2041 Sanctuary (Dark Descent) (83 page)

Smithsonian Institution
– World renowned collective of research centres and museums in the United States of America / www.si.edu

[Author note: I always thought the Institution was called the Smithsonian Institute, but apparently this is a common misnomer.]

Smithsonian Museum of Sanctuary (SMS)
– Located in USSB Sanctuary and administered by the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of Sanctuary is a vast resource on the extinct species, Homo giganthropsis (commonly referred to as the Anakim).

People’s Arabian Militia
– Middle Eastern terrorist group.

The Apocryphon
– A shadowy organisation with links to the Roman Catholic Church. According to texts held within the Museum of Sanctuary, the Apocryphon may be aware the Anakim once existed.

Humanity 1
– British right-wing, extremist group with an anti GMRC agenda and affiliation to terrorist factions in the Middle East and beyond.

APPENDIX J

FACILITIES, UNITS & DESIGNATIONS

U.S.S.B.
– United States Subterranean Base

U.S.S.B. Steadfast
– A Class subterranean base

Footprint: circa 20 sq. miles (52 sq. km)

Height: 7,500 ft (2.3 km)

Depth from surface: 3,000 ft (0.91 km)

Deepest point from surface: 10,500 ft (2 miles / 3.21 km)

Cubic capacity: 28.7 cubic miles (119.6 km³)

Year of build: 1996 – 2035

Population: circa 500,000

U.S.S.B. Sanctuary
– A Class subterranean base

Footprint: > 314 sq. miles (813 sq. km)

Height: 21,120 ft (6.4 km)

Depth from surface: circa 10,000 ft (1.9 miles / 3.1 km)

Deepest point from surface: 31,120 ft (5.9 miles / 9.5 km)

Cubic capacity: 1,256 cubic miles (5,203 km³)

Year of build: 2016 – ongoing

Population: circa 20 million

Motto
:
‘
Protegere Et Conservare, Civilitatem, Humanitas Et Omnes Vitam In Terra
’
(‘
To protect and preserve civilization, humanity and all life on earth’).

Sanctuary Proper
– Ancient subterranean structure

Footprint: > 20,000 sq. miles (51,800 sq. km)

Height: circa 20 to 30 miles (32km to 48km)

Depth from surface: circa 10,000 ft (1.9 miles / 3.1 km)

Deepest point from surface: circa 22 to 32 miles

Cubic capacity: 400,000 to 600,000 cubic miles

Year of build: circa 900,000 yrs B.C.

E.U.S.B.
– European Union Subterranean Base

E.U.S.B. Deutschland
– A Class subterranean base

Footprint: circa 40 sq. miles (104 sq. km)

Height: 8,500 ft (2.6 km)

Depth from surface: 2,500 ft (0.76 km)

Deepest point from surface: 11,000 ft (2.1 miles / 3.36 km)

Cubic capacity: 28.7 cubic miles (270.4 km³)

Year of build: 2015 – ongoing

Population: circa 2,250,000

Darklight
– Private security firm operating around the world and utilised by various organisations, corporations and governments. Primary client: Global Meteor Response Council.

SOG
– CIA’s Special Operations Group

Fort Bliss
– U.S. Army post, New Mexico / Texas

United States Army Ordnance Corps
– Supplies ammunition and weapons to combat troops and units.

SFSD
– Special Forces Subterranean Detachment

Division of the United States Army

Member of Subterranean Command

Codename: ‘Terra Force’

Active: 2013 – present

Type: Infantry / Special Forces Commandos

Motto: ‘No Depth Too Difficult, No Height Too Great – Honor and Country!’

Battle cry / affirmation: ‘Ooyah!’

Deployment: United States Subterranean Bases

S.E.D. (Sanctuary Exploration Division)
– Founded in 1826 by the sixth President of the United States, John Quincy Adams, the SED has a unique position within USSB Sanctuary in that it has a certain amount of autonomy despite its military oversight. The reason for this independence is mainly due to two factors. Fact one, the SED was operational long before the USSB was built or the GMRC ever conceived. Fact two, the SED was also instrumental in helping the United States government and GMRC create USSB Sanctuary, their knowledge of Sanctuary Proper an invaluable resource to the subterranean engineers during the planning, design and development of the enormous multilevel, underground structure / city.

Types of Team: Mapping, Structural, Archaeological, Scientific and Deep Reach.

Motto: ‘Into the dark, into the light, pioneers for life.’

Sancturian
– name given to residents of USSB Sanctuary.

Project ARES
– Unacknowledged Special Access Programme, or black project, utilising ancient Anakim technology. A collaborative venture between the GMRC’s R&D Division, United States military and NASA.

NCO
– Non-commissioned officer.

XO
– Executive officer.

GMRC Directorate
– Executive body ruling over the GMRC. Comprising Directors from the twelve major divisions within the GMRC, the Directorate helps to shape the council’s policies and actions around the world.

Motto: ‘
In Veritate Scientia
’ (In Truth, Knowledge).

Deep Reach
– Special unit working within Sanctuary’s Exploration Division (S.E.D.).

Team Alpha Six
– S.E.D. Deep Reach unit.

U.S.S.S. Orbiter One
– United States Space Ship. Co-funded and managed by NASA and the U.S. military. Small, modular craft designed for orbital observation and scientific research.

U.S.S.S. Archimedes
– United States Space Station. Co-funded and managed by NASA and the U.S. military. Large, modular craft designed for orbital observation, scientific research and classified military applications.

APPENDIX K

WORDS, TERMS & PHRASES

Anakim
– Ancient and extinct race of Hominids living on Earth circa 1.2 million to 20,000 years before present-day. Scientific name: Homo giganthropsis (unofficial: Homo gigantis). Alternative plural: Anakai.

Fubar
– Fucked up beyond all recognition. Verb: to fubar, fubared.

Janfu
– Joint Army-Navy fuck up (alternative: foul up), similar form of acronym to Fubar (see above).

Big Green Dick
– The U.S. Army’s administration, a phrase coined by disaffected soldiers when it doesn’t work in their favour.

Fugly
– Very ugly / unattractive, derivative of ‘fucking ugly’.

SWAT
– Acronym for ‘Special Weapons And Tactics’.

Bum Fuck Nowhere (BFN)
– A phrase used by U.S. military personnel when they’re in the middle of nowhere, usually when lost or deployed to an isolated locale. Alternatives: Bum Fuck Egypt (BFE) or Big Fucking Empty.

Clusterfuck
– Colourful military colloquialism describing a disastrous situation born of an accumulation of errors created by individuals or groups (politely referred to as Charlie Foxtrot).

Permunioteric era
– derived from the Latin
permunio
, to fortify strongly. Permunioteric is the descriptive term for a time period in Anakim history, between seven hundred and eight hundred thousand years before present-day and when Homo giganthropsis averaged nine feet in height. Anakim remains during this time period have been found amongst heavily fortified structures, hence the name.

Ooyah
– SFSD commandos’ affirmation / battle cry.

Hounds
– Term given to GMRC operators and intelligent computer programmes which scour the World Wide Web and the Under Web for content not deemed fit for public consumption.

The Deep Web
– Term for the part of the World Wide Web not appearing on regular search engines. Unindexed content not seen by regular Internet users who frequent the Surface Web. This content can take many forms; some is benign while other content can be more sinister in origin and use, resulting from illegal activity by individuals, criminal gangs, corrupt organisations, companies and sovereign nations, although the latter may argue this is just offensive national defence conducted in their country’s best interests. Also known as: Deep Net, Dark Net, Dark Web, Invisible Web, Under Web, Under Net, Hidden Web etc.

The Playground
– Part of the Deep Web that is segregated from all other digital content. Able to appear and disappear on command in almost any server, anywhere, The Playground is thought to be impossible to hack, track or intercept. Many hackers believe The Playground to be an urban myth or an impossibility, while others hold it as the holy grail of the hacking world.

Circuit training
– Intense, gruelling exercise programme designed to increase muscle strength and endurance.

Humphrey Bogart
– Iconic American actor (1899 – 1957).

Scheiße
– Vulgar German word for shit, faeces or something rubbish / worthless (alternative:
Scheisse
).

Coriolis effect
– A term used in physics. Definition: An effect whereby a mass moving in a rotating system experiences a force (the Coriolis force) acting perpendicular to the direction of motion and to the axis of rotation. On the earth, the effect tends to deflect moving objects to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern and is important in the formation of cyclonic weather systems. (www.oxforddictionaries.com)

Days of Blood and Dust
– Chaotic time period after the asteroid, 2011 AG5, impacted Earth in 2040. The phrase is a reflection of the dust ejected into the upper atmosphere by the meteorite’s impact and the blood of the thousands of civilians around the world shed at the hands of their governments in the ensuing social unrest.

‘ …
from whence it came
.’
– Using ‘
from
’ in front of ‘
whence
’ is grammatically incorrect as ‘
whence
’ means ‘
from what place, source etc.’
, so using ‘
from
’ in front of it is redundant; however, the expression is a standard and well established idiom which has been used in various distinguished texts, including the King James Bible and plays by Shakespeare. [Author note: who knew?  … put your hand down Jason.]

APPENDIX L

LOCATIONS & BUILDINGS

Sanctuary Proper –
Ancient underground structure built by an extinct species of Hominid, Homo giganthropsis. Located beneath the deserts and mountains of central and northern Mexico.

Dulce
– Small town located in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States.

Ruins of Copán
– ancient Mayan city located in the Copán Department of western Honduras.

City of Tancama
– Ancient city built by the Huastecs circa 700 AD. Located near Jalpan de Serra, a small town in the state of Querétaro, Mexico.

Sierra Madre Oriental
– Mountain range located in the north east of Mexico. Spans one thousand kilometres.

Teotihuacan
– Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican city located near Mexico City, Mexico.

Pyramid of the Sun
– Biggest structure in Teotihuacan, Mexico.

Novosibirsk, Russia
– 3
^rd
largest Russian city located in Siberia.

Tolmachevo Airport
– Russian international airport for the city of Novosibirsk.

Sterkfontein Caves
– Also known as the Cradle of Humanity. Located near Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Asteroid Club
– Nightclub in Las Vegas, USA.

FBI Field Office, Los Angeles, California, USA
– Located on Wilshire Boulevard.

Birmingham, United Kingdom
– England’s 2
^nd
largest city.

Heathrow Airport, London
– The main international airport for England’s capital city.

City of New York, State of New York, USA
– Most populous and arguably the most iconic city in the United States.

BBC Broadcasting House
– Building that houses the BBC, the British Broadcasting Corporation (see Organisations Appendix).

St. George
– U.S. city in the state of Utah. Bordering Arizona, St. George is located approximately eighty miles north east of Las Vegas.

Berlin
– Germany’s capital city.

Berlin Hauptbahnhof
– Berlin’s main railway station.

City of Angels
– Nickname for the city of Los Angeles, California, USA.