With yet more valuable time ebbing away, Sarah came out into another shaft. Unlike the one back in the Smithsonian vault, this area was fully functional. In front of her rested the top of an elevator car suspended by a cabling system. This is it, she thought, I’m inside the military vault. Stepping onto the roof of the lift, she unbolted a hatch and then dropped down into the area below. Now inside a lift much like any other, Sarah turned off her helmet’s lights and pressed the ‘G’ button for the ground floor. Seconds later she walked out into the vault’s interior.
Perhaps unsurprisingly the inside of the military vault mirrored the Smithsonian ones in layout and design. A dimly lit walkway ran down the centre of the structure and on either side stood rooms with frosted panels, the only main difference being the area she’d just entered, where instead of a room there was a foyer outside the elevator.
Sarah checked the time on her phone. She’d left the SED just over an hour ago. Reasoning that going back would be far quicker, she estimated she had a maximum of twenty-five minutes before having to return. An image of Trish and Jason popped into her mind making her speculate as to how they were faring, thoughts of the numerous ways the plan could go wrong distracting her.
Snapping back to reality and remembering how Riley had located the whereabouts of her confiscated possessions, Sarah looked around for a computer system. There didn’t appear to be a matching console here, but there was a large wallscreen in the foyer. I hope using this won’t alert anyone to my presence, she mused, pressing a button to bring the display to life. Illuminated by the screen’s powerful glow, she was pleasantly surprised to see the system didn’t require any username or password to access. And why would it? she thought, it was inside a highly secure military vault and anyone using it would presumably have clearance.
Using the touchscreen menu system, which also confirmed she was indeed in vault three, Sarah navigated to a database archive. Selecting the search function she entered a description of her pendant and almost instantaneously a result displayed. Riley had been correct, all her possessions were there and on the vault’s fourth level! Keen to be reunited with her artefacts, Sarah took note of a code next to the results, D88, and moved onto the walkway. Using a simple control panel attached to a handrail she sent the platform upwards. Lights above her stuttered to life as the she came to a stop on the fourth floor.
Sarah looked around in surprise at the dimly lit open planned area on either side of the walkway. No rooms or frosted panels here, just one large circular room lined with row upon row of shelving.
‘D eighty-eight,’ she said to herself, moving through the orderly corridors with purpose.
The number in the code, she deduced, indicated the row number and the letter, the shelving unit within it. Jogging across to the other side she found row eighty-eight and came to a stop in front of a cabinet labelled with a D. Seven shelves rested within this depository, each enclosed behind a tinted shutter. Sarah yanked up the middle one. Inside, lined up side by side, small black plastic trays held various and disappointingly innocuous objects; none of which were her pendant. She opened the remaining shutters two at time, the second from last revealing a sight that made her catch her breath. Her pendant! Reaching in, she withdrew the metallic pentagonal disc, still on the chain she’d had round her neck on first entering the USSB. With no time to savour the moment Sarah welcomed it home with a kiss before eagerly extracting her other items, which all rested on the same shelf, the first being the smaller, yet similarly shaped, pendant, the next, three Anakim parchments and lastly, the chunky metal Mayan tablet.
Noting each object had been tagged with a plastic label, Sarah slid the small pendant onto the chain alongside its fellow before securing them both around her neck. Tucking them inside her Deep Reach coveralls the two metallic discs rested against the skin of her chest, the sensation familiar and deeply satisfying. The parchments, contained within a plastic wallet, folded neatly into her breast pocket while the tablet slid into a large Velcro pouch on her thigh, weighing her down on one side.
Reunited with her artefacts, Sarah checked the time again. She had fifteen minutes before she absolutely had to return. A thought worked its way to the forefront of her mind; she had an opportunity here, the possibility of getting her hands on more Anakim wonders, to steal from the military like they’d stolen from the rest of humanity. It was an appealing idea and such poetic justice, by her reckoning, was a rarity not to be passed up.
Getting back on the walkway, she descended to the first floor. Now surrounded by rooms, she moved to one and turned the frosted panel transparent. Inside, arranged on a large single bench, lay an array of large and intriguing objects. She recognised one as being the shield she’d seen brought to the SED back by the archaeology team, before the military had swooped in and expelled them all from the shuttle bay. The massive object glittered in the dim lighting, its dark blue and purple hue setting off the gems set into its surface.
Knowing she had no hope of stealing anything so big, she moved to the next room, again turning the glass see-through. At first there appeared to be nothing in this room, but as she moved away a shimmering effect in the air drew her back. Something was in there, but it could only be glimpsed if you moved and even then only an indistinct outline could be seen. It looked like a large oblong box with a statue on top. A little perturbed by this veiled spectre, she moved to the next room. Inside this she saw a veritable library of what must be Anakim parchments, stacked in furled rolls on a twenty foot high rack which spanned the whole side of the room. In the rest of the space stood columns of tall, flat, free-standing cabinets, their black monolithic frames reaching up towards the ceiling. Within each of these, on both sides, were more parchments, their ancient texts splayed out for analysis.
Unlocking the room via the control pad Sarah entered, a vacuum sucking at the door as it opened. Snatching some scrolls from the rack, their super fine and durable material folding with ease, she placed them in her pocket alongside her others. Drawn to some red coloured parchments further along, Sarah saw they were some sort of animal hide, not the high-tech type like hers or the ones she’d just filched. Deciding to leave these alone, something else grabbed her attention like a slap to the face.
Almost in a daze, Sarah walked between the upright displays to stand looking up at a parchment on show just above her eye level. ‘No,’ she said out loud, shaking her head, ‘it can’t be.’
But it was. There was no mistaking the design. The image had been a part of her nightmares for months now, permanently seared into her mind for all eternity. Sarah outstretched a hand to caress the parchment before her, the desire for physical contact thwarted by a protective Perspex sheet. It had been many years since she’d last lain eyes on it. The detail was exquisite and the depiction of the Antarctic land mass, perfection.
The precarious nature of her mission forgotten, Sarah stared at one of the maps she’d previously believed to have been lost in the fire that had taken her mother’s life. There was no doubt in her mind that it had been one of her discoveries, she’d spent enough hours poring over it – she knew every inch. The fact that she was looking at it now, however, shattered her theory as to who was responsible for murdering her mother.
And to think I’d been happy here at the SED with Riley. The thought now tasted acrid and vile in her mouth. I even considered staying in Sanctuary and surrendering my freedom to these people! The sickening betrayal and her pathetic naivety broke something within her. Gritting her teeth, she fought to release the map from its locked case. As she failed to make any impact her frustration skyrocketed and with an incandescent scream of rage Sarah launched herself into the cabinets around her, heaving them over. The heavy display cases slammed into one another, creating a domino effect and causing the entire vertical collection to fall crashing to the floor; the thunderous noise ending when the final ones to topple smashed into the special glass frontage, shattering it into a thousand tiny shards.
Her fury at the d
eception of those she’d trusted – of Riley – incinerated any restraint left to her. Returning to the first room she’d approached, Sarah unlocked the door and barged in. Moving to the monstrous shield suffused with priceless jewels, Sarah grasped its edges and hauled it upright. Turning it round she placed her hands on the thick handle, attempting to lift it. A foot taller than her, the artefact was incredibly light for its size and she managed to hold it off the floor for a number of seconds before it dropped back down with a clunk. Seeing the futility of her efforts, her anger subsiding, Sarah made to rest the shield back down, but before she could do so she felt a sensation of heat spread over her hands. The pendant on her neck grew hot and a curious oscillating vibration pulsed through the handle and up her arms. A wave of purple energy rippled across the shield’s surface and burst out into the room in a sphere of blinding light. Streams of blue lightning flowed across the floor and walls and out into the vault. Sparks flew from the walkway’s control panel and spotlights as they shorted out, the surge of electricity destroying every circuit in its path.
Letting the shield drop, its surface still glowing brightly, Sarah rushed from the room in time to see the last remnants of the expulsion of power flickering up the inside of the entire vault, hot metal embers showering down around her. Plunged into total darkness, the shield’s light ebbing away behind, Sarah activated her helmet’s systems which had somehow avoided ruin. Her torches ablaze, visor down and senses recovered, the reality of her situation came flooding back. I have to get out of here! she thought, desperation upon her. Running to the lift she pressed the call button which failed to light up. Realising the mechanism was fried, she tried to open the doors to get back into the shaft. They held fast. She was trapped!
Chapter Fifty Four
Imprisoned in the military vault, Sarah looked around in despair, imagining the hordes of soldiers that even now must be homing in on her location. Wait, she thought. Something she remembered seeing in the Smithsonian vaults sent her running back down the walkway; at the end, as she’d hoped, hung an emergency exit sign. Opening the door beneath, she ducked inside to descend the staircase within. Guided by the lights of her Deep Reach helmet, Sarah emerged into a small corridor running around the vault’s curved exterior wall. Passing through a heavy fireproof door, she arrived at another exit. This new metallic barrier had been plastered in warning signs and bristled with complicated security systems, all of which appeared inactive, wisps of smoke rising from some of the circuitry. Did the power surge from the Anakim shield reach this far? she wondered.
Above this formidable steel door, in red lettering on a white background, a military sign read:
U.S.S.B. SANCTUARY
United States Military
Scientific Laboratory Complex
Under this, another sign read:
WARNING!
Restricted Area
Level 9 Special Access Personnel Only
Sarah pushed at the door, which swung silently inwards. Wary, but knowing she had no other option, she moved through it and out of the vault. Switching her torches to infrared, to avoid detection, she altered her visor’s spectral field allowing her to see in the dark. Now in the laboratory complex, she flicked some switches on a wall next to her. The lights in here were also out. Amazed the shield’s energy had extended so far, apparently through solid walls, she proceeded down an empty corridor searching for a way out.
Arriving at an intersection, Sarah surveyed some signs stuck on the walls, the department names and arrowed symbols working much like those found in large hospitals. Sticking to basics, she followed the placard with Way Out on it. Jogging along, she heard voices ahead. Guards, she thought, who else would be here this late? Dodging right down another hall, she went down a flight of stairs and pushed through a set of sturdy double doors, the card reader outside sparking sporadically as she passed. The whole damn security system was fried. Whatever that Anakim shield had done, it was on a massive scale; she just prayed it hadn’t reached Jason and Trish back at the SED’s shuttle bay.
Moving ahead, she now found herself in a deserted, yet extremely sophisticated, laboratory. Computer equipment abounded, surrounding individual curiosities undergoing various procedures and tests within their own sealed rooms. One such area contained a huge Anakim body lying face up on a slab. While clearly decayed, the form was frighteningly intact, its dark, sunken flesh the only giveaway to its incredible age. Finding it hard to ignore the macabre scene, she carried on, the time ticking away and her fear of capture rising.
Making it to the other side of the lab, a buzz of electricity passed over her head and the lights that remained undamaged blinked on. Her helmet’s internal computer adjusted automatically, shutting down the torches and returning the visor to its default transparent state. Opening another door, she entered another bland, white-walled corridor. The lights out here had also resumed functioning, the building’s systems beginning to reboot after the blackout. Sadly for Sarah it made her escape that much more unlikely.
More voices echoed down the hall; she went to return to the lab but as she cracked open the door she glimpsed two armed Terra Force soldiers entering from the opposite side. Panicking, she sped down another passageway, past a large antechamber and on into another corridor, before sliding to a stop as yet another SFSD patrol approached from that direction, their armoured shadows looming on the wall ahead. Rushing back the way she’d come, she stopped outside an imposing entrance protected by a security checkpoint consisting of turnstiles, full body scanners and large thick panels of glass. The area looked to be even more restricted than the complex she’d already inadvertently infiltrated. Reluctant to enter somewhere so secure in case the locking systems resumed operation, she froze, unsure of what to do next.
Footfalls echoed from either direction. Her eyes widened in fear and her head spun this way and that as she sought a place to hide. She had nowhere else to go. Her hand forced, Sarah opened a toughened glass door, compromising its vacuum seal, and passed into the restricted zone. Behind her, the heavy security door swung closed; adorning its exterior surface were an array of warnings and restrictions. Two of these read:
U.S.S.B. SANCTUARY in partnership with GMRC R&D DIVISION and
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
WARNING!
RESTRICTED AREA
Level 10 Alpha
Special Access Personnel Only
Below, sandwiched in the very fabric of the glass, were the emblems and insignias of USSB Sanctuary, the GMRC and NASA, and underneath these, an elegant silver logo:
Chapter Fifty Five
Deep in the bowels of USSB Sanctuary, Sarah moved cautiously forwards, each step drawing her further into the military’s highly restricted laboratory complex. With every sense heightened and every muscle tense, her eyes darted in all directions seeking out any danger ahead. The way seemed clear, the many security measures on show appearing dormant, knocked out by the power surge she’d created with the Anakim shield. Aware that she was still visible to the soldiers approaching from outside the glass façade, Sarah vaulted over a turnstile and ducked through a black tunnel-shaped scanner before emerging into a cold, steel-clad room.
On the walls around her numerous white lab coats hung on hooks. In front, there was another door plastered with warning signs and hazard symbols. A noise behind her made her jump. Had someone followed her inside? With no time to think, she grabbed one of the coats and pushed open the door, the steel handle cold to the touch. Cooled gases vented into the air around her as she entered, their mist clinging to her body. After quietly closing the door behind her, she found herself in a long white walled corridor. Running to the end, she came out into a small area surrounded by glass enclosures, each seven foot high and three wide. Inside these were white, full-body hazmat suits with inbuilt breathing apparatus. On the far wall a heavy metal hatch barred her way. Peering through its small letterbox-shaped window, Sarah gazed out at a massive, brightly lit chamber,
the size of a warehouse. Within this she could see ten self-contained laboratories, their grey sides full of oblong shaped windows, stacked two storeys high.
With no time to spare, she shrugged into the white coat and deployed her Deep Reach helmet’s breathing system, the mask generating an air-tight seal in combination with her visor. Turning the wheel on the hatch through three hundred and sixty degrees, she hauled it open and went through. Closing it behind her, she locked it again by spinning back the adjoining wheel on the other side. As soon as the lock bit a buzzer sounded, then a powerful blast of freezing vapour engulfed her from above and below.
Moving away from the decontamination zone, she searched for a way out. With no obvious exits in sight, she glanced back through the door, inside she could see a man removing one of the hazmat suits from its cabinet. He looked like a scientist rather than a soldier and it didn’t look like he’d seen her, but if he did, it wouldn’t take long for the Special Forces to arrive. Feeling like a cornered animal, she ran to the right along a metal walkway and descended some stairs, before heading for an archway which took her into another smaller chamber beyond. Out of sight of the entrance, she leaned back against a wall to catch her breath while inwardly cursing her stupidity for touching the shield. Don’t worry about that now, she berated herself, you need to get out of here!
2041 Sanctuary (Dark Descent) Page 59
