They continued for twenty or thirty yards when Grand stopped abruptly near the first juncture. Hannah stood close behind him, still holding his hand. She was breathing hard and looking at where he had fixed his light. He was shining it on the mouth of the pipe, which was now on their right, about ten feet away. Water crashed down, slapping high against the sides of the pipe and sending the flotsam from behind them faster and faster down the main conduit. But that wasn't what had caught Grand's eye.
"Turn off your light," Grand said.
Hannah did.
The scientist released her hand. He switched the belt to his right hand and kept his own light on the mouth of the pipe. There was something moving there. Hannah could tell by the way the rushing water came together. Something had parted it just beyond their line of sight. Debris that would have come down the center was spilling out on the sides.
A moment later the black nose, then the muzzle, and then the fangs of one of the cats came into view. The eyes came next, golden and looking ahead. The animal's head hung low in the pipe. The saber-tooth turned toward the intruders as it continued its slow, careful descent. A moment later its huge front shoulders appeared, the cable-taut muscles visible as they moved beneath the fur. The claws, longer than an adult's fingers, flexed and relaxed each time one of the animal's paws was drawn from the water.
Grand had turned slightly so that he was facing the pipe. "Hannah, stay behind me," he said as he began sidling toward the pipe.
"What are we doing?" The words barely made it from her dry throat.
"Leaving."
"Shouldn't we go the other-"
"We can't," he said.
Hannah assumed the other cat was there. She stopped talking and concentrated on staying alive.
The cat poised on the edge of the down-sloping conduit for a moment, just watching them. Then, with easy grace, it took a long two-legged step into the main pipe and immediately turned toward them. It nearly filled the conduit from side to side.
Grand stopped. Less than six feet separated them.
Hannah peered out from behind Grand. She was accustomed to house cats, bobcats, and even tigers at the zoo. But this creature was enormous, even in its details: the whiskers that hung from its snout, the large golden eyes, the sparkling ivory fangs that were the size and thickness of a telephone receiver. Its head was slung low, making its powerful shoulders seem even higher and more massive. Its tufted ears faced forward and there were great knots of muscles on the sides of its thick neck. Its forelegs weren't tapered like those of big dogs. They were stocky and ended in huge paws.
The cat stood there moving its head in a slow circle. It probably couldn't see them and was apparently sniffing.
After a moment it snorted.
"Jim, I really think we should go back-" Hannah said, just as she heard a heavy splash behind her.
She didn't have to turn to know what it was. The other cat, coming toward them.
She nearly tripped over a branch and clutched at Grand's shoulders. She was shaking all over now, and not just from exhaustion.
She watched as the cat in front of them lowered its great head even further. It crouched.
Then it ran at them.
Chapter Fifty
Grand did two things in the instant before the cat in front of them charged. First, he flung his flashlight at the second cat. The animal growled as the flashlight struck it. Grand hoped it would also distract and confuse the cat in front, for just a moment. As the submerged flashlight filled the pipe with a dim, rippling glow. Grand dropped his belt by his feet and grabbed the branch that Hannah had stumbled over. The thick limb had become wedged diagonally against the sides of the conduit. Wrenching it free, Grand wrapped his belt around the bottom to protect his hands, then immediately flattened his back against the pipe and lifted the branch slightly.
The charging cat stopped right in front of Grand. The animal landed on the branch and the forward part cracked beneath its forepaws. As the animal opened its jaw and lunged toward him, Grand shoved what was left of the limb forward, into the cat's right front shoulder. The scientist leaned all his weight into the push, growling and focusing his moat. The cat hadn't had time to dig its claws in and, helped by the water's buoyancy, Grand was able to shove the animal back against the far side of the conduit. The beast snapped and struggled but Grand had it pinned.
For the moment.
"Go!" Grand screamed hoarsely at Hannah.
The young woman scrambled behind Grand on her hands and knees. The churning water nearly reached her chest as the flood increased. She made it past the scientist, stumbled forward until she could get her feet under her, then ran into the darkness.
The big cat began to duck and wriggle to get away from the branch.
"No!" Grand cried and pushed harder, his feet braced behind him, against the side of the pipe. The animal's cries filled the conduit. So did its twisting struggles, which prevented the second cat from squeezing around it.
Grand saw the second cat finally give up trying to get past. It crouched and prepared to leap over the other cat.
This was it, he told himself. He was going to have to release the first cat and run.
Suddenly, a second, deeper roar filled the pipe, sounds that didn't come from the cats or from Grand. When the massive flood hit seconds later, it filled the pipe more than halfway, slamming the cats one into the other and driving them forward while washing around them.
Grand immediately released the branch, bent to scoop up his belt, and was knocked back hard before he could find it. The waters washed him forward, back first, which may have prevented him from drowning. He was able to breathe by stretching out and floating on his back, his mouth facing up. Buffeted from side to side, he extended his arms to keep from being rammed against the walls of the conduit.
It was dark. Grand did not see or hear the cats. There was only the din of the flood. Thoughts came at him quickly and disconnectedly. He hoped that Hannah was all right; he knew they were both going to take a bad hit when they emerged from the pipe; and he was sorry he'd had to hurt the cat, as magnificent a creature as he'd ever seen. A creature whose right to life and to the earth itself transcended his own.
And there was another thought. A thought spurred by what he'd seen in the blockhouse. Confirmation of what he'd suspected and the certainty that there would be more death before this matter was concluded.
Grand's thoughts were cut short when he felt himself drop. The roar of the water changed from loud and thunderous to loud and strident. The dark of the pipe was replaced by sky, though he was still on his back. He was swept to his left, felt the grate against his shoulder, and reflexively grabbed it to break his fall. But Grand couldn't hold on and he hit the rocky ground hard. From cave falls he knew not to take the entire hit on his back and he immediately slapped-out, striking the ground with his arms extended and his hands palm-down. That helped brace him and spread the force of the impact. His shoulders and lower back still struck hard but at least he didn't break anything.
He also didn't come to a stop. Water continued to wash over him, pushed him toward the larger gully. He leaned on his right side and tried to swing over on his hands and knees but the water knocked him forward. He tumbled down the stony wall, water and branches pouring over him as he struggled to move away from the flow, toward the rear of the gully. He got out of the cascade, scratched at the wall with his left hand, and managed to pull himself to his feet.
"Hannah!" he cried.
There was no answer. He looked around in the dark.