2041 Sanctuary (Let There Be Light) (44 page)

A full day of searching the lake had come and gone and Goodwin found himself returning to shore, where he could see Rebecca waiting for him. Earlier that day he’d arranged for five teams of civilian fishermen to comb the waters around the area depicted by the pentagon. Since the recent loss of two rafts was fresh in the crew’s minds they’d been reluctant, but when Goodwin had explained it could see them freed from Sanctuary it was decided the risk was worth it and many had volunteered. Sadly, however, they’d failed to find anything of note, just an empty expanse of calm water, devoid of anything except the craft that sailed upon it. Goodwin knew, however, that more investigation was needed. He’d go back a thousand times if he had to; there was something out there waiting to be found.

As they approached the crowds that laboured on land his mood fell hard. Out in the stillness of the lake Goodwin had felt at peace, his mind occupied, but now he descended back into misery.

The raft beached on shore and he jumped down to help the men and women who’d toiled by his side all day. Hands raw from paddling with crude oars, he noticed little pain as he heaved on the rope to draw the craft to higher ground. His work done, he made his farewells to those around him and made his way beyond the stench of fish and on to Rebecca, further up the shingle beach.

‘You didn’t find anything?’ she said, standing.

He shook his head and rubbed at the rash on his wrist in distraction.

‘Haven’t you sorted that yet?’ Rebecca indicated the inflamed skin.

He stopped touching it and shook his head again.

She gave his arm a consolatory pat and accompanied him in silence as they walked back to camp, their respective torches clicking on. The noise of people and the buzz of water generators faded to nothing as they left the bright lights of the beach behind.

The black void closed in around them, but ever since the light creature had attacked a Darklight reconnaissance team, security had taken precedence and now armed patrols roamed the narrow corridor that connected the camp to the lake’s shore.

Usually Goodwin would have felt nervous out in the open, having experienced the terror of meeting the entity face-to-face, but now – as he was – he felt nothing, only the bitter taste of failure. He’d been so sure they’d find something on the water, or just beneath its inky surface. Torchlight had revealed the odd glimpse of a scaly hide, but that was it.

A noise made Goodwin glance at his companion, it sounded like she was crying. He touched her arm. ‘Rebecca?’

‘I’m sorry, walking through here reminds me that Susan is out there on her own, with that … that
thing
.’

Goodwin didn’t know what to say. He willed himself to feel, and a spark of compassion forced its way through. He found her hand in the dark and her fingers wrapped around his. They continued on hand in hand while Goodwin felt his own despair rising, as if Rebecca’s emotions flowed into him unimpeded.

‘Sometimes,’ he said, ‘it feels like I’m losing my mind.’

The silence after his words hung heavy until Rebecca eventually replied. ‘You’ve been under a lot of pressure. Everyone gets overwhelmed at some point in their lives, you’re only human.’

‘I don’t feel human; I have terrible … frightening thoughts.’

Her hand tightened around his. ‘Everyone experiences such feelings. I have in the past. Just remember the thoughts aren’t you, they’re your mind trying to make you anxious. Remember that and they’ll lose their power.’

‘But I—’

‘What?’

He couldn’t bring himself to say it.

They approached the camp and its illumination.

‘What, Richard? You can tell me, you know that. I won’t judge.’

‘When those people died—’

‘On the lake?’

‘Yes, when I found out, I … it felt – it felt like I didn’t care, I felt nothing, part of me almost felt relieved, a few more people not to worry about.’ He hung his head in shame. ‘What kind of person does that make me?’

Rebecca stopped walking and pulled Goodwin to a halt. She put her hands to his face. ‘You look at me, Richard. You’re a good man, one bad thought doesn’t change who you are. A thousand bad thoughts won’t change who you are. Thoughts are just thoughts, depression, anxiety, it makes you stronger, it’s your body’s way of telling you things need to change, and if you don’t change it’ll keep telling you they need to until you do something about it.’

She drew him into a hug.

‘I’m trying to change, to find a way out.’ He buried his head in her shoulder and her soft hair covered his face. He felt like he could cry, but no tears came.

‘I might have known I’d find you with
her
!’

Goodwin looked up to see Kara standing nearby, her eyes full of cold fury.

Goodwin didn’t know what to say.

‘Kara,’ – Rebecca took a step forward – ‘it’s not what it looks like.’

‘I don’t care what you think, little miss perfect. But I do care when you put things in his head,’ – she turned on Goodwin – ‘and encourage him to go chasing after miracles. Jesus wept, quoting the damn Bible, for pity’s sake! Are you trying to get us all killed? Without your help we’re struggling, or hadn’t you noticed? People are dying and you two carry on like it’s a game, looking for clues, searching for God knows what, God knows where!’

Kara paused for a breath and Goodwin went to speak.

She held up a hand. ‘I don’t want to hear it. You know full well we just lost two crews on the lake, and you go and take five more out into its furthest reaches. I have people coming up to me asking what route out of Sanctuary you’ve found, and how long will it take to reach the surface. False hope, Richard, really?! I thought you were suffering from depression, but it looks like you really have lost your damn mind!’

‘Kara, he needs your help, not your anger.’

Kara glared at Rebecca. ‘I thought I told you, I don’t care what you think.’

‘But I have found a way to the surface,’ Goodwin said, ‘it’s in the lake.’

‘Just stop, stop it!’

Rebecca tugged on Goodwin’s hand. ‘Perhaps you’d better go.’

‘Perhaps you’d better both go.’ Kara stood aside.

Rebecca moved past her and Goodwin followed, before pausing to look Kara in the eye. ‘I’m doing my best, that’s all I can do.’

‘I don’t know who you are anymore.’ She turned her head away and Goodwin sighed and followed Rebecca into camp.

♦

Kara watched Goodwin go, her fury simmering above a sea of loss. A part of her felt relief at what had to come next, but another part felt a deep sense of fear and woe. She took a deep breath and pressed a button on her walkie talkie.

‘Ma’am?’

‘Put me through to the major.’

She waited before another voice responded. ‘This is Offiah.’

‘Major, it’s far worse than we thought.’

‘What’s happened?’

‘Richard has become a liability; as of this moment he’s no longer in charge of this camp.’

‘How should we proceed?’

‘As planned. Until he returns to sound mind he is a danger to himself and everyone around him.’

‘I’ll issue the arrest order.’

‘Fine, but do it with as few witnesses as possible. We don’t want to cause a scene; we need to preserve the integrity of command for the sake of the camp.’

‘Very good, I’ll see it’s done.’

‘Oh, and Major—’

‘Yes?’

‘Make sure he’s secure, and administer the drugs as discussed. We need him back to normal as soon as possible.’

‘Yes, ma’am.’

Offiah hung up the com and Kara let out a sigh of her own. It was done.

Chapter Fifty Two

Richard Goodwin stared in disbelief at the three soldiers before him. ‘Under whose authority?’

‘Major Offiah, sir.’

‘There must be some mistake, let me speak to him.’

‘I’m sorry, sir, we were told to take you straight into detention.’

Goodwin found himself being relieved of his possessions and another soldier secured handcuffs to his wrists.

‘Is that necessary, soldier?’

Goodwin turned to see the form of Lieutenant Manaus approach, her amour glinting in the dim floodlights.

‘Orders are orders, Lieutenant.’

‘Where are you taking him?’

‘North side, he’s to be held along with the U.S. Army decontamination team.’

Manaus turned to Goodwin. ‘I’m sorry about this, Director. I’ll speak to the major for you and see what can be done.’

Goodwin felt disorientated and gave her a nod as he was led away.

♦

‘And you both think having him locked up is going to help this camp?’

‘You forget yourself, Lieutenant, this is a command decision.’

Dr. Kara Vandervoort held up a hand to Major Offiah. ‘No, wait, let’s hear her out.’

‘Thank you, ma’am,’ Manaus said. ‘What I’m saying is, even if Director Goodwin has taken leave of his senses, surely locking him up won’t help anyone. Or am I missing something?’

Vandervoort shifted her stance. ‘You’re quite right, spouting religious scripture and jumping to ridiculous conclusions isn’t an arrestable offence. But when that person is in charge, and is capable of making decisions that affect us all, he needs to be removed from office. If he’s left to his own devices there’s no knowing what chaos he could cause. He would still have great influence over the civilians and he won’t let go of his crusade. More lives could be lost.’

‘I still don’t like it,’ Manaus said. ‘Word will get out.’

‘And we’ll let everyone know Richard is sick and is being properly cared for. In the meantime we’ll continue as we were and wait for news from Commander Hilt.’

Lieutenant Manaus knew she could say no more without crossing the line.

‘If that’s all, Lieutenant,’ Vandervoort said, ‘we have work to do.’

Manaus bobbed her head and gave a crisp salute before leaving the command tent behind. Walking through the camp, her thoughts swirled with a myriad of concerns, while instinct screamed its warning that there would be trouble ahead.

Chapter Fifty Three

Corporal Adam Walker sat in his fabric prison, a large black tent provided and administered by the heavy hand of his jailers, Commander Hilt and his mewling pet, Major Offiah. As the ranking non-commissioned officer of his U.S. Army decontamination unit, Walker was in charge of the twenty-seven other soldiers who had also been put under house arrest at Hilt’s behest. After the hulking Darklight Commander left on his quest to hunt down the creature, Walker had hoped Offiah would see fit to release him and his men from their invisible bonds, but it seemed Walker’s deceased sergeant – Alvarez, who’d been killed by the entity – had given Offiah cause to feel only distrust and thinly veiled contempt for all those that wore the baggy green uniform of the United States Army.

Walker watched as one of the armoured Darklight mercenaries strolled past the tent, the visor of their helmet lowered and blue eyes aglow in the darkness, while their assault rifle remained in hand, at the ready.

Walker’s eye twitched. He rubbed a hand over his goatee beard and returned his attention to the newest member of their motley crew. Director Goodwin sat apart from everyone else, fiddling with his shirt sleeve while staring into space. How the leader of the camp had fallen so low as to become imprisoned by his own people, Walker couldn’t imagine, but he intended to find out. He got up, exchanged a few light-hearted insults with some of his men, and made his way over to the dishevelled form that had been deposited in their midst.

‘Director,’ he said.

‘Corporal.’

‘You look the worse for wear.’

Goodwin glanced in his direction. ‘You don’t look so hot yourself.’

Walker chuckled. ‘That’s what happens when discipline goes out the window. Most of us joined the army for a sense of control and purpose. It’s funny, I thought once I made it into USSB Sanctuary my chances of becoming some bum rotting away in a prison cell somewhere had all but gone. But here I am, locked up, rotting away in the biggest prison cell on Earth.’

Goodwin failed to respond, his expression unchanging.

Walker leant closer to him. ‘So, Director, why are you here?’

Nothing.

Walker tried a different tack. ‘Come on, sir – Richard – we’re all comrades in this tent, your secret’s safe with me, I swear it.’

‘On what?’

‘Eh?’

‘You said you’d swear it; swear on what?’

‘On my mother’s life.’

‘Not good enough.’

‘On my daughter’s life, then.’

‘Do you have one?’

Walker pointed a finger at him. ‘Aha, you’re quick. So what’s the word then?’

Goodwin remained silent.

‘You still want me to swear, eh?’ Walker scratched his head. ‘Oi, Priest!’

A balding soldier at the rear of the tent turned round.

‘Loan me your book.’

‘No chance.’

Walker grunted, got up and went over to the man’s bunk, which consisted of a rolled up decontamination suit at the end of a piece of ground that had been fashioned into a body sized dip. Walker snatched the book from under the makeshift pillow and waggled it in its owner’s direction.

‘You ruin it,’ the man said, ‘and I’ll cut your balls off and stuff ’em down your throat!’

Walker laughed before sitting down next to Goodwin again. He placed his hand on the Bible. ‘I swear whatever you tell me is in strictest confidence, so help me God.’

Goodwin’s expression changed and he snatched the book from his grasp.

Walker’s cheek trembled and his eye twitched in response; he rubbed it with the palm of his hand.

The director flicked through the book’s pages as if searching for something. ‘So you want to know why I’m here?’

Walker nodded.

Goodwin stopped reading and looked him in the eye. ‘I’m here,’ he said, keeping his voice low, ‘because I’ve found something they don’t want anyone else to know about.’

Walker frowned. ‘And what’s that?’

‘I’ll tell you if you promise to help me.’

‘Help you do what?’

Goodwin nodded to the guards outside the tent, a feverish look in his eyes. ‘Escape from them.’