‘Your team is still part of the U.S. Army. You’ll effectively be fighting men on your own side. Now that the time approaches I find it hard to believe your team hasn’t voiced any concerns over the issue.’
‘They haven’t and nor will they,’ Samson said matter-of-factly. ‘We’re Special Forces; we are trained for all eventualities. My men will follow my orders without question.’
‘And you will follow the professor’s,’ Nathan added.
Samson paused as he looked at Nathan and then back to Steiner. ‘Of course.’
‘I only ask, Colonel,’ Steiner continued, ‘because we’re in a highly unorthodox situation. Our priority is to ensure the safety of the men and women of this base, despite what Intelligence Director Joiner has planned for them.’
‘How do you know the GMRC or the government aren’t complicit in Joiner’s action?’ Samson said. ‘Perhaps you have been deemed surplus to requirements, along with everyone else in Steadfast.’
Nathan’s temper rose. ‘Preposterous. The professor has almost single-handedly made the global Subterranean Programme the force it is today; without his innovations and designs the world’s preparations would be a shadow of what they are.’
Steiner, remaining calm, touched Nathan’s arm to halt his defence. ‘You are quite right to question the motives of those above ground, Colonel. We are cut off and without any knowledge of what occurs in our absence. However, let me be clear that I believe Joiner is acting alone and does not have the support of the Government or GMRC Directorate. He may well be manipulating those in power to deflect his actions and explain away Steadfast’s communication issues and my sudden disappearance. Make no mistake, as soon as I have regained a position of safety and a platform from which to address the Directorate, I will have Joiner removed from office and punished for his crimes, along with all those that aided him.’
‘Strong words,’ Samson said. ‘I hope you’re able to back them up when it matters.’
‘It matters now.’ Steiner watched Sophie, now Nathan’s primary aide, approach.
‘Gentlemen,’ she said by way of interruption, ‘the last of the engineers has pulled out of the tunnel; the way into the conduit shaft is clear.’
‘Thank you, Sophie,’ Steiner replied and then held out an arm to Samson, inviting him to lead the way. ‘Shall we?’
Samson grunted and stalked off to his fifty strong SFSD contingent, who had now assembled close to where the entrance to the destroyed emergency stairwell had been excavated. Steiner, followed by Nathan and his retinue, walked over to the twenty strong Darklight team. Captain Iwamoto extricated himself from an animated conversation with his lieutenants to meet Steiner as he approached.
‘Director General.’ Iwamoto greeted him with a perfunctory bow, his Japanese accent indicative of the various nationalities that made up the private security forces of Darklight.
‘Captain Iwamoto,’ Steiner said, addressing the lean figure of the black-clad officer, ‘ready for the off?’
‘Yes, sir.’ Iwamoto’s voice implied otherwise.
‘Is there a problem, Captain?’
‘Sir, some of my team are still reluctant to work alongside the Colonel and his men.’
Steiner stifled a sigh. ‘I thought this wasn’t going to be an issue.’
‘I didn’t think it would be, sir, but now that they’re alongside the SFSD it seems tensions are running high.’
‘It is understandable,’ Steiner said. ‘I’ve asked a lot of the men and women within the Darklight ranks while you have been deployed here at Steadfast. Ever since you arrived circumstances have been anything but run-of-the-mill. I can well understand the difficulty of working with those who, only some months ago, were responsible for the deaths of many of your colleagues. Since I ordered your release from their custody, I have tried to keep Darklight personnel away from U.S. military forces within the base as best I could. To put your two sides together now would not have been considered were it not totally necessary.’
Steiner made sure they were out of earshot of anyone else before continuing. ‘I require your protection, Captain. While I believe that the colonel will do his duty, I do not have the same faith in him as I do in Darklight. The colonel will be susceptible to being coerced into the fold of his military superiors once on the surface and, as we know, these generals are being controlled, directly or indirectly, by Malcolm Joiner. I will be relying on your men and women to ensure my safety and freedom; my capture may prove disastrous for those left behind in this base. If you can instil in your unit the importance of their involvement in this mission, it may serve to help put aside their animosity to those working beside them.’
Iwamoto, after listening intently to every word Steiner said, nodded his understanding. ‘Thank you, sir. Your words are welcome and I will relay them to my team. Aisatsu wa toki no ujigami,’ he added in Japanese.
Steiner raised an eyebrow, unsure of what had just been said.
‘It means, a word of mediation at the right time is blessed,’ Iwamoto said.
Steiner smiled, nodded and held out a hand, which Iwamoto shook. The Darklight captain then bowed low before retreating to re-engage his lieutenants.
Steiner watched the captain for a moment and then moved away to make his final goodbyes to those remaining behind, including Sophie, who gave him a warm embrace.
Nathan came to stand by Steiner’s side as the first of Samson’s men disappeared into the excavated hole in the cliff face. ‘This is it then.’
‘It appears so,’ Steiner said, feeling a mixture of emotions as he prepared to say goodbye to his friend, quite possibly for the last time. ‘I will do everything in my power to get you all out as soon as I can. If I fail you know what to do.’
Nathan nodded and held out a hand, which Steiner clasped in both of his.
‘Be careful, Professor.’
‘Likewise my dear friend; good luck.’
‘Good luck to you too, to us all.’
Steiner gave Nathan’s hand a final squeeze, released his grip and looked around at those assembled. ‘Until we meet again,’ he said, and with a confident smile and a farewell wave he turned and followed Samson’s men into the tunnel.
Chapter Twenty One
The climb so far had been cramped, long and arduous, and they still had a way to go until they reached the surface. Steiner had lost count of the number of times his small safety helmet had clonked against a wall or pipe of some description. Sweat drenched his clothing as he exerted himself far beyond what he normally had to endure. Those around him took some of the strain, assisting his ascent using a pulley system laid down by those preceding them. He was grateful for all the help he could get; he was, after all, in his early sixties and by far the oldest of those making their way to the surface.
A small torch on his head lit up his immediate vicinity, a tight concrete channel three and a half feet square and currently running at a forty-five degree angle. There was barely enough room to shrug your shoulders, let alone haul up the heavy kit the soldiers had to contend with. His climbing gear clinked and rattled as he crawled forwards, his feet occasionally slipping from under him. Holding on grimly to the guide ropes, his special gloves gripping to them like a gecko’s feet to glass, Steiner hauled himself onwards. The noises of those accompanying him echoed down the tight passage. Voices issued direction, while others let out a variety of curses and replies as everyone did their best to cope with the difficult conditions. Leading the way, the Terra Force unit forged ahead; next came Steiner himself, then the three communication technicians and bringing up the rear, the Darklight team.
After another hour, Steiner scrambled out into a wider area where twenty of the SFSD commandos had assembled, accompanied by their colonel. On one side of the smooth circular concrete wall, the code ‘183B’ had been stencilled in pale blue paint, looking for all the world as if it had been put there recently rather than three decades past. Above, the small chamber narrowed once more, taking a vertical path
straight up. Ropes dangled down from it, half of Samson’s men having already moved on. Catching his breath, Steiner leaned against the wall for support.
Captain Iwamoto emerged from behind soon after, seemingly no worse for wear than when he’d started twelve hours before. ‘Are you okay, sir?’
‘Fine,’ Steiner said, gasping, ‘thank you, Captain.’
‘This is the final section of the conduit shaft,’ Iwamoto told him. ‘After that we’ll reach another area much like this one, where we can regroup and prepare for our exit strategy.’
Steiner nodded in understanding as he took a water bottle from his harness and gulped down some much needed fluid. The enclosed space they now occupied didn’t lend itself to ventilation, the smell of warm bodies pressing in around them. Steiner sank to the floor to ease his aching back and tired limbs. He watched while Samson hooked himself onto one of the ropes and, using some sort of handheld mechanism, with little effort pulled himself up and through the opening overhead. One by one his unit followed suit, their position in the round junction room soon replaced by the Darklight personnel still filing out from below. It was now Steiner’s turn to head upwards. With the help of Iwamoto and a female Darklight lieutenant at the bottom, and an SFSD commando above, Steiner embarked on the vertical climb.
Feeling like a piece of baggage, Steiner was pulled upwards, his own feeble efforts doing little to aid those taking the strain. He’d already resigned himself to relying on the assistance of others; near the start of the climb, when he’d attempted to propel himself along using his own strength, he’d quickly tired, his exertions merely serving to delay the whole group.
Back in the present, and now passing the shaft’s halfway point, Steiner became aware that those below had encountered a problem. One of the technicians had become entangled in their gear and only someone from above could rectify the issue. Since Steiner was unversed in such things it had been decided to winch him up and then send someone else back down to resolve the issue. Carrying on, Steiner now had no one following him, only a dark, ever increasing void ending in the faint light of the stuck communications technician far below.
The end of the tunnel finally approached, finishing in a deep overhang. It looked, from Steiner’s perspective, like he would need to clip himself onto another rope in order to enter the area above. The men that had been helping in his ascent had forged ahead to disappear from view, almost as if they’d forgotten he was relying on their help to move. Unsure what to do he called out. A face emerged upside down from the nearby aperture, it was the colonel.
‘Grab my hand.’ Samson held his arm out towards him.
‘I need to clip myself onto the other rope,’ Steiner said, unnerved by Samson’s appearance.
‘Stay attached, take my hand and I’ll transfer you over.’
Steiner considered Samson for a moment, his distrust for the man sending warning bells ringing in his head.
‘Come on, man,’ Samson said, ‘we don’t have all day!’
Steiner looked down and then back to Samson’s outstretched hand, and decided he didn’t really have any other option. Grasping Samson’s hand, Steiner swung out into the middle of the shaft. Now suspended over a sheer drop, he held onto Samson’s vice-like grip, the colonel’s bunched muscles and sinews standing out as he held Steiner’s full weight. With his free hand, Samson unclipped Steiner from the safety rope.
‘Wait, transfer me first!’ Steiner yelled at him but it was too late, his mistake had been made. Steiner’s life now hung in the balance, only Samson preventing him from falling to his death. The Colonel’s eyes bored into Steiner’s own, the man’s manic expression indecipherable.
‘Can you get us into Sanctuary?’ Samson asked, while straining against Steiner’s dead weight.
Frantic, Steiner tried in vain to hitch himself back onto the safety line that ran parallel to the wall.
‘Professor,’ Samson said, his voice shaking with the effort required to hold Steiner aloft, ‘I don’t know how much longer I can hold you for. Can you get us into USSB Sanctuary if we get out of here, yes or no?’
‘Yes! Now clip me on!’
‘How can I be sure you’re telling me the truth?’
Steiner felt his hand slip half an inch inside his glove. ‘Because I helped design it and I’m a GMRC Director General.’ Steiner glanced below at his flailing legs and the darkness beyond. ‘I know all the access points; I helped oversee software creation for Sanctuary’s security systems. You have my word, I can get us inside!’
More moments passed, Samson searching Steiner’s face to see if he told the truth. Finally he reached out his other hand and hooked Steiner’s harness onto the second line. With a heave, Samson pulled Steiner through and up into the section above.
Steiner now found himself in a small intersection, a low doorway leading off to one side. Samson brushed past him without another word, calling to two of his men to head back down the shaft to clear the way for the technicians and the Darklight crew, still caught up below.
Steiner felt too shaken to tackle Samson over the incident that had just transpired and the colonel had now rejoined his men, perhaps in a ploy to head off such a confrontation. Why the colonel hadn’t just asked him about Sanctuary without risking his life, God only knew. The man was once more living up to his unpredictable nature.
The plan was to relocate Steadfast’s residents to a variety of bases, when and if he could get them safely to the surface. The bulk of the near half a million souls that remained in Steadfast would indeed be heading to Sanctuary if Steiner had his way. Why Samson wanted to go to Sanctuary specifically made no sense; had he seen more of the message Steiner had sent to Goodwin than he was letting on? And why did he ask if Steiner could get them inside? If they were successful in their plan, Steiner would be back in command of the whole GMRC Subterranean Programme and access would be a formality.
As he pondered on these thoughts, and more, the problem with the technician’s ropes was resolved and he was eventually rejoined by Captain Iwamoto and his unit. Not wanting to cause further problems between Darklight and the Terra Force commandos, Steiner refrained from informing Iwamoto about Samson’s recent actions. Assuming they made it past the forces waiting for them above and he secured his position back within the GMRC, he would have Samson dealt with once and for all; a sturdy prison cell in USSB Alaska should suit him just fine, he thought grimly.
The climb completed, everyone assembled in the final area of the conduit shaft, a long horizontal corridor attached to another round concrete-clad structure. Two more hours passed while people shed their climbing equipment and replaced it with battle armour and weaponry. Steiner and the three technicians, huddled together, wore bulletproof vests and flexible shielding over the rest of their bodies. Around them Darklight and Terra Force soldiers alike clipped on their metal and composite plating until they were encased in suits of lightweight armour; visored helmets followed. The blue glow of the Darklight forces’ internal combat displays emanated out of the eye-like holes, mirrored by the headgear worn by the SFSD, the light from their helmets a steady green.
The top of the shaft had been capped off by two thick circular steel covers, riveted into place and spot welded one above the other. These metal barriers had already been removed using special thermal cutting gear. Above, a two foot compacted layer of earth hung suspended over the open hole beneath. The accumulation of soil had been deposited over the shaft after its construction was deemed obsolete many years ago, this dry permeable substrate now the only barrier between those in the shaft and the forces that would surely be waiting for them, somewhere, out there in the darkness.
♦
Samson’s helmet slid over his head, the interior fabric fitting snugly into place and feeling comfortingly familiar against his skin. With a command panel on the inside of his wrist plate, Samson tapped in a code to give him full connectivity to those around him, including the Darklight mercenaries to the rear.
‘Listen up,
’ Samson said, noting with satisfaction that, as one, his men ceased whatever they were doing to look in his direction, their visors retracting to reveal their faces. ‘That includes you too, Darklight,’ Samson added when some of the black-clad soldiers failed to heed his voice.
Satisfied he now had everyone’s attention, he continued. ‘Any second we’ll be on the surface, leaving this rabbit hole behind. A scope recon up through the ground layer has revealed very little. Sending up small aerial drones is out as any wireless signals will be detected. We will have to assume the forces above will be concentrated in and around the interior footprint of Steadfast, but we must be prepared for any eventuality.
‘As we haven’t had time to work as a single unit, we’ll keep things simple. Terra Force will initiate a fifty yard defensive perimeter to the north. Darklight, under Captain Iwamoto, will secure the south on our six. If all goes well we’ll then transition, undetected, to the designated RV before making for the Darklight enclave twenty clicks due east.
‘Anyone who hasn’t completed a full diagnostic on their combat system should do so now; we can’t afford to have even one person out of sync with the rest. The director general and the coms techs will remain under Darklight protection unless circumstances dictate otherwise. I want all my orders actioned swiftly and precisely. If anyone fucks up out there and they don’t die, they’ll wish they had by the time I’ve finished with them. Do you get me?!’
‘Ooyah!’ The Terra Force commandos responded as one.
Samson nodded, pleased with the response, but noted that the Darklight troops had failed to acknowledge his demands. Opening a pouch on his utility belt, Samson extracted one of his red pills and flicked it into his mouth, swallowing it down. Pressing a button on the side of his helmet, the visor and face plate snapped into place, the two pieces interlocking to form a seamless shield. The rest of the soldiers did likewise, creating a low steady glow of green and blue within the enclosed space.
2041 Sanctuary (Dark Descent) Page 28
