Trevor had overcome the technological hang-up.
Kronos neared the surface and picked up speed, but the torpedoes closed the distance with ease. A wail tore through the ocean following the first explosion. Each torpedo found its target, and they were hurting the creature.
Giona…
Atticus focused his vision on the bow of the Titan. He had to put a stop to this. He had to save his girl. By the time he parked the sub and sprinted up countless decks, he’d be too tired to stop anyone, and the hunt would most likely have come to a conclusion by then. He knew Trevor was driven, but he’d also proven himself to be sensitive, or a very good actor. Still, he might negotiate.
With the surface fifty feet above, Atticus saw only one chance to reach Trevor in time. He positioned Ray at a forty-five-degree angle, heading straight for the Titan ’s bow. Then he crammed his thumb down on the yellow button, activating the sub’s auxiliary thrusters. If Ray was as aerodynamic as he thought, his plan might work. If not, he’d give the Titan’s side its first blemish on the otherwise pristine hull. As the sub’s speed built far beyond the rate at which it had gone the first time Atticus had pushed the button… for just a moment, he saw an explosion of bubbles burst from the sub’s nose.
Ray could cavitate!
Before Atticus checked the sub’s speed, the air bubble at the sub’s nose, burped into the open air. As the ship rose higher and higher through the air, the white hull of the Titan loomed. Rising quickly, the airborne Ray shot toward the figurehead, a shouting Viking woman brandishing sword and shield. She threatened to put a quick end to Ray’s first flight, but merely managed to scratch the sub’s white underbelly.
As the sub leveled out, Atticus got a clear view of the Titan. The first thing he saw was a massive cannon aiming out to sea. Where did that thing come from? He thought. Then his eyes widened as he saw the bridge come into view. Ray plummeted straight for it. Atticus quickly located his seat belt, yanked it tight, and waited for the head-on collision that would end his life and save his daughter’s.
38
The Titan
After the depth-charge-spewing machine known as a hedgehog spat out its barrage of the underwater incendiaries, the group on the Titan ’s bridge had turned their attention back to the viewscreens. The pictures provided by Ray ’s several cameras provided a perfect view for what was about to transpire.
Atticus and the beast had both become aware of the falling depth charges, but neither had reacted quickly enough to escape the thunder that followed. The water around Ray had become a cauldron of bubbles, pushed and shoved by the tumultuous force of the explosions. The group watched in rapt attention as Atticus steadied himself in his seat and managed to lift off the seafloor with the help of a nearby explosion that almost knocked the submersible on its back.
Trevor clapped gleefully. “That’s it, Atticus old boy! Make a run for it! Show us what you’ve got!”
And Atticus did.
Trevor’s eyes remained fixed and unblinking, absorbing every detail of Atticus’s ascent, commingling with that of the beast. Mortal enemies locked in combat only moments before, now fled together, moving about each other like participants in a well-choreographed dance.
Trevor realized that they were two of a kind. Top predators each. For a moment he felt sick to his stomach, wondering if attacking so abruptly had been prudent. Atticus remained a dangerous man, and it became quite evident he might survive the depth-charge assault. Would he understand the decision to attack? Perhaps from a military point of view. But with his daughter alive inside Kronos, Trevor doubted it. Then he remembered who he was and that it was his God-given right to do whatever the hell he pleased.
His fear turned to excitement when he realized that for the first time in ages, he actually felt fear. A smile spread across his face, and he laughed as Atticus neared the surface and parted ways with the creature.
Turning to Remus, he said, “Launch four torpedoes from the Titan at once and take aim with the cannon. I want you to take the first possible shot when Kronos breaches the surface.
Remus relayed the command to fire torpedoes one through four, then sat behind a console featuring a targeting screen with a crosshair at its center. Gone were the days of entering coordinates to aim the cannon. Using the Sat-Optics Hawkeye system procured by Trevor, Remus could aim using the screen, zooming in up to 100x optically on a target to ensure accuracy. Or he could uplink to a satellite and select the target with the click of a mouse; like a video game if the target was in range, the cannon would adjust and fire. He was using the optic option at the moment, watching for some sign of Kronos’s body to swell out of the ocean.
“Torpedoes away.” Trevor stood over Remus’s shoulder, watching the screen, waiting for the torpedoes to finish Kronos off. A rising mountain of water told him the first torpedo had found its target.
Having heard the explosion near the surface, Andrea began struggling and shouting obscenities. But nothing could pull Trevor’s attention away from the task at hand.
“Almost, my good Remus,” Trevor encouraged with a whisper. “The time to act will soon be at hand.”
A second plume of water burst to the surface as another torpedo exploded. It was followed by a swell of water, forced up by a massive body rising from beneath. Remus steadied himself for the kill.
“Holy shit! Is he insane?” O’Shea’s voice instantly caught Trevor’s attention and threw off Remus’s aim. He whirled around, found O’Shea’s eyes upon the video screens, and looked to them. Three of the four screens showed nothing but blue sky. The fourth revealed an image of the ocean, shrinking away. And the fifth showed Atticus, face set with a solid gaze, finger still gripping Ray ’s booster trigger. The man had flown Ray right out of the ocean!
Remus turned and looked at the screen. “What the hell?”
As all eyes were locked on the strange spectacle of Atticus flying through the air, each pair widened as the front view from Ray leveled out, and they saw the bridge of the Titan. Trevor whirled around and saw for himself that it was true. Atticus had not only taken Ray airborne, but he’d also aimed it straight for the bridge. It seemed the man was so angry about Trevor’s disregard for his and his daughter’s lives, that Atticus embraced the way of the kamikaze.
As Trevor shifted his weight, about to break for the exit, he noticed the targeting screen for the cannon. Rising out of the water was a large hump of sleek, dark flesh. Kronos had risen. “Fire, Remus! Fire!” he screamed.
It only took a fraction of a second for Remus to look at the screen, see that his aim was true, and fire the big gun. The shock wave of the cannon rocked the bridge and sent hands to ears. The projectile exploded faster than the eye could follow, passing just beneath the flying submersible’s belly. The only evidence Trevor had that something had issued from the cannon was a brilliant splash of red in the distance.
Blood.
Success!
Remembering his own dire predicament, Trevor moved his eyes from the screen to the view outside the bridge window. Expecting a sudden death, he was pleased to see the curvature of Ray ’s design and the wind pushing against it, direct the sub in a downward motion. With a thunderous boom that shook the bridge, Ray careened into the deck below the bridge and behind the cannon.
Trevor returned his eyes to the cannon’s viewscreen. He saw a pool of red where Kronos’s body had once been. They’d hit the creature and pierced its armor. Twin explosions sent water skyward as the second and third torpedoes found their mark. Trevor waited with great anticipation for Kronos to rise again. He longed to take a second chunk of flesh from the beast’s hide.
But the beast remained below the surface.
“It’s moving away,” Remus said as he watched the sonar screen displaying the creature as it was tracked by the network of sonar buoys they’d laid down. “But not fast.” He met Trevor’s eyes. “It’s hurt”
Trevor was about to order the helicopter in pursuit, four more torpedoes fired, and the hedgehog reloaded with a fresh volley of depth charges, but a series of small explosions gave him pause.
Someone was firing a gun.
Atticus.
