Event

THIRTY-THREE

The president was standing and drinking a glass of water when General Hardesty leaned over and saw the remaining command element at Site One as they were gesturing wildly at something below in the valley. Then his attention was diverted by the frantic call from Ryan in Arizona.

"Mr. President, something seems to be happening," he said.

As the president turned toward the large monitor, the general turned up the volume on the radio frequency.

"It's huge, Site One, and it's breaching now!" they heard the call from the AWACS.

"For God's sake, what now?" the president asked the room, but they all were busy standing and pointing at the remote camera relay from the valley.

The sight was one that all who witnessed it would never forget and would in the years to come haunt their nightmares. The undiscovered male breached the surface of the valley floor and shot into the air fifty feet, trailing dirt and sand in its wake. The multicolored armor plates of its neck were caught in the rays of the sun and sparkled, sending reflections of deep bloodred against the purple of its body armor. Then suddenly at least eighty or ninety of the smaller offspring shot up and out of the desert floor, mimicking the male. They formed their arches on both sides of the larger Talkhan. The animal was huge. Collins estimated from head to foot it was at least thirty feet fully erect. The male Talkhan hit the top of its arc and gracefully curled and rolled and entered the desert hardpan on its back and disappeared beneath the splash of sand and rock, quickly followed by the others.

"God, they're headed right for the Humvee," Jack said. "Ryan?" he called.

"Can't raise 'em!" Ryan called while still holding the headphones to his head.

As everyone from the valley, the White House, and the Event Center watched, the male surfaced again exactly in the path where the Humvee was speeding back to Site One. It sent the vehicle into the air 150 feet, paying it no more attention than it would a small bush. The beast roared as it started its fall back into the soil. The Humvee crashed hard back to earth; the entire armored vehicle was now upside down and crumpled.

"Site One, this is Valley Forge. Target has changed aspect and is moving toward sector 327. Repeat, target is now moving toward sector 327," the AWACS reported.

"Roger, sector 327," Ryan said. Jack was already heading to the Pave Low where Ryan had a map laid out on the ramp. Ryan quickly circled the area in red marker. "Goddammit, Major, the bastards are making a run out of the valley."

"Right for the funnel, into the last line of defense," Jack said as Everett joined them. "Contact Niles and relay to the ranchers to get the cattle moving."

"Then let's get ready and blow the crap out of it," Everett said.

Jack thought as he looked below at the line of collapsing tunnel as the beast ran for the eastern gate of the valley, quickly followed by its siblings. His eyes went to Sarah and the others.

"Gentlemen, the remote trigger for the weapon is in the Humvee," Jack said simply.

"Then we better go get it," Ryan said.

It was Everett who knew what Jack already did. Carl turned and watched as the surviving tunnel teams and Event personnel were covering the remains of the three pilots killed in the mother's final attack and helping the fourth, who was lying on the ground bleeding to death.

"Jesus Christ! Can we get a break here?" Carl said for the second time that day, then looked to the sky in frustration.

"Is someone going to let me in on what's going on?" Ryan asked.

"By the time we get to the Humvee, the animals will be out of the valley and gone," Everett said with his eyes closed in frustration. "The Blackhawks and other Pave Lows are all refueling."

Then Ryan caught on. He threw the headphones onto the back ramp of the huge Pave Low in frustration.

"You're a pilot, aren't you?" Jack said to Ryan, looking at the grounded Pave Low.

Ryan was confused. He looked around and then caught on to what Jack was asking.

"Major, I've never flown one of those in my life. I don't even like riding in the fucking things."

"What about the smaller one?" Collins asked, heading for the lone Blackhawk.

"Are you nuts?" Ryan asked as he chased Collins.

"Where is the crew chief for this aircraft?" Everett called out.

"Right here, sir," a young spec 5 called out.

"Can you fly?" Everett asked quickly as he started gathering weapons.

"No, sir, I'm just a crew chief."

Jack slapped the young man on the back and shoved him toward Ryan. "Well, you've now been promoted to warrant officer, and you will assist your new pilot in the copilot's station. Move."

"Major--"

Everett and the injured Collins just turned and glared.

Ryan grimaced and ran for the imposing Blackhawk.

One minute later Ryan was sitting in the left seat of the Blackhawk staring at the flight panel of the huge helicopter.

The crew chief leaned over and studied the buttons and switches angrily. He pointed quickly. "This one, this one, and this one," the boy said as he pushed two buttons and threw a switch.

"Power coming up!" Ryan called out more for himself than the others.

The four blades of the composite rotors started turning and coming up to speed. Ryan studied the controls. He knew the collective throttled both of the powerful engines when twisted and raised the helicopter when pulled up, and he knew the pedals operated the tail rotor to compensate for the torque of the main engines, but he didn't know how they actually worked. This was no Tomcat and he was totally uncomfortable without any wings.

"Come on, Ryan, get us in the air!" Collins yelled. He was listening on the headphones as the AWACS was calling out the position of the animal. It was only five miles away from the mouth of the funnel and closing on it fast.

Ryan closed his eyes and twisted the throttle on the collective with his left hand. That brought a burst of power to the main rotors and the tail boom. He opened his eyes as the rotors started really spinning and thumping. Then Ryan gently pulled up on the collective, which manipulated the rotors that supplied the Blackhawk with lift, but the helicopter didn't lift. He twisted the throttle to its stops.

"Oh, shit, we're going to die!" Ryan said aloud.

The young, just promoted spec 5 just stared wide-eyed out of the windshield as the large helicopter just sat there. Ryan gulped and again pulled up on the collective and immediately felt his stomach lurch as the heavy bird lifted suddenly with a jolt. It slowly started to spin to the right and Ryan applied foot pressure to the left pedal. It was harder to push than the foot pedals in his Tomcat, but it was pressed hard enough to slow the rate of the Blackhawk's spin. They had made two complete circles before Ryan finally stopped the spin. He shook his head in the affirmative though no one had asked him anything.

Out of the open side door Jack saw Sarah wave with a sad look as the helicopter started to lift into the air. Then she seemed to come to a decision and looked angry. She dropped her hand and sprinted for the Blackhawk. Jack started shouting for her to get out of the way and screaming also for Ryan to hold it. But it was too late; Sarah placed her right foot on the left wheel of the helicopter and used it as leverage to launch herself up and into the cabin. She flopped on the deck and winced as she looked up into the angry face of Collins.

"Look, I'm the only one that isn't injured, you need me!"

"When this is over, we're going to talk, McIntire," Jack said as he reached down and pulled Sarah to her feet.

Ryan slowly pushed the control stick forward and the Blackhawk lurched and lost altitude. He quickly twisted the throttle and its descent was halted, but not before the left wheel assembly hit a large rock outcropping, tearing the wheel away. Everett and Collins "were thrown forward in the back compartment and looked out the door and watched the wheel and gear fall and strike the ground below, bouncing and just missing several men and women on the ground.

"Goddammit, Lieutenant!" Everett shouted.

"Sorry, sorry," Ryan said. Cursing under his breath, he spared a glance over to the specialist who was holding on for dear life. "Relax, trooper, I got it now!" Ryan shouted as the Blackhawk shot out over the cliff and started its jerking run for the crashed Humvee.

I didn't know Ryan could fly helicopters," Niles said as they watched the video feed.

Alice was staring at the monitor. "According to his file, he can't," she said as she patted the nervous Lee on the leg again.

Three minutes later Ryan was hovering three hundred feet above the crashed Humvee after passing it twice while trying to figure out the best way to set the helicopter down. Then he swallowed and twisted the collective power down and slowly brought the control stick back toward his chest. He breathed easier when the Blackhawk started to settle easily.

"To the right, to the right!" Everett called out. As Ryan couldn't see right below them, he didn't notice he was coming down right on top of the mangled wreckage.

"Jesus!" he said as he pushed on the right pedal and swung the stick to the right. Then he felt the left wheel touch down with a groaning bang.

"Hurry, I can't hold it here forever," Ryan said into the back, then looked over at his young copilot. "Are you going to do anything this whole trip?"

The specialist chanced a look at Ryan and shook his head. "No, sir, I am not."

Everett, Sarah, and Jack jumped from the Blackhawk and ran for the crashed Humvee. They scrambled inside. They first checked the driver and then the captain sitting beside him. They were both dead.

"It's a black box the size of a laptop," Collins called out over the noise of the helicopter.

"Got it!" Everett called.

Jack looked up and saw Carl was holding up the black box. Then all three ran back to the Blackhawk and jumped aboard, making Ryan lose control for a moment because of the sudden weight change. Then he lifted too quickly into the air, slamming both Everett and Collins to the floor. Sarah quickly followed, landing on top of Jack.

"Head back to Site One," Everett ordered Ryan.

All was quiet on the valley floor where the gathered cattle from the surrounding ranches grazed, only a half mile from the exit to the valley, the place where Jack Collins had first guessed the Talkhan would turn to run. The state police and the FBI had combined all the assets the surrounding ranches could provide. Every truck, trailer, and even the expensive air force Pave Lows had been used to get the makeshift herd together. The six hundred head of cattle were lowing, unaware of the role they were about to play in the drama getting ready to unfold, or the part they would play in the fate of mankind. But they would be there for only another minute as the horsemen surrounding them started to get themselves ready for the run of their lives.

Two miles from the cattle, the ground began to shake and part violently in ninety-plus different waves. The creatures appeared and disappeared as they went high, looking for danger, then sank again, going even deeper. They were traveling as fast as they could to the tantalizing vibrations and smells produced by the confiscated cattle.

Look at them go!" the president said in awe at the speed of the animals.

Senator Lee sat forward on the couch and leaned his chin on his cane as Alice lightly squeezed his thigh. Niles walked over to the screen in the Event conference room and watched as the beasts seemingly took the bait.

Niles picked up the phone and called the base camp. "Virginia, radio the ranchers to get the cattle moving, now!"

On the valley floor, Thomas Tahchako and his eight ranch hands had volunteered to get the cattle to the middle of Soda Flats. They knew the risks, but they also knew the cattle could not be moved by truck or helicopter fast enough. He watched as the first of the animals breached the surface. His eyes widened when he saw the size of the first one. Thomas immediately spurred his horse forward and at the same time drew his old-fashioned six-shooter from his holster and fired three times in the air, startling the cattle into movement. The other ranch hands yelped and whooped as they started the organized stampede toward the dry lake bed. As Tahchako turned, he saw the first of the animals turn toward the feel and sound of the thundering cattle as they ran in the direction of Soda Flats.

The Apache spurred his large horse ahead of the stampeding cattle and was only a thousand yards from entering Soda Flats when the first of the cattle started being pulled under. He looked back and saw one of his ranch hands disappear into the ground as he and his mount were suddenly gone. He kept whipping his horse until he was far out ahead of the herd, his hat flying free and his long braids whipping in the wind as he and the cattle ran headlong onto the alkali flats, sending up large plumes of bitter-tasting silt.

Thomas fired his three remaining rounds from his six-shooter and the cattle started spreading out. The animals were attacking the herd in force now; he counted at least eight animals as they breached into the alkali. They were in such a killing frenzy they couldn't feel the alkali as they became coated with the stinging particles.

Tahchako turned his horse and was quickly followed by his remaining hands as they sped south, away from the flats. He once again spared a look to see the animals jumping and then diving back into the dry lake bed, each time taking a terrified cow beneath with them. He turned away from the grisly scene and prayed that this would lead to the beasts' end.

It took the animals a considerable time to realize they were in danger. As they started to feel the alkali eating at their armor, they became frenzied in pain and haste to get free of the burning substance.

Jack quickly put on headphones and listened to the position report on the creatures. They had fallen for the alkali trap and were now back on course for their escape. He was happy to hear that at least thirty of the smaller creatures actually perished at Soda Flats, having been overcome by the powerful corrosive. But the survivors were less than one mile from the target area. Jack nodded and threw his headphones down and quickly opened the remote transmitter. He brought up the code relayed by Compton from memory. With Everett sweating beside him, Jack entered 1T3, then lifted the plastic cover and quickly pushed the red button, not wanting to even think about what he was doing.

"Shouldn't there have been a big boom about now?" Sarah asked.

Jack pushed the button again. The light went out, then it came back on.

"That's not good," Carl said.

"There's a thirty-second delay in the warhead."

They both counted down... and nothing.

"Fuck!" Jack said as he pushed the button again, then again. In frustration he remembered the antenna and turned the black box on its side. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the leads but no antenna. In the crash of the Humvee it must have been torn away. He hit the diagnostic switch on the side and the screen started flashing Malfunction, over and over, casting a red strobe across Jack's face.

Everett saw what Jack was looking at and just sat hard into his seat. Then he placed the headphones over his ears and started telling everyone connected to the radio link the bad news.

After hearing Everett's report, the senator stood and paced, using his cane as a support. Compton and Alice watched as the weakened Lee swayed.

"What are you tossing around in that mind of yours?" Alice asked.

"The unthinkable, and if I've read between the lines in the major's file correctly, he should be thinking the same horrible thought right now."

Jack set the black box down and placed his head back against the headrest. Then he closed his eyes thinking about what had to be done. It only took him a moment to realize the answer, and then he quickly sat up straight and placed a headset on. "Mr. Ryan, head those fucking animals off and get ahead of them," Jack said as he looked at Carl, who raised his brows. "Head for the Orion site."

"You got it." Ryan knew when not to ask questions.

What in the hell is he doing?" the president asked.

General Hardesty stood and walked to the wall map in silence. Even the director of the CIA understood and lowered his eyes.

The president turned to the camera. "Director Compton, what is Collins attempting to do?"

Niles looked into the camera, then removed his glasses and placed them on the conference table. "He's going to do his job, Mr. President, that's all Jack Collins knows how to do."

"Don't want to hear any more, swabby, I outrank you and that's that." Jack turned and looked out the door at the passing desert below. Sarah sat staring at Jack, not believing what was happening.

"We can find some other way, you can't do this!" Sarah shouted over the turbine roar.

"Goddammit, Jack, it's time I did the duty, you're all busted up. Stand down, for Christ's sake."

"Sorry, mister."

"Look!" Ryan shouted as he fought the pedals and control stick.

When they looked out the door again, they saw the giant wake as the animal rose to the surface and breached, making Ryan swerve at the last moment, and the Blackhawk leaned on its side just in time as the beast reached its altitude. They couldn't believe the size. The animal's eyes were different from those of the other creatures. This beast had what looked like blue pupils, and it clearly had a larger head. The thick, hollow strands of hair were finer as they shimmered in the sun. Jack and the Talkhan's eyes seemed to lock as the creature again turned on its back and dove for the ground. They watched until it splashed into the soil heading for the funnel.

"That was different," Jack yelled.

"Did you get the distinct feeling it knew exactly what it was doing?" Sarah asked.

"I'm only interested in what was covering its armor," Jack said.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"Alkali."

The Blackhawk sped ahead and Ryan saw the cleared area where the engineers had placed the device.

"Coming up on-site, thirty seconds till touchdown," Ryan yelled. "I hope," he finished under his breath.

Jack held out his hand while holding his broken ribs with the other.

"Dammit, Major, this isn't right," Everett said.

"What in this fucking world is, Commander?" Jack answered as his right hand didn't waver.

Everett frowned but took Jack's hand. Then Collins turned and looked at Sarah. She looked hard at him. "You piss me off, Jack. There's plenty of bravery to go around out here, why does it always have to be you?" she shouted.

"Watched too many John Wayne movies, I guess," he said, holding her eyes with his own.

Sarah leaned over and hit Jack's mouth so hard with her own he thought she bloodied his lips. The kiss lasted only a second, but Collins drank it in as if it were a lifesaving swallow of water.

Jack pushed away and smiled one last time as the Blackhawk hit the ground with its left wheel. He winked at Sarah and started for the door with the trigger.

"I have to at least touch these leads to the antenna; you have about thirty seconds before this end of the valley changes forever. Now get the hell out of here!" Jack jumped from the Blackhawk and ran out into the heart of ground zero.

Sarah closed her eyes and fought back her anger at Jack. She opened them to see Collins limping toward the tower that marked Operation Orion.

Everett felt Ryan lifting off, bouncing twice as he did so. Then Carl leaned into the cockpit and started to say something, but Ryan cut him off.

"Go back and get ready, Commander. Did you think for one fucking minute I would leave him out there?" Then Ryan smiled and looked at the specialist in the right seat. "Ready to be a hero?"

"No, sir!" the young man answered.

Jack saw as soon as he opened the remote case that he wasn't going to have the time to set off the device. The dirt waves were a thousand yards from the dust cloud that was Soda Flats. They were breaching and then diving back into the earth, and they would eventually rise within a hundred yards of the very spot where he was. He frantically started to pull on the broken electrical leads on the case anyway.

The captain in the lead Paladin snapped up when his GPS came to life with target-tracking information. The orders had gone out to give the ground team added time by covering them with their remaining rounds. The numbers were streaming in from the circling AWACS above them. He quickly got on his radio and started shouting orders to his tank platoon as the Excalibur rounds were loaded into M284 cannon.

"Excalibur up!" the loader shouted.

Over the radio they heard a voice call out, "Fire until all rounds are expended."

"Gunslinger, fire, fire, fire at will!" the captain shouted into the radio.

The platoon of M109A6 Paladins opened fire, and the Excalibur rounds flew up and out toward their preprogrammed targets. As the gunners reloaded, another GPS signal imprinted on the rounds, initiating contact with the circling AWACS overhead. It was feeding constant target-aspect changes to each individual round as it flew from its tube. The small directional fins popped free and guided the smart rounds to their targets.

Jack heard a tearing overhead as if the sky were ripping apart. The vibration of the approaching animals was actually making the ground around him shimmer and jump. The first rounds exploded on top of the lead offspring running ahead of the male, a mere 250 yards from Orion. These animals vaporized in a flash as the second volley fell on even more of the shallow-traveling creatures. Jack threw himself to the ground as the next three Excalibur rounds tracked the largest target. The male, sensing danger, dove deep as the rounds dug into the dirt and sand, exploding harmlessly thirty feet above it.

A number of the other creatures were faring far worse as they were left behind by their larger and much swifter brother. They became easy targets as their wakes were clearly marked by the cameras of the AWACS, and it computed in a millisecond targets where the Talkhans would be, not where they currently were. The movable fins guided the rounds perfectly, outsmarting the offspring at every turn.

The Paladins fired what ordnance they had." By the AWACS count they had taken out at least twenty-five of the smaller animals, with the largest Talkhan and possibly twenty to thirty of the smaller females still missing.

Jack saw his reprieve and started working as fast as he could. Then he saw the wave approaching at breakneck speed. It was as if the animals knew what was planned and were trying to speed by before detonation.

Collins looked around at the emptiness of the desert and knew in fifteen seconds it wouldn't look the same, having turned into a giant hole in the ground. He bent down and opened the case and tugged hard on the broken antenna leads, taking away the built-in stress relief all manufacturers place in wiring. He looked up just as the giant animal breached the surface of the desert, followed into the air by the surviving thirty females. Jack didn't know how, but he knew the beast had seen him in the expanse of machine-cleared dirt and sand. The Talkhan roared and dove for the ground, sending up a wave of atomically altered soil that rushed toward ground zero. But Jack smiled as he saw the trailing grayish alkali dust cloud follow the animal down.

"Well, Niles, Senator Lee, it's been fun." Jack placed the box close to the small antenna and wrapped the wire leads around the steel, then pushed the button.

This time the screen flashed red with the words Detonation 30 seconds. Jack relaxed and sat down and placed the case beside him. He knew the fuse had been lit and there was nothing to stop it now.

The wave diminished as the beasts approached and started making their run for deep soil. Jack smiled, knowing no matter how deep they went, they would never escape the inferno of gamma rays coming their way.

Senator Lee lowered his head. Niles Compton placed his head in his hands and waited. Alice was angry as she quickly swiped a tear from her eye, then glared at the senator for having known exactly what Jack was going to do.

As they all waited, they heard shouting over the COMM link. It was the White House.

"What in the hell are those maniacs doing?" They could tell it was the president yelling.

As Niles looked up, he was amazed to see the Blackhawk slowly zigzagging and bounding its way back to ground zero at a horribly slow rate of speed.

"Ryan, you crazy bastard!" Niles screamed, jumping from his chair and clapping once, knowing there wasn't a chance in hell the slow-moving, terribly piloted Blackhawk would make it, but cheering the fools on nonetheless because he knew a neutron bomb didn't have the same explosive effects as a nuclear weapon. It would be less violent and they would be shielded somewhat if they could get at least two hundred yards from ground zero.

Jack stood suddenly when he heard the thud of rotors and saw the helicopter approaching. "Good God," he said as he saw the Blackhawk slewing first left, then right, all the while losing altitude too fast. There was only fifteen seconds left to detonation. The vibration of the approaching Talkhans indicated they were close to dead center of ground zero. "I'm going to hang you three," Jack said as he saw Everett hanging out of the door and bracing himself on the remaining wheel and Sarah behind him, grasping his waist.

The beast was past dead center as the Blackhawk swooped in dramatic fashion toward the desert floor. Jack saw a worried look on Everett's face as he reached for all he was worth. Collins jumped, sending a jolt of searing pain through his chest from his broken ribs. Everett caught him, but Ryan was having trouble stopping the Blackhawk as Jack's feet dragged along the topsoil for twenty feet. Then Ryan applied everything he had on the collective, twisting the throttle and adding all the power he had, and the helicopter shot straight up. He had just pushed the control stick forward and the nose had just dipped, gaining speed as they shot away from ground zero, trying desperately to escape the conventional explosive of the weapon, when suddenly the world changed below them.

The desert floor first lifted, sucking the air away from the Blackhawk, making Ryan lose control, then the ground fell back. The eruption was white-hot and only the falling soil saved them from being fried to death by the expanding X-rays. The very edge of the Superstition Mountains vanished as they fell into the giant hole created by the device after it evaporated a half-mile section of desert. The creatures had been only a hundred feet from the neutron weapon when the electrical charge detonated the conventional explosive, sending a compressing impact into the uranium core. The animals had vaporized as the power of the sun struck them and gamma radiation coursed through their armorless bodies.

Ryan had totally lost control of the helicopter. Jack was still dangling precariously above the giant crater in the desert, only holding on because of the sheer strength of Everett and the willpower of Sarah, who was holding the weight of both men. The Blackhawk threatened to force Collins off by centrifugal force as it spun out of control over a hole that now resembled a giant meteor strike.

Ryan was also being forced away from the pedals due to the force of the rotation. The specialist, who saw what was happening, and against the forces being applied, fought his foot to the left pedal and jammed it down, helping Ryan slow the spin. The control panel started flashing several warnings. The engine-fire light went on and Ryan was at a loss as to what to do.

"Sit it down, sit it down, you crazy bastard!" the specialist screamed out.

"You waited long enough to say something besides 'Yes, sir'!" Ryan screamed back. "And now you're giving orders!"

In the back, Everett and Sarah had finally managed to drag Jack up and over the wheel, and then he jumped into the back compartment of the helicopter and collapsed on the deck. As Everett was pulled sharply backward by Sarah, and they both tumbled into the cabin on top of Jack. They all watched breathlessly out the door at the slowly spinning world outside. Jack saw the giant depression in the ground stretching at least half a mile in a circular pattern and knew the beasts couldn't have lived through that. He nodded, satisfied, and collapsed, not caring that the added weight of Sarah and Everett were crushing him.

"In case you didn't know it, Mr. Everett, that arm of yours is broken," Jack said as he saw the twisted limb resting beside his own face.

Collins was breathing hard and grabbing his left side. He rolled over as the Blackhawk finally straightened out and they were descending at a normal rate despite the alarms sounding from up front and Ryan yelling about what a great flier he was.

"Just wait until you see the shit details I'm going to give you three when we get back," Collins said as he reached out and squeezed Sarah's hand.

"We were only passengers, Jack," Everett replied. "I was trying to jump out of this thing when I hooked you. That fucking Ryan can't fly worth a damn."