Virginia didn't respond at first.
'It was an entire pallet of potash, Virginia. The fifty-pound bags were all busted open and the stuff was everywhere. That's why the beast didn't come after me, and when it got some of the stuff on it, it flew into a rage, rolling in the dirt and slamming into walls, and then I dropped it with a few rounds. They penetrated its weakened armor because it was dusted with the stuff. Dammit, Virginia... the potash!'
'Alkali,' she said to herself. 'Alkali was the catalyst that allowed the acid to work in the cages!'
THIRTY-TWO
At the confluence of the small range where the edges of the mountains joined together and formed the small valley that Chato's Crawl sat in, the combat engineer company from Fort Carson was beginning their evacuation as the special ordnance section wired the remote firing trigger and placed the portable antenna that would send a signal to the fifteen-megaton neutron warhead buried a quarter mile beneath the target area. The remote sending unit, sitting in the back of the engineer's Humvee, would now be placed under the orders of Jack Collins, who was in total control since the death of Colonel Sam Fielding.
'That does it, Captain,' the communications technician said to Captain Reggie Davis. 'The antenna is hot. Now all you have to do is enter your code to arm the device.'
Davis had done this over a hundred times in simulation and knew the procedure by heart. But as he lifted the transmitter that would send the signal down the shaft and arm the weapon, he knew this was the first actual nuclear device he had ever activated.
Davis punched into the transmitter, which was no larger than a handheld calculator,
'Let's get the hell out of here and inform base camp they have a live nuke on their hands.'
As they were the last two in the target area, they were alone as they climbed into the Humvee. Davis climbed into the right-side seat and let the COMM tech take the wheel. He reached into the back and brought out a black case, making sure to keep his hands away from the telescopic antenna attached to the side. He clicked open the box and made sure the remote detonating device was working. In the window at the center of the box was the word
'Okay, let's go, and hope they don't have to use this godforsaken thing.'
The technician gunned the engine and started speeding across the valley toward the base camp.
The Pave Low III settled onto a high ridge. It would have to stay put and be refueled when the other helicopters returned because she was now nearly empty. Jack ran to where they had placed some backup command radios and started asking everyone from Washington to Nellis about the location of large amounts of alkali.
'Niles, I'm not even sure, but it may just weaken the animals' armor enough for the X-rays and gamma rays that the neutron bomb releases to penetrate and kill them. As it is right now, the bomb won't get them all. I need that stuff before they make a run for freedom.'
No one knew what to do about getting the quantity they needed to them in time. Jack slammed the microphone down onto the table and bashed it a few times in frustration. He ran a hand through his filthy hair and looked up in anger.
'Let's get a team together and go gather what we can from the remains of the hardware store,' he said to Everett.
Billy, who was sitting in the shade with his mother and Tony after seeing Hal into the first aid tent, overheard what was being said at the communications table. He stood and shrugged his mother's restraining hand off and approached Jack.
'M.... M... Major?' he said, tugging at Collins's armor.
'What is it, Billy?' Ryan said, trying to get in between the boy and Jack.
'Alkali--will that hurt those things?'
Jack turned and looked down at the boy, then quickly lifted him to the table. 'That's exactly what we need. Do you know where we can get some?'
Billy looked from Jack to Ryan. 'Only a whole big lake of it. But Gus told me never to go there. He said I could get really hurt by it.'
Jack couldn't talk; he didn't know how to pursue his questioning.
'A lake?' Ryan asked.
'He means a dry lake bed, it's called Soda Flats,' Julie said as she stepped up to the table and took Billy's hand. 'And he was supposed to stay away from there; the damn place is clearly marked as a danger.'
Everett took the map from Virginia as she ran up to the group after overhearing Billy. He quickly spread it out on the table. 'Where, son, where is the lake?'
Billy half closed his eyes as he found Chato's Crawl, then ran his finger east. 'Here, right here,' he said as he jabbed his finger onto the map.
'God, it was right in front of us the whole time, Soda Flats, looks like about three miles in diameter,' Jack said. He quickly ran his own finger from the dry lake bed south. He jabbed hard at the confluence of low hills that marked the funnel end of the valley and where the engineers were placing the bomb. 'Goddammit!'
'We can't catch a fuckin' break!' Everett said loudly as he turned. 'If the animals are afraid of this stuff, Jack, they'll head straight for the back door and won't go anywhere near the damn alkali.'
'The cattle, the cattle have to be moved!' Jack said as he reached for the radio.
Valley Forge, Valley Forge, do you have indication of movement on GPS ground sensors? Over,' Ryan called from the open rear hatch of the Pave Low III. At first Ryan got only dead air, then the AWACS finally reported: 'Negative ground contact at this time. Valley Forge will advise, over.'
As Collins and the remaining members of the tunnel assault teams watched from a ledge just sixty feet from the recently destroyed Site One base camp, Everett held up a map and explained where Soda Flats was. They didn't notice the beast watching them from its high vantage point in the rocks. It was badly wounded. Blood coursed down into its thick hair, matting it together as it dried in the sun. The mother leaped from the rocks toward the unsuspecting group of soldiers.
Sarah and her team had just crawled from the large hole and into the battlefield of the crash site. She removed the night-vision goggles and tossed them aside, breathing in the fresh air.
Sarah saw the creature just as it jumped. She brought her weapon up and fired, knowing as she did she was too late.
The large animal struck Collins with its shoulder, sending him over the ledge from which they had been scanning Soda Flats. It then landed and swiped at Mendenhall, catching him in the chest and flinging him into Everett. They both crashed to the ground as if they were made of nothing more than paper, leaving a fine mist of red that swirled in the air as the animal moved again. The Talkhan raised her head and roared, catching the pilot and copilot of the Pave Low that had ferried Collins and his team from the town with one blow of its massive claws, decapitating both. She then turned to leap at two Blackhawk pilots who fired point-blank into its exposed back. The beast turned with lightning speed and grabbed one of them by the head, squeezing until the pilot's skull exploded under the pressure, the body falling onto his bleeding copilot.
The creature turned to the spot where Collins had gone off the small ledge and had landed on another outcropping of rock instead of falling a hundred feet to his death. The Talkhan easily hopped down, fully intending to finish what it had started. Standing over the major's still form, it brought its right set of claws up to swing downward, and its tail, with venom dripping from its stinger, rose into the air, then suddenly something small and almost insignificant jumped onto its back. It hesitated for a split second, then easily reached back and pulled the
