As Alexander gained on her, he waved for her to move faster and shouted, “The whole mountain’s going to explode!” Then he had an arm under Bishop and hoisted the man up, continuing to run down the mountainside with both men over his shoulders.

Queen, despite being free to run at full speed found keeping up with Alexander a challenge. Even with five hundred pounds of Delta operators in his arms, he ran without slowing.

A deep, resonating rumble filled the air. The small stones on the mountainside bounced like manic jumping beans. As they reached the bottom slope, a wave of pressure knocked them off their feet. But the force had not pushed them from behind, it had been sucked past them—toward the mountain.

They all looked back as the mountain collapsed in on itself.

Alexander squinted. It was not the result he had expected.

“It imploded,” Knight said.

“Why?” Alexander wondered aloud.

A grinding movement deep within the ruined mountainside answered his question. It stood slowly, as though awakening from an ancient sleep. Standing more than one hundred feet tall, the golem, as featureless as it was immense, stepped out of the crater and turned its flat face toward them. It was a mix of old mountain, hardened pyroclastic flow, and the ruins of Babel.

When it took its first step, its stumplike foot dented the solid stone mountainside.

“It’s super dense,” Alexander said.

“What?” Queen said. “How?”

“The small stars. They were collapsing when I left. I thought they would go supernova, but instead their gravity drew the stone in, compressing it.”

“Ridley did this?” Knight asked.

“One of his duplicates.”

“Where is Ridley?” Queen asked.

“Headless,” Alexander said, then met Queen’s doubt-filled eyes. “He’s inside. Buried.” He turned to Knight. “Forever.”

The mountainside shook as the giant stepped toward them. With its gait covering twenty-five feet, it would only take the golem a moment to reach them.

Knight tried to stand, but the violently shaking earth stumbled him.

Escape was impossible.

Knight tightened his grip on Fiona and felt her move. Not now, he thought, don’t wake up now.

But a sharp crack launched her upright.

She looked up at the source of the sound through squinted eyes. The stealth Blackhawk was circling the giant, peppering it with a stream of bullets from its side-mounted minigun. The barrage glowed like an orange laser beam thanks to the bright tracer rounds. But the thousands of rounds striking the giant did nothing more than scratch its face. The golem swung its arm out, forcing the copter to bank away.

Fiona looked up at Knight and saw his worried eyes looking back at her. She looked to the side and saw Queen on the ground beside Bishop, whose face was twisted in pain. She saw Alexander next and then King, laying on the ground, his eyes closed.