2041 Sanctuary (Dark Descent) (40 page)

Goodwin squinted at the shadowy figure. ‘Rebecca, is that you?’

‘Richard, yes and Joseph too,’

‘Joseph?’ Goodwin let go of the man who’d become limp and still at the sound of his voice.

Joseph turned around and beamed at him, his wide, innocent smile infectious, making Goodwin laugh in relief.

‘Thank God.’ He gave Joseph a pat on the arm. ‘I thought someone was being attacked.’

A strong beam of light appeared ten yards away, making Goodwin and Rebecca cover their eyes with a forearm while Joseph pulled his jumper up over his head.

‘What’s going on here?’ an authoritative voice demanded.

‘It’s fine, just a misunderstanding,’ Goodwin said to the Darklight soldier who’d also been drawn to the kerfuffle.

The soldier angled the torch in his direction. ‘Director Goodwin, forgive me, I didn’t recognise you back there.’

‘Yes, thank you. Do you mind not pointing that thing in my face?’ Goodwin turned his head as he tried to maintain some of his night vision.

‘Of course, sorry, sir. Perhaps you could try and keep the noise down, miss,’ the Darklight man said to Rebecca once he’d dimmed the light down to an acceptable level. ‘Sound travels quite far out here and we’ve had some complaints recently about your group.’

‘I don’t think that will be possible,’ Goodwin said, coming to Rebecca’s aid as she floundered for a response. ‘And you should tell anyone who has a problem to come and see me.’ Goodwin knew Rebecca had her hands full with caring for her wards; she didn’t need anyone else foisting their stress onto her.

‘Very good, sir.’ The soldier gave him a crisp salute before going back about his business.

Joseph pulled Goodwin forwards with typical childlike exuberance. ‘Winnie, play?’ 

‘Richard can’t play, Joseph,’ Rebecca said, ‘he’s a busy man.’

A look of intense concentration stole over Joseph’s face. ‘Guess, Winnie.’ Puckering up his mouth, he made a squawking noise, uncannily like a parrot.

‘Parrot!’ Goodwin said, having played the game of imitation many times before.

Joseph grinned and clapped his hands. Screwing his face up again, he let out a realistic roar.

‘Lion!’ Goodwin said.

Joseph beamed again and then made a noise like a chimpanzee.

‘Monkey!’

Joseph giggled joyously and gave Goodwin a big hug. Goodwin couldn’t help but smile at the man, as ever a bright ray of sunshine in a sunless world. The name Joseph had bestowed on him, Winnie, was sweet and endearing and made Goodwin feel quite protective of the young lad. According to Rebecca he’d been mentally handicapped from an early age, when he’d been accidentally smothered by his foster parent. The ensuing brain damage caused by the lack of oxygen had severely limited his ability to learn and understand the world around him in anything other than the capacity of a toddler. Joseph had been a full time resident at Rebecca’s place of work, a care home in Albuquerque, before the dust cloud kicked up by the asteroid had encircled the world, throwing it into chaos. A series of unconnected events had led to Rebecca and those she cared for becoming embroiled in Goodwin’s flight from Steadfast, all of them winding up in Sanctuary, lost and disorientated.

Goodwin still felt guilty for having led Rebecca and her vulnerable patients into the mess they were now all subjected to. Rebecca, as sweet and kind as ever, had never once placed any blame on Goodwin, accepting her lot with good grace and battling on as only she knew how. If Hilt was a rock then Rebecca was a mountain, unshakeable in her duty to protect those she cared for, regardless of her own well-being and the obstacles thrown in her path.

Goodwin helped Rebecca lead Joseph back to one of the biggest enclosures in the camp, its ample size enough to house Rebecca, Joseph, another two carers called Julie and Arianna, and ten other patients of varying ages and degrees of mental disability.

‘I’m so sorry for causing a problem,’ Rebecca said as they entered the large tent. ‘Joseph can run wild sometimes. I used to have trouble with him in the daylight in a large park, but here—’

‘I understand.’ Goodwin watched Joseph bounce away to join his friends. His heart went out to this young woman who struggled to do the best she could with limited resources in an alien world. He reached out to lay an understanding hand on her shoulder but as his fingers touched her she shied away, a haunted look flickering across her face.

Folding her arms tightly across her chest, Rebecca gave Goodwin a forced smile and moved away to attend to the rest of her flock.

‘She still doesn’t like people touching her,’ a small voice said from next to him, ‘apart from Joseph, me and the other patients.’

Goodwin looked down to see Rebecca’s friend and co-worker, Julie, had come to stand by his side.

‘She went through a lot of trauma,’ Goodwin said, inwardly cursing the sick filth who had seen fit to rape Rebecca during the civil unrest on the surface.

‘I hoped she would have got better by now, but I fear this place, this darkness, hasn’t helped her to let it go.’ Julie’s sad voice echoed Goodwin’s own thoughts and compounded his need for action to rid them of this dank existence.

‘She’ll improve over time,’ Goodwin told her, trying to lift her mood, ‘she has all of you to look after her and I’ll try and get us all out of here as soon as I can. I’m just on my way to see the commander; I’m hoping he’ll have some good news for us all.’

‘Really?’ Julie’s eyes brightened.

Goodwin berated himself for his hasty words; false hope was a dangerous thing to bandy about. ‘We’ll have to wait and see.’ He watched her expression crumble, making him feel like he’d just kicked a small kitten.

At that point Joseph came back up to Goodwin, pulling a reluctant thirty year old woman called Susan with him.

‘Present!’ Joseph pushed the shy woman towards him. Susan had taken a shine to Goodwin ever since he’d first visited them at their new home a week after the camp had been set up. Holding out a podgy fist, Susan dangled a heavy bracelet for him to take, the fear of rejection on her face barely outweighed by the hope of acceptance.

He smiled. ‘For me?’

Susan nodded, chewing her lower lip and scuffing at the ground with one shoe.

‘She’s been making it all week,’ Rebecca said, coming up as Julie departed without a backward glance.

‘It’s very nice, thank you, Susan,’ Goodwin enthused, making a point of examining the crude object with interest before sliding it onto his left wrist, the small shells and stones adorning it softly jangling.

Susan put her head to his arm, cupping her hands around the bracelet. Goodwin looked at Rebecca for help, unsure what the woman was doing.

Rebecca chortled at his confusion. ‘Some of the stones on it glow in the dark.’

Susan stood up and waited for Goodwin to try for himself. Pulling his thick shirt sleeve up over his new gift he shielded his eyes with his free hand to create a dark space in which to view the phenomenon. Rebecca was quite right. Many of the stones did indeed glow and brightly, too, their iridescent blues surprising Goodwin with their intensity.

‘Wow, that’s great!’ he said, genuinely pleased with the effect. It would look excellent in the darkness, and considering their current location’s dearth of light it would be appreciated on a regular basis.

Susan grinned and pulled up a sleeve on her jumper to show off her own bracelet to him.

‘Excellent.’ He put his wrist next to hers. ‘We’re bracelet buddies.’

‘Buddies,’ Susan said, looking at him as if trying to figure out the meaning of his words. If images could materialise out of thin air, a small light bulb would’ve appeared over Susan’s head as her eyes widened in understanding. Letting out a squawk of sheer happiness the young handicapped woman flung herself forwards, gripping Goodwin in a tight embrace.

Goodwin held his arms aloft caught off guard by the sudden show of affection.

‘I think you’ve got a friend for life there,’ Rebecca said as Joseph, feeling left out, gave Rebecca a similarly full-blooded bear hug.

Goodwin chuckled and put his hands on Susan’s shoulders to gently prise her limpet-like grip from around his waist. He didn’t want to encourage any romantic feelings in the girl, but his embarrassment at the situation was balanced out by the touching nature of the moment.

Soon after, Goodwin said his farewells to them all and took his leave; as nice as it was to be in the presence of such joyous innocence, he had important matters to attend to. He did, however, promise to return when he was able, the happy group lightening his day almost as much as it did when he found the time to be alone with his precious Kara.

Back out in the darkness, Goodwin felt his new bracelet slip down to his hand. Out here its luminous attributes were beautiful. Allowing himself a moment of contentment, he surveyed the area, the brisk air tugging at the edges of his clothing. In all directions the camp’s lights sparkled and shone, holding the unrelenting blackness at bay and conjuring up the effect of a never-ending blanket of stars. It would’ve been a sight to behold had their circumstances been otherwise. Instead the vision merely served to depress him, bringing him back down to reality. With a sigh he moved away from the tent in search of answers that might never come.

Chapter Twenty Three

Goodwin approached the centre of the camp after his pit stop with Rebecca and Joseph. The constant hum of electrical generators was louder and more incessant here than elsewhere in the sprawling and often haphazard site of Steadfast’s refugees. The number of lighting rigs also increased around the central hub of the encampment, their tripod-like design dotted around the cobbled-together command centre.

Five large tents had been disassembled and rearranged to create three sides and a roof for the temporary structure, their black material rippling against the faint currents of air that circulated within the enormous subterranean chamber. To the rear, the smooth rock face of a small promontory acted as the final wall to the enclosure. On top of the makeshift shelter someone had erected a Darklight flag, proudly displaying the security firm’s white logo on a black background.

At first the Darklight Commander had posted two sentries outside the entrance to the command post, but as the days turned to weeks and then months it became clear every able body needed to be utilised for more critical tasks. Goodwin walked unchallenged into the tent, ducking his head as he entered.

Inside, portable computer hardware and communication equipment lay dormant and unmanned on top of an ingenious system of interlocking pop-up ultra-lightweight tables. More of these flimsy desks stood off to the right and there, standing alone, was the bulky figure of the Darklight leader, Commander Hilt.

Standing over six foot, six inches tall, the commander was an imposing sight. Barrel-chested, Hilt’s massive arms mirrored the tree trunk like appendages he called legs. Unlike most men of his size, Hilt wasn’t lacking in speed and agility, his lightning quick reflexes belying his muscle-bound frame. The man’s physical prowess, coupled with his calm, controlled demeanour, exuded competency, leadership and strength. If anyone were to search for a person to epitomise the term ‘warrior’, then they need look no further than the Darklight officer.

As Goodwin moved around the desk, Hilt looked up, his granite like features as ever marred by a nasty scar that ran down the centre of his face, the tip of his nose partially missing; a war wound from whatever or whoever had dared to take a swipe at the man.

‘Commander,’ Goodwin said formally, knowing full well how Hilt liked to keep his distance from a first name, or even a surname, basis.

‘Sir,’ Hilt replied in his deep baritone.

‘You’re up early.’

‘You could say that.’ Hilt looked back down at the array of unfurled maps and computer screens that covered the surface on which he worked.

‘You’ve been up all night?’ Goodwin noticed on closer inspection that the Commander did indeed seem somewhat weary.

‘Yes, I wanted to compile the latest data that came in yesterday evening.’

‘The recon teams?’

Hilt nodded. ‘We had a preliminary debrief on their findings. I’ve been transferring their data onto our maps ever since.’

‘Anything interesting?’ Goodwin said, hopeful.

‘Nothing that will get us to the USSB, but I think we have a clearer picture as to the lay of the land.’

Goodwin’s heart sank, his disappointment almost palpable within him. Were they ever going to get out of this place? Every search so far had ended in failure; he was beginning to lose hope that they would ever see the light of day again.
Bad choice of words
, he thought to himself when he remembered what had happened, and what was to come, on the surface miles above them.

The way they’d entered Sanctuary, through a maze of natural cave formations, had become blocked when an earthquake had struck, collapsing the ceiling behind them. At the time they’d been attempting to find a back route into the USSB to find a place to lay up, so that Goodwin could negotiate their transition into the secretive military run base.