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rising, it flowed down the slight slope toward them, tentacles lashing,
multiple mouths agape.
From the briefcase Oelefse had drawn forth a rolled-up net of glistening twine
that shone like spider silk. He tossed one end to the archaeologist and began
to back away. Only when the twine was fully extended did the old man point at
the limestone pinnacle and shout.
"Now, my young friend! Cast it up, over the top!" A disbelieving Cody frowned
at the hundred-foot-high spire. "What, this-fishing net? What good will that
do?" The twine was light as air in his fingers, which meant that while its
weight presented no problems, having no mass would make it next to impossible
to throw any distance.
"Just throw!" Oelefse was watching the bunyip, sloughing downslope toward
them. Thus far it had slaughtered only Interlopers. The more its azure
tint deepened, the longer it lingered, the denser it became. Another
minute or two would see it sufficiently solidified in this reality to where it
could begin to impact humans. They had very little time. "On three! Ein, Zwei
... !"
Given no time to think, Cody did as he was told. To his considerable surprise,
the net soared up into the mist
as if of its own volition, easily cresting the point of rock and floating down
the other side. On either side of the spire, the loose ends hung trailing in
the air.
Something slammed into the ground nearby. Eyes wide, Cody saw the incensed
bunyip swiftly bearing down on them. Its rapidly curdling footsteps began to
have an impact on the earth. Upslope, Kelli was sitting up and
screaming. The drone of the didgeridoo had drifted, swallowed by
distance. Dimly, he heard Oelefse shouting at him.
"Now-run!"
Stumbling backwards, Cody fought for balance and did as he was told, his long
legs carrying him downslope as he ducked beneath the bottom flap of
the glistening net. Limestone boulders protruding from the rich, loamy
soil threatened to trip him up, and the steepness of the grade promised a
serious, possibly fatal fall if he lost his footing. Behind him, the
bunyip howled insanely, tentacles reaching for the two humans still
standing.
It crashed into the net that lay draped over the apex of the monolith.
Instantaneously entangled, it flailed and
308
Ilia lean fester struck out wildly. The impact of its headlong rush generated
a rumbling sound Cody immediately recognized from the time he had spent in
South America. It was at once familiar and terrifying.
Earthquake.
Expending every iota of the unimaginable energy to which it was heir, the
bunyip fought to free itself from the increasingly restrictive netting. As
it did so, it yanked the entire limestone pillar infinitesimally
forward.
Yanked the Hook, Cody realized as he was thrown to the ground and found
himself rolling downhill.
Deep within the Earth's crust, the effect of the bunyip's sudden,
violent lunge was disproportionately mag-nified with increasing distance.
The quake thus generated rolled up through the outer islands of New
Guinea and down through the mainland. Karkar and Manam volcanoes erupted
simultaneously, spewing hot ash and fiery lava into a pristine sea. From the
Gazelle Peninsula to the mountains of the north, the ground trembled and
heaved. There was fear, but no panic. The inhabitants of one of the
most seismically active parts of the world were used to such tremors.
Its kinetic energy growing by orders of magnitude, the tectonic oscillation
raced down the length of the Hook, rattling every city and village in Irian
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Jaya as it raced northwestward beneath the Celebes Sea. Passing deep under
Indochina, it did no, more than shake teacups in Da Nang and disturb priests'
prayers in Mandalay. To anyone able to track its progress it would have
seemed that its strength had been lost, dissipated in the depths of
the continental crust. In reality, the exact opposite was true, but
the effects did not become apparent until the traveling fluctuation
reached the end of the Hook-sunk securely into the fabric of the planet deep
beneath the Deosai Range.
In a part of the world where a mountain must rise above twenty-five thousand
feet simply to be considered high, twenty-one thousand-foot Muat Kangri
drew little notice. Ignored by international climbers and locals
alike, its comparatively moderate slopes overlooked the pass between
the villages of Kargil and Marol;
between Indian-held and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. Through that pass ran
the only paved road between the two disputed territories. It was through
this defile that the massive Indian force that had been assembling in secret
in the city of Srinagar planned to roll.
Muat Kangri, however, possessed one characteristic the taller, more impressive
mountains that surrounded it lacked: Its base, buried deep within the Earth,
was the northernmost terminus of the Hook.
Striking with incalculable force, the ascending oscillation that had traveled
unseen and largely unfelt beneath the Earth's surface all the way from
east New Britain wrenched at the root of the mountain like a
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