2041 Sanctuary (Dark Descent)

by Robert Storey

  ‘Oh my God.’ She shook her head in reverence.

  ‘It’s pretty special,’ Riley agreed while studying a spectacular scene of two Anakim warriors stalking what looked, for all the world, like a sabre-toothed tiger.

  Sarah’s attention was drawn elsewhere, however, as across from a large ragged crack in the floor another wall had an image of an Anakim woman wearing a pentagonal pendant, a pendant just like the one she’d used to activate the two ancient devices at the surface. Tracing the outline of the distinctive shape with her fingers, she wondered about the significance of the picture and its context amongst the writings that surrounded it. The clothing of the female owner almost looked regal. Perhaps she was some kind of priestess, Sarah considered. Her stance – arms heavenward, hands turned upwards as if in offering, and head bowed – pointed towards an important ritualistic rite. Without a translation of the text the answer was tantalisingly close and yet quite possibly, at the same time, infinitely far away.

  She hoped the key to solving the riddle of the Anakim’s language would be found, but unlike relatively modern human texts, such as the Egyptian hieroglyphs, it was doubtful that a Rosetta Stone would present itself. Human civilisation and that of the Anakim were separated by tens of thousands of years. Maybe the tablets found beneath the Pyramid of the Sun would provide the answers, if the Church hadn’t already destroyed them, a possibility Sarah knew was highly probable.

  Via her helmet’s internal speakers, Riley’s voice interrupted her musings. ‘Sarah, stop dallying; we need to cover as much ground as possible before someone spots us skulking around.’

  Sarah turned to see she was on her own. On the far side of the room she glimpsed Riley’s light fading away into the darkness, disappearing down yet another passageway. Hurrying to catch him up once more, she kept watch of her step to avoid the many pitfalls that countless years had opened up in the ground as they worked their way deeper into the warren of tunnels. Glancing at a small map on her visor she was pleased to see their route was plotted in real-time, ensuring getting lost was unlikely.

  ‘What are they looking for do you think?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘It’s difficult to say.’ Riley investigated a dark and intriguing alcove. ‘When they go to this much trouble it’s usually for some piece of Anakim tech. The Deep Reach team that originally found this place probably recorded an unusual signal from a ground scan. The military scientists are always first to analyse any data we bring back, so they would have flagged it and prioritised the area for one of their own units to investigate further.’

  ‘Doesn’t it annoy you, that the military are corrupting important historical sites?’

  Riley glanced at her. ‘Of course it does, but we’re all here on the say-so of the top brass; we can’t do anything about it, we just pick up the pieces as best we can.’

  ‘Or snoop around when we’re not supposed to?’

  ‘Exactly, you’re catching on to how things work down here; perhaps you’re not as stupid as I thought.’

  Sarah punched him on the shoulder and he chuckled in response. They walked on a little further before he stopped dead in his tracks, held his hand up and extended one finger to his breathing mask, indicating for her to keep quiet. Edging forwards, they rounded a corner and stepped into a large room lined with elaborate balconies, ascending two floors up and three down. Emerging onto the gallery’s third level, Sarah could see people in the centre of the bottom floor below, powerful lighting illuminating the area and sending shadows dancing across the walls. They wore helmets similar to their own, only in white, along with matching coveralls and steel grey boots. Four of the scientists worked around a single object on the surface of the floor, taking readings with various pieces of equipment.

  Riley touched some buttons on his helmet. ‘There’s a residual power signature coming from whatever’s buried in the floor,’ he whispered.

  ‘That’s incredible.’ Sarah took some still images of the scene. ‘This must be what they’ve been searching for.’

  ‘This is the first time I’ve seen, or even heard of, any Anakim device emitting any kind of energy.’ Riley sounded in awe of the ramifications of such a find. ‘This is a major discovery.’

  Sarah dearly wanted to tell him that she had actually seen and activated an ancient device in the past, but knew she mustn’t. They may have grown close during her training over the past couple of months, but disclosing that kind of information would ensure she would never see the pendant again, or worse – the military might cart her off for some kind of experimentation; she wouldn’t put anything past them.

  Below, a team of armed men marched into view, each clad in green and brown armour topped off by a wicked looking helmet that gave them the appearance of having glowing green eyes. Slits further down the mask-like headwear indicated they, too, utilised an integrated air filtration system. The lead man, his jet-black visor reflecting the lights around him, spoke to one of the scientists. Turning back to his men, his purposeful and urgent hand signals sent his team fanning out in all directions.

  ‘They know we’re here,’ Sarah said, panic rising within her. ‘You know what will happen to me if I get in trouble with the military again. Fuck, I’m such an idiot!’

  Riley, ducking back down, drew Sarah out of sight of the people below and looked her in the eye. ‘Nothing will happen to you as long as you’re with me. I’m a Deep Reach team leader, it gives me some clout. Besides,’ he added, ‘they haven’t caught us yet.’

  Retracing their footsteps using their visor maps, they made good progress until a light could be seen approaching from ahead, and then another from behind. They were trapped! Riley, without hesitating, dragged her forwards, decreasing the gap between them and their hunters.

  ‘Are you mad?’ Sarah saw the light ahead growing ever brighter.

  ‘Turn off your helmet torches,’ Riley said as his dimmed and flickered out.

  Sarah did so, leaving the two of them without light. That wouldn’t matter for long, though, as the soldier was almost upon them, the glow of his torch already enough to see by. Behind, the other beam of light closed in fast. At the last instant when Sarah had resigned herself to being discovered, Riley dragged her to one side.

  Light blazed next to them in the passage as a member of the Special Forces, his gun raised, came into view. Sarah held her breath while Riley held her close inside the recessed alcove he’d investigated on their way in. The light crept towards them, its pervasive reach seeking to unveil their hiding place.

  ‘There’s no one in this quadrant,’ the soldier said, his transmission audible as he walked past. ‘Repositioning to next level.’

  Once his light had faded from view, Riley and Sarah made their escape, leaving the building and making their way unseen back to the camp.

  Not long after that Riley received a visit from the Terra Force commanding officer. Now sitting amongst the rest of the Deep Reach outfit, Riley and Sarah ate a meal cooked up by a couple of the mapping crew. Everyone looked up, the talk stuttering to silence as the armoured officer marched into the large tent, his rifle attached to his back-plate and helmet held under his right arm.

  ‘Orton,’ he said to Riley. ‘Two of your people were inside a restricted site. After you’ve completed your survey of the surrounding area all of your team will submit their data recordings to my command post for download, no exceptions.’

  Riley stood up from his seat. ‘Protocol states we only need to submit our findings back at SED Command, not before.’

  The officer strode forwards to front up to the Deep Reach team leader. ‘I don’t give a rat’s ass about protocol. Out here what I say goes, you’re lucky I don’t have all your kit confiscated right now.’

  Riley held the soldier’s gaze. ‘I’d like to see you try.’

  Jefferson and Cora stood up behind Riley and Sarah did likewise from across the table.

  ‘You think you could take me, Orton?’ the officer said to Riley, more as a statement than a que
stion, a smile playing across his lips. ‘You may have been in the corp but I’m out of your league. I think you know that too, don’t you? No, you’re going on the false assumption that your father can protect you if you break the rules.’ He took a step closer, getting right up into Riley’s face. ‘Don’t bet on it; Ellwood is lucky to still have a job.’

  Taking a look around at the rest of the Deep Reach team the officer caught sight of Sarah. ‘And you,’ he said, pointing at her, ‘I’ve got my eye on you.’ Giving Riley one last threatening stare he strode back out of the tent.

  ‘Fucking hell, Riley, what have you been up to this time?’ Jefferson said.

  Riley glanced at the outcast of Alpha Six. The army lieutenant met his gaze, perhaps waiting for him to disclose his actions.

  ‘Not now,’ Riley told Jefferson.

  The bearded archaeologist looked at the lieutenant and understood his leader’s reticence to speak his mind.

  Later, after everyone had gone off to fulfil other duties, Sarah found Riley sitting alone outside his tent.

  ‘Room for one more?’ She gestured at the floor next to him.

  He nodded and she settled down as Riley stayed silent, lost in contemplation.

  After a while, when it appeared he wasn’t about to instigate a conversation anytime soon, she asked, ‘Is your father someone important?’

  ‘He’s a Brigadier General here at Sanctuary.’

  ‘The Special Forces guy called him “Ellwood”.’ Sarah was confused as Riley’s surname was Orton.

  ‘Orton is my mother’s name; I took it when I entered the army, I didn’t want any special treatment as my father was a well-known colonel at the base.’

  Sarah nodded. ‘Has your father done something wrong?’

  ‘I’m not sure.’ He sounded troubled. ‘If he has, he hasn’t spoken of it to me. I suppose you think I’m a fraud, now, getting to where I am because of my father; taking risks as I know a safety net awaits my fall?’

  Sarah placed a hand on his. ‘Of course not, you’re great at your job. The others respect you, I respect you. You said it yourself, you trust in your own abilities and judgement, not anyone else’s. You’ve got to where you are because you made it happen, not your father.’

  Riley put his other hand on top of Sarah’s and smiled at her in gratitude. As his eyes held hers his expression grew serious; leaning forwards, giving her time to withdraw if she wanted, he kissed her on the lips. Sarah’s heartbeat fluttered as she kissed him back. His right arm encircled her shoulder as they enjoyed a lingering embrace. After a few more hedonistic moments he pulled away, leaving Sarah feeling elated and yet, for some reason, equally troubled. Getting to her feet she walked away without a word, leaving Riley looking confused and alone.

  He called out after her. ‘Sarah, I’m sorry.’ But it was too late, she’d gone.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The rest of Sarah’s first Deep Reach mission passed off without significant incident. After the first day they avoided treading on the toes of the military and relocated to uncharted territory; scouting out new points of interest, mapping and taking structural readings. They had been allowed to return to the building and document the interior, although she’d noticed they were kept away from the room where they’d seen the scientists. It had also been obvious that whatever had been displaying some kind of power output had been extracted from the site, as a large squarish hole had been cut into the roof and a tripod hoist erected over it.

  After she’d embarrassed herself with Riley, Sarah had kept her distance from him, making excuses to be elsewhere when he did find her alone. She still questioned her reasons for retreating from him that day. It had felt right, the kiss, but she’d been through the wringer before, with Mark, amongst others. She was sure this did seem different somehow, she felt safe and happy when she was with him; so why am I so worried about it then? she wondered for the umpteenth time. Perhaps because she knew deep down she wanted to escape Sanctuary and expose it; she couldn’t afford to get tied down, not now.

  Spending much of her remaining time with Jefferson, carrying out preliminary archaeological surveys, Sarah had taken the opportunity to quiz him about the lift systems to the surface. Apparently the giant elevator they’d passed by on the air-shuttle was the furthest one from the USSB, acting as an emergency back-up if any of the others failed. Access to it could only be achieved by taking a roundabout route on foot, and it took many days to reach from another air-shuttle termination point located elsewhere in Sanctuary. The worrying aspect was that the heavy protection allocated to each lift shaft wasn’t just limited to the one she’d seen. Jefferson told her security had been intensified around the time she’d entered the base. Sarah found it hard to believe she could have caused such a large scale reaction from the military commanders, but it made sense as to why she’d been held for so long in their custody; they feared further breaches of the base.

  The news that the elevators also required various access codes to operate further put paid to the three friends utilising them to get out of Sanctuary; another plan had to be devised. Realising she needed to swing things back in their favour, Sarah had taken the bold choice of ridding herself of the tracking bracelet that had been imposed upon her on release from military custody the first time around. The strap on the device hadn’t been difficult to cut through, a pair of small shears in her climbing kit making light work of the task. Ensuring no one observed her, she’d chucked the bracelet into a deep crevasse, the small object falling end over end until it had vanished from sight. The device, she knew, didn’t work outside the USSB. With this in mind, she reasoned, if the army detected it had been removed when she returned to the USSB, she’d say it had fallen off somewhere, which wouldn’t be a lie as it had fallen off – just with a bit of help. If, on the other hand, they didn’t pull her up on it then she’d have dealt with one obstacle to their escape. It was a gamble, but considering the information she’d gleaned from Jefferson regarding the lift system, it was one she had to take.

  The return journey to the USSB had been as, if not more, frightening than the outward trip, the cylindrical machine threatening to shake her very bones to pieces as it propelled the Deep Reach crew back from whence they’d come. Exiting the shuttle, once more with unsteady legs, Sarah had stowed her kit and then proceeded to write up her first preliminary report; she’d then endured the mission debrief and departed for some much needed R&R at her apartment. Appreciating the soft duvet covered bed, Sarah awoke the next day, fresh and ready to meet up with Trish and Jason as they’d planned before she’d left the USSB three weeks before.

  Once more the three friends met up in the New Park district, this time opting for an opulent outdoor restaurant; all three deciding that Sarah’s new salary might as well be enjoyed rather than saved for what would hopefully be a short stay in Sanctuary. Savouring a delicious first course of battered mushrooms with an accompanying sour cream sauce, Trish broke a silence that had begun to feel uncomfortable after Sarah had finished regaling them with tales of her SED trip outside the base.

  ‘The mission went well then?’ Trish said.

  Sarah nodded. ‘Yes, but we have a big problem; the elevators that lead out of this place are so locked down it’s unbelievable. We’d have a better chance getting into Fort Knox with a toothpick.’

  Jason grunted. ‘So we need to find another way out.’

  ‘It looks that way.’

  ‘You don’t seem that concerned,’ Trish said.

  Sarah grew cross. ‘Of course I’m concerned, why wouldn’t I be?’

  ‘We haven’t seen much of you lately,’ Jason said.

  ‘Err, hello? I’ve been on a Deep Reach mission.’

  Jason waved away her comment. ‘Before that, you’ve been spending a hell of a lot of time with Riley.’

  ‘What do you expect me to do?’ Sarah looked at Jason and Trish in turn. ‘I had to get on that team, we all agreed, didn’t we, or am I missing something?’

 
‘You’ve just seemed more interested in the SED than you have in us, that’s all,’ Trish said.

  Sarah couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘Don’t be stupid.’

  ‘Oh, so we’re stupid, are we?’ Jason said, getting angry in return. ‘You’re gallivanting around, having a whale of a time, by the sound of it, and we’re stuck here like lemons.’

  ‘Okay, so I enjoyed the mission, so what? You two would have, too, if you’d gone on it. It was an amazing experience; but while I was there I got rid of my tracking device, which, by the way, seems to have gone unnoticed—’

  ‘For now,’ Jason grumbled.

  ‘I’ve ascertained we can’t use the lift system,’ Sarah continued, ignoring him, ‘and that the army has an inside man on every team that goes out of the base, keeping tabs on everything that goes on; making it impossible to sneak off without being noticed within a matter of hours.’

  Despite her obvious successes, something still aggravated her two friends. Trish appeared to be apologetically annoyed with Sarah, while Jason simmered about some perceived slight.

  ‘What gives, guys? Something else is bothering you.’

  Silence.

  ‘I’m not a bloody mind reader, for God’s sake somebody tell me!’

  ‘We want to know why you couldn’t get us on the team,’ Jason said at last, ‘or at the very least into the SED.’

  ‘Is that what this is all about, you think I didn’t get you on the team on purpose, is that it?’

  ‘Jason suggested you might want to have Riley all to yourself,’ Trish told her.

  Jason’s eyes widened. ‘What!? Don’t just blame it on me, you agreed with me!’

  Sarah sighed. ‘You really think I’d do that to you both, screw you over for some guy I’ve only just met?’

  Trish couldn’t look Sarah in the eye and even Jason looked a little sheepish.

  Thankfully she’d not informed them about the kiss she’d shared with Riley or their noses might have been even further out of joint. ‘I tried my best to get you both into the SED, you know that. So I might like Riley a bit, but it isn’t going anywhere, is it? We have to get out of here, so we need to stop bickering amongst ourselves and start putting our heads together.’