was able and then released the melting knife and saw that his makeshift weld had held.
Mendenhall watched as Ryan stupidly looked his way and smiled. Will shook his head as the wobbling naval pilot swayed and almost fell over, but he managed to reach out and push the Play button on the small device.
Collins and his men were almost out of ammunition, but it no longer mattered. The sea was falling as if ten Niagara Falls had opened up above them. The remains of the aqueduct rocked and spun with the weight of the water striking it. The men could no longer sustain their precarious hold on the high walls. The water washed them away.
Jack was under water for a hundred feet before he managed to bob above the torrent. He knew that soon they would fly off the broken end and smash into the ruins below.
The fall of seawater increased as more of the Crystal Dome gave way and slammed into the trembling remains of the aqueduct. The pressure was so great that it spun the waterway on its columns of stone. It rotated to the left and fell.
Everett and his SEALs were no closer to the Wave lines than they had been when he had started shooting. He jumped as men came screaming from their rear as he fed his last belt of ammunition into the M-60. He turned and saw that it was the fifteen marines of the mortar crew.
'Glad you boys could make it,' he said.
'We're out of rounds, sir; thought you could use a hand.'
Everett heard a tremendous stone-on-stone crack. He looked up in time to see the aqueduct turn to the left and collapse. Water was streaming from its broken end as it fell toward the centermost pyramid. He cursed, knowing that Jack had had it.
Collins and his fire team slid down the moss-covered stone as the aqueduct impacted with the largest of the three pyramids. The water that was carrying Jack and his men ran so fast that it spilled them down slippery sides As luck would have it, the aqueduct had collapsed and tilted just enough to slam against the pyramid, saving the team from a fall that would have crushed them all to death.
Collins found himself on a waterslide from hell as he careened down the stone pyramid. Water hit the bottom and splashed up so high that it covered Jack again as he hit the growing lake of water below. The Coalition men who had used the pyramids for cover were drowned and crushed.
Jack tried to fight his way to the surface as he was hit with the waterfall from high above. Giant stone blocks hit and narrowly missed him as he finally broke the surface of the building sea that covered the ruins.
Everett fired a few rounds and then ducked as return fire drove him backward. His team was down to twelve men. Ten were dead and the others had been wounded either by enemy fire or falling debris. The water was rising at an alarming rate, covering their legs.
Suddenly, Everett felt his head lighten, and he grabbed for the rock wall to steady himself. The feeling of lightness filled his head and he looked around him. The SEALs were as confused as he was. The sickness they had been feeling because of the Wave effect was now gone. The headache that Carl thought was robbing him of any sense he had to take control of the battle before him was also dwindling, and what had taken its place was something he couldn't begin to believe.
'What the hell?' he said.
' 'Sweet home Alabama,' ' one of the SEALs said.
Suddenly, overpowering the sound of music in their heads was a scream from above, and Everett looked up. Coming down the lava hill in a headlong charge were fifteen marines.
'This has got to be the strangest day of my life,' Carl said as he yelled for the SEALs to follow him. 'Let's go blow something the fuck up!'
The SEALs charged in tandem with the marine assault.
Suddenly, from behind, the marine lieutenant and fifty other marines saw what was happening and followed suit. At once, the Coalition forces arrayed against them were caught off guard and a professional fighting force was coming at them screaming for blood, and the defenders panicked and started to break apart.
To the sounds of Lynyard Skynyrd's 'Sweet Home Alabama' thumping in their ears, the U.S. Marine Corps, led by a navy captain from a department of the government no one had ever heard about, the Atlantis expeditionary force made their fanatical charge.
A million and a half people had fled to Central Park in the hope of dodging tons of falling glass and masonry. The ground was shaking so violently that most could not stand and were sitting and looking at the panicked people around them. The ground had split open in several areas and steam was rising from the wounded earth. In the distance, the buildings were caught in a warbling wave of displacement that made them appear to snake back and forth.
Without warning, the shaking stopped and the world became silent. People shook their heads in disbelief as the strains of the rock-and-roll song from the 1970s filled their ears. Those who were closest to the splits in the Central Park grass could have sworn that it was coming from the ground.
The USS
21
Sarah lay on her back as Will Mendenhall and two of the marines tended to her wound. Will halfheartedly smiled as he pressed a bandage down hard onto her shoulder. The wound was far worse than he had first thought and he was kicking himself for having left her unattended for so long.
'Owwww,' Sarah cried when Mendenhall placed most of his weight on her small body.
'Sorry, I--'
'Listen,' Sarah said, almost in a dreamlike state. 'Ryan did it ... he did it, Will.'
Mendenhall hadn't been paying attention because he had been dodging bullets and tending to her, but now he noticed that he did feel better physically. Gone were the nausea and headache. In their places was something he tried to ignore because he could swear it was coming from his dental fillings.
'Ah ... I love this song,' Sarah said as her eyelids fluttered.
Suddenly, Ryan thumped over the broken pedestal and landed against one of the marines after dodging machine-gun fire as he ran back to cover.
'God damn! I guess those assholes don't appreciate good music,' he said, smiling, and then he saw Sarah and her condition.
'Dammit, I didn't think it was that bad,' he said as he took in the serious way Will was treating her.
'Listen, I know I'm not ... doing too ... good, and before Will caves in my chest ... something is wrong--'
'Yeah, well, tell us about it later. I need you to--'
'Shut up! Remember, I outrank you by fourteen months,' Sarah said as she tried to sit up. 'Now listen ... the ground is still shaking here.... The Wave must have destabilized the island's foundation.... or whatever Atlantis ... landed on when it ... sank....'
Sarah closed her eyes as if she had fallen asleep.
'Oh, shit!' Will cried as he felt for her pulse. He finally found one on her neck but it was slow and weak. 'Damn, she's losing too much blood. We need that marine medic over here,' he said, trying to look around. Then he saw tracers fly over their position and he ducked back.
'I'll go. Stay put and keep her alive, buddy. I'll be back as soon as I find the medic.'
Before Mendenhall could say anything, Ryan was gone. He heard the shift of Coalition fire as it found a new target.
He looked down at Sarah and saw her shallow breathing and the soaked-through pressure bandage covering
