive, but it will be monstrous when it hits.”

“Not if we shut this thing off,” Kurt said, getting ready to fire a spread of shells into the computer.

“You don’t understand,” she said. “It’s already off. What you’re seeing is a free-form chain reaction. The energy is coming from the imbalance in the zero-point field itself.”

Kurt glanced out into the generator room. She was right. The last charge of C-4 had knocked the generators off-line, they were winding down on their own.

“How do we stop it, then?”

“We can’t. It’s like a car skidding out of control, overcorrecting back and forth. It will stop only when it finally crashes. When a large enough surge of energy overwhelms the wave and collapses it.”

“The rift giving way,” Kurt said.

She nodded.

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. There had to be a way. He looked around. His gaze fell on the Russian nuclear bomb. “What if it found some other source of energy? A closer source.”

She turned toward the bomb. “That might do it,” she said. “From this range, that might just be enough to collapse the wave.”

Kurt moved to the bomb and opened the case. “Gregorovich. How do I set this?”

“It’s a simple timer,” the Russian managed. “Set the time, press INITIATE, and it will blow at zero.”

Kurt looked for the timer. The control panel had been smashed. He flipped the timer switch to the on position. Nothing happened. He toggled it several times. “The timer is shot,” he said.

“Then you have to set it off manually,” Gregorovich said.

Kurt looked to Joe and Hayley. “You two, get out of here,” he said. “Take the vertical shaft. Get to the ship, if you can.”

“No,” Hayley said. “You can’t stay.”

“Not alone anyway,” Joe said.

The click of a pistol being cocked sounded.

All three of them looked up to see Gregorovich aiming his gun their way. “All of you will leave,” he said. “I will detonate the device.”

Kurt stared at him.

“Look at me,” he said. “I’m not going home.”

“All right,” Kurt said, well aware that Gregorovich was dying. He slid the bomb over to where Gregorovich sat against the wall.

“Remove the timer,” Gregorovich said.

Kurt pulled the timer off. A simple detonation switch rested underneath.

“Arm it.”

Kurt turned the switch to the armed position. “Are you sure you can do this?”

“It’s a simple process,” Gregorovich said. “All I have to do is press the button.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I finish what I start,” Gregorovich said.

“Eight minutes,” Hayley said, looking at the computer screen. “At that moment the wave will be about to crest. It will be at its most unstable. Blow it then. No later or Australia will be in ruins.”

Gregorovich nodded as a new tremor shook the room.

Kurt noticed that this one felt different. Stronger.

It was time to go.

He offered a hand, and Gregorovich shook it. By the time he let go, Joe and Hayley were already climbing down the scaffolding. He went to follow them.

“You were right,” Gregorovich called after him. “Even pawns come in useful every once in a while.”

Kurt nodded and ducked out. He raced to the shaft and began climbing down. Halfway to the bottom, the cave shook again as if something solid had hit it. Cracks began snaking their way up and down the walls, and frigid, icy water began pouring in from above.

The tremors had caused a series of fissures to open at the base of the volcano. As magma and scalding heat flowed upward, the underside of the glacier began to melt. It shifted and slid forward. By the time Kurt reached the bottom of the shaft, an icy waterfall was pouring down on him.

He ran out from under it, catching up to Joe and Hayley as they reached the harborlike cave.

A strange black ship sat at the end of a narrow dock.

“Come on,” an Irish voice shouted from the deck. “I’m not bloody well leaving anyone behind this time.”

Kurt was tremendously happy to see that Devlin had ignored his suggestion. He ran with Joe and Hayley. They climbed on board as the ship began to move. Inside, they found a few of Thero’s men at the controls, guarded by Masinga and the other prisoners.

“Take us out,” Devlin ordered. “And open the gates.”

As the cave shook, a stream of rubble fell from the roof. Fist-sized rocks pelted the Voyager, clanging off her decks, and a huge boulder crashed into the water only yards away. Seconds later, the Voyager was under way, submerging and heading for the slowly widening gap between the two doors.

“Increase the power,” Devlin ordered. “Let’s go!”

The helmsman did as he was told, and the Voyager began to push forward.

“Isn’t this how Captain Nemo met his end?” Joe mentioned.

“Allegedly,” Kurt said. “Allegedly met his end.”

Hayley gripped Kurt’s hand, and everyone on the bridge held their breath as they stared at the slowly parting doors. The Voyager stabilized its depth and continued to pick up momentum. It passed through the gap in the doors, scraping badly against the right-hand plate.

“I’d give it full power, if I was you,” Kurt said.

“You heard the man,” Devlin ordered. “Flank speed ahead.”

The helmsman didn’t need to be told twice. He jammed the throttle lever to full. The big ship shuddered as the propellers increased their revolutions.

“We’re much faster on the surface,” the helmsman suggested.

“Take us up,” ordered Devlin.

The crewman reached over and blew the tanks, and the Voyager began to rise. It breached the surface with a minute to go.

Back in the control room, half the ceiling had collapsed. A gap opened up between the control room and the level above, allowing the slush and water from the melting glacier to come pouring in.

This frozen mixture swept Gregorovich across to the far side of the control room, slamming him into the wall before its force lessened and sloughed away.

Gregorovich looked at his watch. He didn’t know anything about waves or orders of magnitude in the zero-point field, all he knew was the promise he’d made. Eight minutes. He was supposed to detonate the bomb in eight minutes no matter what happened.

He tried to pull himself up. He had thirty seconds. He found he couldn’t stand, the freezing water and slush was slopping around him, slowly filling the room.