“Robert Cassidy,” Sam said, aiming directly at him. “It’s over.”
Chapter Eighty-One
Sam decided Robert Cassidy looked more like he belonged in a nursing home than at the dangerous end of conspiracy to change the world. He had very little hair left and what remained was entirely white with the exception of his full beard, where some gray remained. If Cassidy was surprised by their sudden arrival, he didn’t show it. Instead he smiled warmly, as though some unexpected guest had arrived to share in his delight.
Cassidy had a gun in his right hand. He held it with a casual indifference. Not at all like a trained soldier, but more like someone who’d stopped at a commercial shooting range and thought he’d have a go at whatever weapon was on offer. In this instance, it was a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson Model 10. Sam guessed it was most likely service issued back in 1958 when Cassidy had first joined the Starfish Prime project. It was old, but that didn’t make it any less dangerous.
Sam’s hard, piercing blue eyes darted between Cassidy and Alexis. He could easily shoot Cassidy dead in an instant — but would the old man have the stubborn tenacity to get a shot off in the process?
The ground beneath him began to move. His left hand instinctually reached for the side of the door frame for balance, while his right remained on the MP5. Sam sighed. A deep sense of impending doom unfolding in his gut — has the Island begun its movement to the surface?
“What are you going to do, Cassidy?” Sam asked again. “It’s three against one here. You can’t kill us all. It’s over.”
Cassidy slowly turned to face him. His gray eyes full of intelligence. Like a chess player, he was determining his final move for the game. Cassidy then smiled and lowered his handgun. “You’re right, Mr. Reilly. It is over. We’re about to surface. The Thor Rocket, carrying a weapon designed to alter the Higgs fields is set to launch automatically in just a few minutes!”
Sam snapped the gun out of Cassidy's hand. “Stop this. Abort the launch now!”
“I’m afraid I won’t do that.” Robert smiled, warmly.
Tom stepped in, placing the barrel of his Remington shotgun against Cassidy’s face. “And I’m afraid we really are going to insist.”
The room suddenly echoed with the sound of thunder.
“It’s already done,” Cassidy said, calmly. “That’s the first stage of the Thor Rocket’s liquid oxygen and kerosene fuel cells being ignited. The process can’t be stopped now. You may as well learn to live without electricity. At least for the next hundred or so years.”
Tom kept the Remington shotgun pointed at Cassidy’s face. “Even so, you won’t live to see it.”
“No. But that’s okay.” Robert smiled. “As you can see I’m an old man. My life’s work is nearly over. I can die happy knowing I made the world a better place.”
Chapter Eighty-Two
Elise stared at the stilled water as the USS Texas reached the coordinates she’d found hidden behind the depressing song on the radio. The water looked dark blue in the overcast sunlight, making it impossible to determine how deep the seabed lay. The Texas sounded the depth at nearly five hundred feet.
Margaret stood next to her. “It appears the Island is missing.”
“It will be here,” Elise said, her voice confident.
Margaret frowned. “The depth sounders are reading 500 feet below our keel in all directions!”
Elise stood up and spoke to the commander of the battleship. “Your ship’s instruments are wrong. Robert Cassidy has made a name for himself as a magician, capable of applying magnetic fields to falsely provide any readings he wants. This is how he’s survived three decades without detection. Keep the guns ready to fire — we may only have one chance at this.”
The Commander nodded. “Yes, Ma’am. Forward guns ready to fire.”
“We should drop depth charges now!” Elise said.
Margaret placed her hand on Elise’s left shoulder. “Are you certain? If you get this wrong we’re about to give away our exact position and the only chance we might ever get at stopping Robert Cassidy.”
Elise grimaced. “That’s if their sonar pings haven’t already. If I get this wrong, we’re all going to have to get used to life without electricity.”
The Commander looked at the Secretary of Defense for confirmation. She nodded her head and said, “Go ahead, Commander.”
The Commander nodded. “Fire depth charges on my mark.”
Chapter Eighty-Three
Sam heard the rocket bay doors above him open in preparation. The Thor Rocket would be released from its confines in a matter of seconds. Free to wreak the sort of damage unimaginable by its original creators. A circular window, with hardened glass allowed him to see the rocket, which extended through every level of the Island.
Seawater had already flooded into the forward firing bay. Like a modern nuclear missile from a submarine, it was capable of being launched from the protection of shallow water without the Island ever reaching the surface. He was filled with rage and frustration that despite the rocket being no more than a few inches away from him, there was nothing he could do to destroy it or prevent it from launching.
The rocket began to move.
Sam, Tom, Alexis and Robert watched as the rocket picked up speed and cleared the launch bay. The trailing rocket’s exhaust plasma seared the glass window, sending heat throughout the room. Each of them turned to run in an attempt to survive the intense blast of radiant heat.
Robert Cassidy closed the heavy steel doors to the room they had been in, the second they were outside it. Sam saw Robert’s hand flick the watertight security latch downwards when he heard the sounds. This time it was more like the clap of several massive thunder strikes, followed by a shockwave that resembled the epicenter of a grade nine earthquake.
Sam hit the deck. He rolled a couple feet and instinctively shielded Alexis with his arms. She tried to shout at him, but it was impossible to hear what she was trying to say above the roaring explosions. It all lasted less than a minute and then their world was filled with silence.
Sam grinned as he and Alexis managed to find their feet. “The USS Texas must have deployed her depth charges!”
Robert Cassidy turned to face him. His eyes vacuous and his jaw rigid with disdain. “No! It was our only hope!”
“It’s over Robert — the Cassidy Project failed,” Sam said.
Robert looked up at Sam, his eyes turning to hatred and a deep-rooted sense of loss. “What have you done? What have we all done?”
The silence then gave way to a new series of violent eruptions. The Island, after having the majority of its ice-filled surface damaged, was no longer able to maintain buoyancy. It was torn between the powerful forces sending the levels built in hollowed ice to the surface, while the heavier lower sections and nuclear reactor were dragging the Island to the bottom.
Robert Cassidy was the first to realize what had happened. He grabbed Sam by the shoulder, stared at him with cold gray eyes and said, “The Island is breaking apart!”
Chapter Eighty-Four
Forty feet ahead of the Texas, seawater began to move in a counterclockwise direction, forming a whirlpool as it sucked away at the surface of the otherwise stilled water. What the hell is that? Elise thought. An instant later the sea bubbled before rising into the air like a geyser. A few seconds later the Island broached the surface of the Dumont d’Urville Sea like a humpback whale.