Hamilton regarded him narrowly. "You realize, of course, that I am a very powerful man."
Hunter laughed. "So am I, Doctor — very powerful. Maybe you want to see how powerful."
A pause hung between them.
Hamilton reassumed an air of ignorance. "Really, Mr. Hunter, I don't know what you mean. Denial, you know, is quite an efficient defense. Especially when there is no evidence."
"There'll be evidence, Doctor. There'll be Luther's dead body."
Hamilton smiled. Nodding, Hunter walked away. He was ten feet gone when Hamilton tried to get the last word.
"Situations like these can get persons killed, Mr. Hunter."
Hunter turned back. He smiled, but his eyes were deadly.
"Nobody lives forever."
It was a strange gathering, Hunter contemplated, as they surrounded the professor's bed. Takakura and Taylor stood on one side, Hunter on the other. Wilkenson had been flown out for injuries, and they were grateful. For although none had spoken it aloud, they somehow knew that all considered him guilty of sabotage.
The professor began with a statement that reminded Hunter of the old man's wise perspective, his maturity and dignity. His voice was heavily laced with sadness as he spoke.
"I, for one, will greatly mourn the loss of those brave men who accompanied us into the mountains." The statement was followed by a pause, like a moment of silence to honor the lost. "But there is nothing we can do for the dead. The living are our concern. And that is why I have called you together."
Together, they stood in patient silence, awaiting the professor's direction.
"Chromosomal manipulation, my friends," he said.
Hunter and Bobbi Jo exchanged a glance. Takakura's burning black eyes never left the professor.
"That can be the only explanation," he continued, perilous fatigue in his voice. "I suspected it but was uncertain until Nathaniel told me that it spoke to him, even as we speak to each other."
Knowing of the meeting, Hunter had already briefed the others so that there was no shock. Hunter regarded the old man. "But it seemed to have trouble communicating, Professor. It knew, or part of it knew, what it wanted to say. But it had difficulty."
"Yes, that is to be expected." Tipler nodded. "Yes, to be expected." With visible effort, he composed himself. "My friends, again I thank you for your risk, and your sacrifice, to remove me from those mountains. I know that you engaged in extreme and unnecessary risk because you would not leave me. I remain in your debt. And now the time has come for me to tell you what this creature is, and where it came from, though I can provide no proof. But we are all weary, and perilously short of time. Forgive me if I may seem presumptuous."
Takakura spoke softly. "Speak, Professor. Among ourselves, we make our own rules."
With a smile Tipler nodded, seemingly pleased at the acquiescence. "My friends, I believe I know who, or what, this creature is. And you may find my theory both irrational and unbelievable, but I beg you to listen to me fully before you deliver judgment. And, perhaps, when I am done, you will be satisfied that my reasoning merits some small measure of consideration."
"Go ahead, Professor," Hunter said. "So far, you're the only one that has made sense."
Tipler laughed, then his face grew intense. "This creature that we have tracked and joined in combat again and again, it is not a creature that has ever before walked the Earth. It is… how do I describe it… an artificial species — a monstrous amalgamation of science and ancient man which should have been the work of God, not humankind. And I will explain to you how I have arrived at my observation. Clearly, the creature's habits, his faculties of strength, speed, need not be addressed. We have all observed them. That is sufficient. However, his faculty of speech is not in keeping with prehistoric man, as his physical attributes clearly are. Thus the mystery. Unless the creature is, in some dark manner, the genetic recombination of both ancient man and the modern mind." He gazed at each of them in turn.
"You see," he continued, "we now believe that ancient man was more beastlike than human. There is still a beastlike aspect to our nature, but it has been smothered and controlled by our higher faculties. No, this creature we now confront is not constrained by conscience or morality like modern man because, quite simply, it has none. Consequently it obeys all that it knows, which is the beast within. It is unhesitating, unconscionable, unrelenting, unafraid and unstoppable. It is the purest of all beings because it is totally unrestrained in its determination to fulfill its lusts for blood, or flesh, or vengeance, or any other motivation. Yet" — he waved a hand—"it speaks our language, which means it is not prehistoric or ancient man."
There was a long silence.
Takakura broke it. "And how would you explain such a phenomenon?"
The professor gazed at him. "Quite simply, I would surmise that DNA from prehistoric man survived in an icy tomb and was discovered in this barren land. It was somehow reconstituted and then implanted into a modern man."
Tipler allowed that to settle. Hunter said nothing. He wondered how complicated this would become. He was no scientist, but he had little trouble believing it.
"That is the only explanation," Tipler said. "I have looked at the facts, simply and dispassionately gone where science inevitably led, and arrived at this bizarre conclusion. I believe, my friends, that this creature was once a modern man. And these… these research stations… conducted an experiment which transformed it into what is neither ancient nor modern, but a hideous blasphemy of the two. It retains, however, somewhere within its once-human mind the power of speech, of primitive communication, and the emotions of vengeance, rage, and lust. It is totally dominated by the bestial character of man that was overcome ten thousand years ago." He stared at Hunter, focusing. "You do not merely challenge a beast, Nathaniel. You challenge the darkness within us all. A darkness that man overcame eons ago because it only wrought destruction, and death. Except, now, that darkness is coupled with a dark and terrible intelligence. Its rage has not changed. It is the same. Pure. Undiluted. Yet stronger. Because its major cerebral faculties are aided by some form of modern knowledge, however weakened by its transformation."
Hunter said nothing, holding the professor's stare.
He didn't really know what to say, except that he believed the old man's theory. Nor was he certain what the next course of action should be, since the professor was clearly too ill for an air transport. In a full-blown emergency, Hunter would risk it, but only then. Because the old man's heart would probably not endure the strain. Then Tipler relieved him of the burden of reply.
"Fantastic science is often difficult to believe, my friends." He lowered his head slightly, staring between them — at nothing. "But one tenet is certain: some things do not belong to man. And changing the fabric of humanity — the very stuff of which man is made — is a task best left to God."
Releasing a deep breath, Hunter stood off from the wall, met Takakura's glancing eyes. Focused again on Tipler. "Professor," he began gently, "you can't be moved. You said you want to leave, but to move you now might precipitate another—"
"I know what you are thinking, Nathaniel." He raised a hand. "But this is what I surmise. This creature, it will come. Probably tonight. Because it has been methodically assaulting these facilities, one after another which, in turn, means there is something it is searching for — something its human mind still seeks. And when it comes, it will leave no living thing in its wake. So anyone deciding to remain will be in grave danger with nightfall."
Hunter leaned closer. "Professor, I'm not leaving. I'm staying here because you have to stay here. So is Ghost. And these other people aren't going to abandon the facility either. They think they can defeat it and…I don't know…maybe they can. They're heavily armed with high-caliber rifles, and this facility is far more secure than the others. It won't be easy for that thing to get in here."