Ancient Origins: Books 4 - 6 (Ancient Origins Boxset Book 2)

by Robert Storey

  Joiner knew what these beings were, and what they represented. It was well known amongst citizens of USSB Sanctuary and members of the Committee that sapiens wasn’t the first species of the Homo genus to harness the power of science, to take the leap from primitive ape to master of its realm. Why our larger ancestors died out eons past remained a mystery, but there was no doubt their ingenuity had rivalled, and in many cases, surpassed, our own. The enormous abandoned underground structure located beneath the mountains and deserts of Mexico, known as Sanctuary, from which the USSB within took its name, was perhaps the reason the majority of mankind remained unaware of these creatures having ever existed at all, their cities and remains buried deep in the bowels of the Earth, hidden from view. Homo giganthropsis, or the Anakim, as they were known, had been extinct for thousands of years, but now it seemed that part of history’s forbidden vaults would have to be rewritten.

  The secrets of the past lay within reach, the knowledge of a species reborn.

  Joiner glanced at Myers’ equally shocked expression and then realised the magnitude of what was about to be undertaken. All we have ever known, he thought, all we have ever sought, an intelligence superior to our own ... is at hand.

  Chapter One Hundred

  Malcolm Joiner gazed at the three figures, their naked forms suspended in liquid, mouths gaping wide and eyes closed. A shiver of unease sent tingles running down his spine. What treasures lie in their minds? he wondered. What powers can they bestow? He held his breath. How easily can they be manipulated?

  He took a step closer, entranced by this revelation – this echo of humanity. Nearly identical in form and shape to their modern day descendents, the biggest difference was their scale. At least nine feet tall, the giant Anakim floated in their eternal prison, unaware of what lay beyond their endless dream.

  Occasionally their eyes moved beneath their lids, the facial features human-like, but subtly different. Wide cheekbones and nose, along with oval-shaped eyes set them apart from their smaller kin. Two of the giant Anakim were female, and apart from the obvious the single male possessed a prominent brow ridge and fearsome jaw.

  A white-coated lab technician approached the GMRC’s R&D director. ‘We’re ready, sir.’

  Dagmar Sorensen nodded and gestured to an armoured Terra Force commando, who lurked off to one side.

  The soldier spoke into his radio and soon after he was joined by two of his colleagues, who ushered in two men and a woman, all of whom wore paper hospital gowns.

  Joiner didn’t recognise the woman at first, her short blonde hair the opposite of the long flowing locks she’d previously sported.

  Sarah Morgan, the English archaeologist, raised her bowed head and glanced in Dagmar’s direction, her haunted eyes flinching in fear.

  Joiner knew well the terror the R&D director could instill in his victims – or, as he liked to call them, his experiments.

  Dagmar’s bulging eyes followed his prize asset as she and the two unfortunates with her were manoeuvred into position in front of the monolith. One of the three soldiers pressed a red button on a control console and a hydraulic platform beneath their feet rose up into the air, stopping just short of the transparent screen and the opaque liquid which concealed the giants within.

  ‘And you’re certain the pendant should remain where it is?’ Selene Dubois said.

  Dagmar nodded. ‘For now. The decision to remove it was premature.’ He gave another signal and the curtains within the room drew back against the walls, revealing four large pieces of apparatus, including a steel crane with a sling, an oversized operating table and something resembling a large coroner’s slab. ‘Once we have what we want we can extract it without worrying about damage, or death to the host.

  Selene pursed her lips, and then turned to look up at a group of austere men and women who gazed down from atop the walls of the exposed white-panelled cell. One of their number gave a nod of their head and Selene turned to Dagmar. ‘Proceed when you are ready, Director.’

  Dagmar handed Selene a pair of special glasses, with a single curved black lens. Everyone else in the vicinity donned similar protection, and the three soldiers that remained with Sarah Morgan lowered the visors on their mask-like helmets, sealing themselves inside their suits of armour.

  More commandos, positioned on the walls above, trained sophisticated rifles on the monolith below.

  The R&D Director then motioned to one of the Terra Force commandos on the platform.

  The soldier grasped one of the men accompanying Sarah Morgan, and forced his hand onto the monolith. The soldier’s colleague did likewise with the second man, while the third commando grasped Morgan’s arm, but she shrugged him off. With a look of defiance, she glanced back at Selene and those watching above, and then faced the monolith.

  Everyone except the six people on the raised platform retreated to a safe distance; everyone, that is, except the simulated forms of Joiner and Myers, who were immune to repercussions from the past.

  Sarah Morgan reached out to the monolith and placed her hand on the middle of three plate-sized indented circles, which themselves were located on a ceramic panel located at the base of the liquid chamber. The two men either side of her continued to be held in place, their own hands held firm against the remaining two circular discs.

  Moments later, the pale fluid within the ancient artefact darkened and a blue glow blossomed forth in its centre. The light intensified into a beautiful star-like glow, before expanding and growing, brighter and brighter.

  Joiner felt the ground beneath him vibrating, his simulation replicating what had happened in real life.

  The room’s apparatus shuddered across the floor as the tremors grew stronger and a low-pitched hum joined in the cacophony.

  One of the men next to Sarah Morgan cried out in pain, while the other tried to free his hand from the monolith as he sank to his knees. The soldiers holding them released their grasp, but the men remained stuck in place, their flesh shrivelling and blistering, their bodies contorting in seizure.

  The light inside the monolith expanded further, filling its core with blinding light.

  The hum increased in pitch.

  Selene grasped her ears and Dagmar stumbled back. Joiner reached for his virtual reality control and reduced the noise. The ground beneath him lurched and the Terra Force Commandos leapt from the platform and ran for cover.

  Blinding light blazed forth, filling the room.

  The two men ceased to convulse, their blackened hands falling away, limp.

  Sarah Morgan, however, remained in place, powering the event, her black silhouette framed against the flaring radiance, her hair and gown rippling against an unseen wind.

  Light flared, the form of a giant framed within. The noise reached a crescendo and then ... silent darkness.

  Plunged into oblivion, a message flashed before Joiner’s eyes:

  Virtual Reality

  Simulation Interrupt

  ‘What’s happening?’ Myers said, his voice echoing in the dark. ‘Is that it?’

  Joiner was about to say something before the message changed:

  Resuming visuals in 5 seconds ...

  4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

  The high-tech treadmill beneath Joiner’s feet shuddered and a crackling, fuzzy image reappeared, thrusting him back into a world of chaos. Flickering lights sporadically lit up the darkened cell containing the monolith, the light within it fading back to dull opacity.

  Shouts and cries of alarm filled the air as technicians struggled with something in the dark.

  Joiner moved closer to the coroner’s slab, the distorted image revealing a massive form obscured by those around it. The lights continued to flicker like lightning, and the damaged simulation continued to add to the mayhem.

  Disorientated, Joiner took a backward step as Dagmar Sorensen drew closer.

  ‘Five hundred milligrams of Dianotrol!’ the R&D Director said. ‘Quickly!!’

  A scientist produced a lar
ge syringe and inserted it into what looked like an arm.

  A flicker of electricity rippled over dark skin, and Joiner caught sight of a massive hand hanging down from the slab.

  Technicians removed great globules of thick, gooey slime from the lifeless body of the giant, throwing it to the floor as they fought to clear its airways and free it from a viscous cocoon.

  More pale fluid was removed, but the huge figure remained motionless.

  The activity around it continued, with Dagmar organising the revival from close by, but try as they might their efforts remained in vain.

  Monitoring equipment, glowing in the half-light, produced complex readings as various devices were attached, the convoluted signals creeping across transparent displays with irregular frequency.

  ‘Does it live?’ Selene Dubois said, moving to Dagmar’s side.

  The pale-faced figure of the R&D director gazed at the giant in the darkness, lit up by intermittent flashes of light.

  Selene grasped his shoulder, making him flinch. ‘Dagmar, does it live?’

  He looked up at her and shook his head. ‘It was always a risk.’

  Joiner and Myers moved in close as some of the technicians stepped away, their job done, while others continued to work.

  The Anakim woman lay sprawled on her back, her giant eyes open and staring, large teeth glistening between parted lips.

  Joiner stared into the face and thought of what might have been, before turning away and reaching for his headset to deactivate the simulation. But as his fingers touched a button, a cry went up behind.

  Technicians streamed back to the body and a frenzy of activity resumed.

  The monitoring equipment bleeped and beeped with increasing speed, building into a rhythmic peak.

  The giant’s fingers moved and Joiner turned to stare into the beast’s eyes, which blinked into conscious sight.

  The Anakim woman arched up in pain and a great roar reverberated through the chamber.

  The giant lived!

  Chapter One Hundred One

  The virtual reality simulation ended with the Anakim giant’s maddened eyes staring out of a face fixed in a grimace of torment. Joiner switched off the re-creation, removed the VR band from his head and walked back to the desk in his office.

  Agent Myers joined him, as the windows to the world outside turned translucent once more, spilling natural sunlight back into the room.

  ‘So,’ Myers said, ‘Dagmar’s revived the dead.’

  Joiner didn’t reply, lost in thought. What does this mean? he wondered. What power does this give to the Committee? It gives them everything, he answered himself. If they can get the beast communicating, their knowledge will be on an upward curve. And as Joiner knew, with knowledge came power. He grimaced in frustration. There must be more to it than that. There has to be. But what? That was the question.

  A sharp ping focused Joiner’s attention.

  ‘Director,’ said the voice of his computerised assistant, her image appearing on his desk, ‘you have received a second digital package – a live audio link. The author of the source is the same as the first. I have already scanned the file; do you wish to connect?’

  Joiner nodded, removed his spectacles from his breast pocket and put them on.

  ‘Now do you see, Malcolm Joiner,’ said the deep voice of his mysterious benefactor, a so-called Knight of the Apocalypse. ‘The beginning of the end has begun. The gods have returned.’

  ‘They’re not gods,’ Joiner said, standing up. ‘They’re flesh and blood, like you and me.’

  ‘Your Committee thinks otherwise, Malcolm Joiner. And you would be wise to do the same.’

  ‘And you know this, how?’

  ‘The Committee and its God Device are not the only source of prophecy, Director.’

  Joiner’s lip curled into a contemptuous sneer. ‘Prophecy? If you know so much, when was the giant revived? Where is it now?’

  Myers held up his hand to Joiner, he was receiving an incoming message.

  Joiner hit the mute button as Myers walked away from the desk, a finger to one ear as he listened to whoever had called.

  ‘Well?’ Joiner said, when Myers returned.

  ‘There’s been an incident with the president in San Francisco.’

  Joiner peered over his glasses at his agent, his expression quizzical. ‘Incident?’

  Myers nodded. ‘Late last night – an abduction. GMRC drones attacked the presidential motorcade.’

  ‘The hacker?’ Joiner said, knowing the answer before he heard it.

  ‘They think so. The Directorate want you to oversee the fallout.’

  ‘Right now? Why didn’t we hear about this earlier?’

  ‘Bic – the hacker’s been interfering with our communications. The West coast substation was down and we didn’t even know.’

  Joiner swore and banged the desk. ‘Damn that hacker!’

  ‘What do you want to do?’ Myers said.

  Joiner looked at the blinking red light on his desk, which represented the incoming call from the unknown source.

  He pressed the mute button again, turning it off. ‘So,’ Joiner said, holding a finger up to Myers, who was about to say something else, ‘where is the Anakim woman now? Where is this living god?’

  ‘We don’t know its exact location,’ said the deep disguised voice, ‘only that Dagmar Sorensen had it moved out of USSB Sanctuary within the last two weeks.’

  ‘Going to where?’ Joiner said.

  ‘We only know one thing; it’s being transported by train.’

  Myers tapped his watch and mouthed, ‘We have to go.’

  Joiner nodded, and then said to the voice, ‘If I find out where you are, this information changes nothing. If you elude the Committee, I will keep searching for you, you and your knights.’

  ‘I would expect nothing else,’ said the voice. ‘Until we speak again, Director.’

  The audio transmission fell silent and Joiner ended the call with a touch of a button.

  ‘San Fran?’ Myers said.

  ‘Yes, but I want you to search for all and any transports leaving USSB Sanctuary in the last fortnight. Leave no stone unturned. Do what you must, and if that means engaging Sorenson’s operatives, GMRC soldiers or whoever else, do it. Take no prisoners, except the giant itself.’ Joiner held Myers’ gaze. ‘Just find that train.’

  Chapter One Hundred Two

  The swaying motion of the cabin rocked her to sleep. The muffled clickety-clack, clickety-clack, of the double-decker train blanketing her in cloying comfort, her body rocking in time to the beat ... clickety-clack, clickety-clack, clickety-clack ...

  A curious vision greeted her dream self, a vision of detachment, a vision of remembrance, a vision of PAIN!

  Sarah Morgan, the English archaeologist, struggled against her restraints as a man hovered over her with a scalpel red with blood.

  Her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest, and as she looked down she could see her flesh peeled back and ribcage exposed.

  Terror filled her veins, every molecule screaming in agony. She gasped for air, eyes swivelling in torment.

  Dagmar Sorensen leaned towards her, his bulging eyes fixed on hers. ‘Don’t worry, my dear,’ he said, his sickening mouth exposing blackened teeth, ‘it’s more enjoyable if you watch.’

  Sarah retched, and a trickle of sick dribbled from the side of her mouth.

  ‘More morphine!’ he said. ‘We can’t have you dying from fright, now, can we?’ Dagmar smiled the most awful smile. ‘And it does happen, such sights can cause the mind to freeze and the body to go into shock.’

  He stood up straighter as Sarah stared at the horror of her surgery.

  Dagmar chuckled, the sound like a choking death rattle.

  A flood of warmth entered Sarah’s arm and her mind relaxed, going from maximum terror to hazy, agonising fear.

  ‘Not too much, now,’ Dagmar said to his assistant, ‘we don’t want her missing the show.’ H
e turned back to Sarah. ‘I always enjoy the look on people’s faces when they can see their own heart beating.’ He coughed and a spray of blood mixed with hers, droplets flicking onto her face.

  Dagmar wiped the back of his forearm across his mouth, leaving a red streak on his white lab coat.

  He reached out and tapped the end of his scalpel on a metallic disc embedded in her breastbone, the five-pointed Anakim artefact covered with blood and bits of her flesh.

  ‘It’s time for us to take this out,’ he said, leaning down to her, his putrid breath as repugnant as his face.

  Moving away, he dropped the scalpel with a clatter into a metal kidney dish, and then picked up a heavy device in its stead.

  ‘I’ve had this for forty years.’ He switched on the bone saw, its sound an electric high-pitched buzz. ‘It’s my favourite tool!’ he said, raising his voice over the din. ‘It’s not as good as modern tools, but it’s much more fun!’ Dagmar lowered the spinning disc towards her chest, the note ratcheting up to a hideous whine as it bit into bone.

  Sarah wanted to close her eyes, to stop seeing what she was seeing, but her lids had been taped wide open.

  The horror continued until the sound of the saw stopped and Dagmar was prising out the artefact, which was capable of activating ancient Anakim technology.

  The R&D director held up the pentagonal disc to the light, the bloodied pendant now free of its human host.

  He placed the extracted pendant down and inspected the area of Sarah he’d been working on.

  Dagmar’s face turned serious. ‘It’s as we feared, the second pendant has melted and fused with the bone. The only way to remove it will be to take out the entire ribcage, and some of the spine, to make sure we have it all.’

  The tall figure of a woman appeared at the edge of Sarah’s vision. ‘From what Ms Morgan tells us, the second artefact has no worth.’