2041 Sanctuary (Dark Descent) (33 page)

‘All valid points.’ Steiner was buoyed by the input. ‘First, access to the shaft can be attained by some good ol’ hard labour. Working through one of the collapsed emergency stairwells, we can use the destruction of the surrounding rock to our advantage; there will be no need for any equipment or to risk further destabilising the exterior walls of the base by using any kind of explosives. As to reaching the surface, a team of well-trained climbers can make it, and our resident Special Forces Subterranean Detachment,’ Steiner extended an open hand towards Colonel Samson, ‘will be perfectly suited to making the ascent and securing a pathway to safety. As to what such a small number of people can achieve, that will depend on those who will be taking the trip with them.’

Samson frowned. ‘And who might that be?’

‘A few select individuals,’ Steiner responded, a serious intent to his tone. ‘Communication experts and someone who can call on contacts within the GMRC to go against whatever orders Director Joiner has managed to put into motion.’

‘Who will be able to do that?’ one of the other army officers asked.

‘That would be me,’ Steiner said.

The room erupted into a cacophony of complaints and dissent at the suggestion.

Waiting for everyone to calm down, including Nathan, who perhaps voiced the loudest protests, Steiner held up his hands. ‘I expected such a reaction,’ he said, although he noted Samson had not raised any objections whatsoever, ‘however, I am the only person in Steadfast who has the power to counteract Malcolm Joiner’s commands.’

‘You’re also the person we’re all relying on to keep this place functioning, Professor,’ Nathan said. ‘Who else could run this place with you gone? The majority who had the expertise to overcome Steadfast’s ongoing system issues fled the base with Richard Goodwin; without you we’d be floundering within the week.’

‘They fled on my command,’ Steiner reminded his friend, ‘and your assertion that you would not be able to cope without me is a false one. The people in this room, every one of you,’ he said, looking around at the many faces turned towards him, ‘have proved they have what it takes to fill the void of those who went before them. The nuclear-powered generators have been dealt with, the air and water systems stabilised. Yes, perhaps I could apply my expertise further if future problems arose, but right now our priority must be to change the game, and I am the only one who can readjust the music to play a tune more to our liking.’

‘And when do you expect this mission to take place? Samson’s voice was hostile.

Steiner interlaced his fingers. ‘By the end of the week.’

‘Surely it will take months to break through to the conduit shaft you mentioned,’ another person said.  

‘Yes, approximately two months,’ Steiner agreed, ‘but since I put three teams to work on it round the clock seven weeks ago the route through will be available to use sooner rather than later.’

Samson snorted in derision. ‘You had this planned two months ago and you’ve just decided to let us in on the fact?’ He looked around at those present. ‘And you look to this man as though he’s your saviour? You people are a bunch of simpering fools. Can’t you see this man is no different from the one who put us here? Everyone on the GMRC Directorate is the same, cold, calculating, cowardly and devious.’

A few of the civilians gasped in shock at Samson’s words while the other military officers present appeared embarrassed by the colonel’s outburst.

Professor Steiner, his face grave, held up his hand to quieten those coming to his rescue. ‘Coming from you, Colonel, I find such hypocrisy obscene.’

Samson stood up, placed his hands on the table and leant towards Steiner. ‘I may be cold and calculating, but I don’t try and hide the fact from these simpletons you’re quick to heap with false praise.’

‘You forget yourself, Colonel.’ Steiner rose from his own chair, his powerful voice belying his lesser physical stature. ‘These men and women do not need their courage undermined by a bully such as yourself and I never – ever – praise those that don’t deserve it, which is why you have never heard those words directed at yourself.’

The two men stood, eyes locked and unwilling to back down as everyone else watched the clash of wills with a fearful anxiety.

Nathan stepped forwards as if to intervene. The movement caught Steiner’s attention dragging his gaze away from the colonel’s detestable face.

‘Sit down, Colonel,’ Steiner said, returning to his own chair, his fury ebbing away, ‘or leave this meeting. Your destructive input is not welcome here.’

Without a word, Samson stomped down the side of the room towards the door and paused next to the professor. ‘You may not like to hear the truth of my words,’ he said to Steiner in a deathly calm voice, ‘but your plan will need my leadership and men for it to succeed. All of you will be relying on me,’ he said to the rest of the room. ‘We’ll see how much my input is needed then.’

The doors opened and closed. Samson had gone, leaving behind an uncomfortable silence enveloping those who remained, which included the four other military officers.

‘Why do you persist on inviting that man to our meetings?’ Nathan asked Steiner, his exasperation plain to hear. ‘He’s unable to act in a civil manner and always seems bent on challenging your authority and disrupting an otherwise constructive debate.’

‘Samson is a man of action, not talk.’ One of the officers, another colonel, spoke up in defence of his colleague. ‘He may not be to most people’s tastes, God knows I’ve had my fair share of run-ins with the man, but he demands respect in our ranks, which makes him a valuable asset.

‘Ever since our generals left us to die down here,’ the man continued, ‘he has been crucial in maintaining discipline, not only in his own men, but throughout the rest of the armed forces stationed within this base. He may be confrontational and unstable, but without him the large number of soldiers, trapped underground, fearful and nervous, may well have lost all sense of control; if that happened we would be facing a breakdown of law and order very quickly and that’s something we can ill afford right now.’

Steiner nodded. ‘Well said, Colonel Weybridge. We owe more to Samson than perhaps we would wish.’ He looked to Nathan and those around the room. ‘These are trying times and putting up with one man’s outbursts is the least of our worries.’

‘If Samson is so crucial to keeping Steadfast’s military in check,’ a senior manager from the transport department said, ‘then to have him heading the expedition to the surface is counterproductive, is it not?’

‘It’s not ideal,’ Steiner admitted, a small frown appearing on his brow as he leaned back into his chair, ‘however, needs must. Others will just have to step up to the plate.’ He held the gaze of Weybridge at the other end of the table; the colonel returned the look, his expression unreadable.

After a further three hours spent discussing the ins and outs of the escape plan and the utilisation of the conduit shaft, including how they would proceed with a full scale evacuation of the base once the surface had been secured, the meeting drew to a close. Steiner, making sure he was the last to leave the room, made a point of exchanging a few words with each person as they left.

‘Professor,’ Weybridge said as he departed, ‘be aware the rest of the military in Steadfast do not share Colonel Samson’s opinions about you and your leadership. We are more than willing to follow your lead.’

Steiner shook Weybridge’s offered hand. ‘Thank you, Colonel. Samson is right about one thing though, he is critical to our plans. When the team reaches the surface we may well be in a fight for our lives—’

‘And there is no man in this base as fierce or as skilled in battle as Samson,’ Weybridge said.

‘Or so it is said.’ Steiner found it hard to keep a note of scepticism from his voice.

‘Don’t be fooled by the man’s short temper,’ Weybridge cautioned him, ‘he can turn off his emotions like a switch. It is surprising such a volatile individual can act well in the field, but I have seen the man in action and you need a calm mind to react as he does under fire.’

‘That’s good to know,’ Steiner said, feeling grim that he had to utilise the talents of such a man. ‘Let’s hope he’s as good as you say – for all our sakes.’

Chapter Eighteen

Five days had passed since Professor Steiner had disclosed his full proposal to save Steadfast’s trapped residents. In that time there had been a lot to prepare and he and Nathan hadn’t had a spare moment to converse in private, one thing or another cropping up to draw their attention elsewhere. Now alone in his office, Steiner sat in his large chair, elbows on his desk, hands propping up his chin as he closed his eyes to accommodate a deep sense of tiredness that had suddenly swept over him. He expected Nathan to arrive in an hour;
time enough for a snooze,
he decided, and he took off his glasses, folded his arms on the desktop, rested his head on them and drifted off to sleep.

It seemed no sooner had Steiner shut his eyes than a persistent bleeping noise roused him from his slumber. Wiping his eyes with one hand, he searched the table for his glasses with the other, his fingers probing and then finding the familiar frame close by. Popping on his spectacles, he focused in on the intercom built into the polished mahogany desktop. ‘Yes?’ he said, thinking whoever had disturbed his sleep had better have a good reason for doing so.

‘Sir, Nathan Bryant is here to see you,’ said the disembodied voice of one of his Darklight bodyguards, the private security contractor positioned fifty feet away outside of Steiner’s command suite.

‘He wasn’t due until ten o’clock,’ Steiner replied, trying – and failing – to keep the annoyance from his tone.

‘It is twenty-two hundred hours, sir.’

Where did that time go?
he wondered, feeling far from refreshed after his sleep.
I must be getting old
, he decided, the boundless energy he’d enjoyed in his youth and middle age leaving him as the years ticked by.
Such demanding times have brought my physical limitations to the fore it seems
, he thought, stifling a yawn before advising the security operative to send his friend in.

Nathan soon knocked on the door and entered at Steiner’s invitation.

‘Professor,’ Nathan greeted him, his usual broad smile a bright welcome to Steiner’s weary eyes. ‘You look awful,’ he added, sitting down in one of four chairs opposite.

‘Thank you for that kind observation.’ Steiner gave a small smile of his own. Not many people spoke to Steiner that way, and fewer still that got away with it; Nathan, though, had been his friend and colleague for almost as long as Steiner’s GMRC career and was the one person in Steadfast he knew he could count on, no matter what.

‘I’d say to arrange to meet up another time,’ Nathan said, ‘but considering you’re leaving in a couple of days I doubt we’ll have another opportunity such as this.’

‘I’m fine—’ Steiner put a hand over his mouth as a full blown yawn took control of him. ‘Just in need of a little sleep that’s all.’

‘Perhaps a drink will get you going.’ Nathan got up and poured them each a small glass of cognac from the ornate decanter which sat on Steiner’s desk.

Steiner accepted the offered glass and savoured the aromatic brandy as it warmed his throat on its way down.

‘So,’ Nathan said, looking into his own glass and swilling the golden liquid around inside it, ‘two days until you place your trust and everyone’s lives in the hands of a madman – confident?’

Steiner let out a small chortle. ‘As confident as any man of my age would be when attempting a gruelling climb followed by a potential firefight. As to relying on Samson, I believe my trust is not misplaced. He wants out of Steadfast as much as we do and is no friend of Joiner’s. Nevertheless, once he has secured the team’s safe passage from the immediate vicinity on the surface, his role will become less important. That is when I will attempt to establish communication with select people within the GMRC and U.S. Government. The sooner I can secure a solid platform of support, the sooner I can reassert my control and counter command Malcolm Joiner’s orders.’

‘Hmm.’ Nathan sounded unconvinced. ‘There’s a lot that can go wrong, but as you’ve said before we have little choice in the matter. When the next asteroid hits in eight months’ time everyone in Steadfast will either die instantly or suffocate soon after. I still don’t understand how Joiner kept the altered trajectory of AG5-C a secret for so long; how can you hide that kind of information from the thousands of people working for NASA and all the other space agencies?’

‘It’s been done before and it will probably be done again,’ Steiner said, finishing his drink and pouring another. ‘If you control the flow of information, all you need to do is select a particular spot before the data cascades down, altering it almost without trace. Many teams work independently of one another and if the oversight itself was compromised, which it must have been, then such an outcome was possible; albeit an outcome that have must have taken a great deal of effort and planning to accomplish. Since Joiner is the intelligence director for both the GMRC and the U.S. Government, a position one person should never have been allowed to achieve, in my opinion, it’s not as crazy as it sounds to keep such a small detail hidden.’

‘That small detail may end up killing half a million people,’ Nathan pointed out.

‘Small in mathematical terms,’ Steiner said, ‘not that I consider the deaths of five hundred thousand people to be inconsequential.’ He sipped his cognac. ‘The alteration to the data was tiny, but enough to put the impact zone of AG5-C almost directly on top of Steadfast. If Joiner hadn’t shown his hand by sealing us down here, I would never have spotted it.’

‘And you’re positive none of the other data streams were corrupted?’ Nathan said.

‘How many times have you asked me this?’

Nathan shrugged. ‘Twice?’

Steiner laughed. ‘More like twenty times. But no, the other sets of telemetry were, as far as I could see, untouched. The other five asteroids will be impacting as predicted.’