Zero Hour (NUMA Files 11)

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.

He crawled through it, pushing floating debris out of the way. His eyesight was fading. His mind blurring. He thought back to the pain and the cold of the bog his father had once tortured him in and rose up, unwilling to give in.

He pushed forward through the flooding and made his way to the bomb. The secondhand on his watch hit zero, and he slammed his fist down on the detonator.

* * *

Kurt stared through the Voyager’s windows as the sea began flashing its brilliant white. He knew what was coming.

He looked back toward the island as a shock wave of energy erupted from the lagoon behind them. He saw a ball of white-orange flame. It raced outward as if it would engulf them and then just as suddenly collapsed back in on itself, like a bubble imploding at a great depth. A booming echo reverberated past them, and moments later a thin sheet of debris and water droplets pelted the Voyager like hail. But there was no fire, no heat. No angry flashing sea to be feared. Everything had gone dark and quiet.

At first, it seemed too good to be true. For a moment, no one spoke a word. Finally, Kurt asked the question on everyone’s mind: “Is it over?”

Hayley looked up at him and then back outside. The ship was rising and falling on the swells. The sea looked normal. The shuddering vibration was gone.