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They beached their boat and Alec ran for the caves. The relief he felt at seeing Dix waving to him from the entrance made his knees go weak. At least some of his family had survived.
"Where's Max?" he shouted as he climbed the rocks to the entrance. "How bad is it?"
Luke had emerged behind his friend and was looking back into the dark recesses of the cavern. "Not as bad as it could have been," he said, a surprisingly wide smile on his face. "We lost a few, but they never got close enough for hand-to-hand 'cause we held 'em off from the hilltop." His lips turned down. "The village is a wreck, though. And no one's seen the doc since yesterday."
Alec grabbed hold of Luke's bony shoulders and gave the little mutant a shake. "Where's Max?" he repeated. "And where's--" He didn't have to complete that plea because just then O.C. emerged from the cave holding Brac's hand, the child's small sturdy legs easily taking him over the rough terrain. Alec let go of Luke and scrambled over the rocks to take his son into his arms, closing his eyes in thanks as he gave him a huge hug. The boy was fine. Alec's hazel eyes found O.C.'s and he nodded, his gratitude profound.
Original Cindy put her hand on top of Alec's. "Max went on some kind of secret dealio mission couple 'a hours ago. Wouldn't say where or why." She looked up at a sound from above.
Mole was sliding down the cliff in a clatter of stone from where he'd been standing guard topside. It was the lizard man who told Alec the rest of what he needed to know. "That mate of yours disappeared 'bout 1600. Said she had something important to do. Couple hours after she left the enemy just stopped their shelling and began pulling out." He shrugged, shifting the cigar from one side of his mouth to the other. "We haven't heard from her since. Don't even know where she went."
"Alec!" another voice called.
Alec looked up to see Joshua emerging from the cave waving at him. "Little Fella wouldn't let me go with her. I'm sorry."
"It's all right Big Fella," Alec said absently as he tried to get a handle on what was happening.
Behind him Lydecker, who'd finally caught up, cleared his throat. Alec had almost forgotten the colonel was with him. Now, he turned and looked at the CO. "What?"
"You know what she did, don't you? Why the Familiars left?"
Alec looked back at his people who, in spite of the wind and rain, were streaming out of the cave. Brows knit in confusion, his mind raced as he put Brac down.
"Get there faster!" Lydecker shouted at him. "Think, soldier! What's the one thing Max could have done all by herself that would have made those bastards run for their lives?"
Alec's eyes widened as he raked both hands back through wet brown hair. "She had the codes," he whispered hoarsely. "I gave them to her." His gaze searched the landscape. "But why isn't she back? She's got to know her bluff worked. Why didn't she just deactivate the thing and return?"
"Good question," Lydecker said, looking at his watch. He glanced up at Alec. "The Familiars began pulling out more than thirty minutes ago."
Alec knelt down and hugged Brac. Then he picked his son up and handed him to O.C.
"Where you goin', boo?" his friend asked as she took charge of the squirming little boy.
"To find Mama," Alec said. Without another word he turned on his heel and headed at a run down the beach.
O.C. stared after Alec's flying heels, then put accusing eyes on Lydecker. "You gonna let him go alone?"
Lydecker was watching the X5 as he ran through the sand. Alec's limp might not be noticeable to most, but he knew the kid was still in pain ... handicapped. "No," he said, not looking at the girl who had once almost killed him and who was now issuing a challenge. He shrugged more firmly into his jacket. "No, I'm not going to let him go alone."
*****
Alec skidded to a stop as he rounded the rock peninsula that formed one side of the small cove. For a second he thought he'd somehow gotten it wrong, come to the wrong beach. There should be a cave here, the one where he'd hidden a nuclear bomb all those months ago. But all he saw were waves crashing against the cliffs.
And then he realized what had happened. The storm. Wind was buffeting his body, whipping his hair as he stood braced out in the open. The tide was high, the waves as well. The cave was here all right, but its entrance was underwater, or at least almost so. There. As one wave receded and before another rushed in he was able to make out the top of the black opening. The bomb (and most likely Max) were in a chamber much higher in the cliff. He was pretty sure it wouldn't be flooded. But it was going to be a neat trick getting there.
Alec looked at his watch. Worst case scenario gave him ten more minutes before they were all annihilated, if indeed Max had set the timer just before placing her warning transmission to the Familiars. He eyed the rocks warily. The current looked wicked. Transgenic strength or not, there was a better than even chance he'd end up either being sucked out to sea or crushed against the rocks. But he had to try. He took several deep breaths, oxygenating his bloodstream, preparing to dive into the treacherous water.
"This might help!" a voice yelled behind him.
Alec jumped. The wind and roar of the surf had masked the sound of Lydecker's approach even from his keen hearing. Turning around he saw the colonel standing there, bent over, puffing and panting from the run, holding a coil of rope he'd probably gotten off his boat.
"We anchor it here!" Lydecker said, pointing to a sharp vertical rock sticking out of the sand, shouting to be heard above the howling wind. "It should keep you from being sucked out to sea in that rip current! Once you make the cave you can tie it off inside and we can use it as a way to get her out if she's injured!"
Lydecker was absolutely right. Alec didn't waste time arguing, merely nodded in appreciation and looped the rope around his waist as the older man knotted the other end around the rock. "I'll play it out slowly!" Lydecker yelled. "Haul you back if you get in trouble!" His eyes went to Alec's side. "This isn't going to be good for that injury!"
"Don't worry about it!" Alec shouted, licking salt spray from his lips and ignoring the deep ache below his ribs. "Look! If I don't make it--"
"I'll try myself!" Lydecker hollered. "But you'll be fine! Just watch out that you don't get smacked against those boulders!"
Alec nodded, then turned around and dove cleanly into the angry ocean.
*****
He was going to die. The ocean was a living thing, sucking, whirling, roaring around him, attempting to devour him. Alec couldn't tell up from down, left from right, top from bottom as the vicious current grabbed hold and hurled him around like a rag doll, making a joke of the genetically engineered strength he'd always been so proud of., his great powers meaningless in the face of what he could only perceive as God's wrath.
He couldn't find the cave. He couldn't find the surface. And then suddenly his body crashed against a rock, hurled there like a piece of flotsam. Sparks showered his vision as the air left his lungs in a whoosh. Somewhere faraway he thought he heard Lydecker call his name.
Water rushed into his lungs. He couldn't breathe, couldn't see, couldn't hear ... couldn't scream. Then somewhere deep inside he felt something break and the world around him turned grey.
*****
Donald Lydecker knew 10 seconds after the X5 dove into the storm whipped surf that his kid wasn't going to make it. Trained for combat in all extremes -- freezing cold, desert heat, dizzying heights, and suffocating depths -- the monstrous waves crashing on the rocks below were still far more than the Manticore soldier could endure in perfect health, let alone while injured.
I never should have let him go.
The rope around the rock pulled taut and Lydecker got a glimpse of Alec's body floating briefly on the surface quite near the cave entrance. The colonel knew he had two choices: haul the X5 back and wait to be incinerated by a nuclear blast, or attempt to reach Alec in the water and pull him on into the cave where they still might have a chance to deactivate the bomb.
Without hesitation Lydecker shed his jacket and dove into the water, one hand clinging to the rope that would lead him to 494.