2041 Sanctuary (Let There Be Light) (45 page)

Walker followed his gaze. ‘And what’s in it for me?’

Goodwin chuckled, the sound hollow and unnerving. ‘How about getting out of here?’

‘To the USSB?’

Goodwin shook his head. ‘No, better.’ He leaned toward him and whispered, ‘I’ve found a way out, a way to the surface.’

‘And why wouldn’t they want anyone else to know that?’

Goodwin dropped his voice further. ‘Because it’s the end of the world, the asteroid, the dust cloud.’ He held up the Bible. ‘The Apocalypse is nigh!’

Chapter Fifty Four

Walker eyed Goodwin with apprehension; the man looked to be out of his mind. He’d been babbling on about biblical tales, some weird sculpture they’d found in the city and a map of the lake. Leaving the director to his ramblings, he got up to see two Darklight soldiers talking outside. One of them, a female officer, handed her weapons to the other, and headed towards the tent. The soldier she’d left behind blew out his cheeks and bent his head to one side to drink in his colleague’s seductive form. Ducking inside, she removed her helmet and dark hair fell in waves down her back.

She moved toward the director, but Walker barred her way. ‘What brings you here—’ he looked down at her chest armour, ‘—Lieutenant Manaus?’

‘I’ve bought Director Goodwin some of his possessions.’

‘I’ll take them to him.’

‘I don’t think so.’

He held his ground. ‘What’s with him, anyway? He’s acting odd.’

Manaus hesitated. ‘He’s been medicated for his condition.’

‘If that’s medication I’d hate to see what he was like before.’

She peered over his shoulder. ‘And why’s that?’

‘Because he’s lost the plot, raving on about signs on the ground, angels from heaven and the end of the world.’

Manaus searched his face with her eyes. ‘And yet you believe him, don’t you?’

He laughed. ‘Don’t be stupid. Why; do you?’

‘I saw a frieze in the ground. It was … interesting.’

Walker felt his eye twitch. ‘Interesting or not, the man’s not well.’

‘Hmm, I was afraid the drugs might make him worse, but they wouldn’t listen to me.’ She handed Walker what she held, some photos and a portable computer. ‘Give him these; tell him I’ve arranged for visitors tomorrow.’ She went to leave and stopped by the tent entrance. ‘Corporal Walker, isn’t it?’

‘It is.’

‘Look after him and I’ll see about getting you some more freedom.’

His expression turned serious. ‘You have my word.’

She gave him a nod and left.

Walker looked down at the cluster of objects in his hands and then over at Goodwin.
So, someone else thinks there might be something to the director’s theories. Has he really found a way to the surface?
Either way
, he thought,
things are looking up
.

♦

Goodwin woke late the next day, his mind still foggy from the drugs given to him by the Darklight medic over eighteen hours before. They said it was some kind of tranquiliser, but he felt awful, like he had the hangover from hell. Why they’d had to drug him in the first place was a mystery, he felt fine apart from his low mood, but to keep the peace with Kara he promised them he’d try his best to get better from the illness from which they believed he suffered. His reasons for this were many, but he’d come to realise if he wanted to pursue his search of the lake he would need his freedom, and that meant toeing the line.

At least I have my photos back
, he thought, as he gazed at the images before him. But despite what he’d already discovered he still had the niggling feeling that he was missing something. He picked up the photo of the Anakim frieze, which contained the pentagram and the five-sided regular pentagon in its centre. He then unfurled his mobile computer’s big screen and looked at the image of the lake he’d uncovered, and the pentagon near its centre:

After an hour or three of contemplation an idea struck him.

‘Corporal?’

Walker sat by his side, engrossed in photos of the constellation carvings. He glanced up.

‘Do you have a marker pen?’

With a bob of his head, Walker scurried away and returned a moment later with a selection.

Thanking him, Goodwin uncapped one of the pens and used it as a stylus to draw on the digital image. First of all he went over the central pentagon, redefining its borders, and then he drew a series of five straight lines, using each side of the same pentagon as a starting reference. Each of these lines extended out to intersect with one of its counterparts to create a five pointed star.

Walker sat back down, intrigued. ‘What’s that?’

‘A message.’ Goodwin looked at the corporal, but his eyes were drawn to a badge on his shoulder:

He lifted his screen and took an image of it. ‘Do you remember why they call Homo giganthropsis the Anakim, Corporal?’ Goodwin manipulated the emblem’s image.

‘No,’ Walker said, watching, ‘no one ever said. Why?’

‘It’s funny, don’t you think?’

‘What?’

‘That the emblem for USSB Sanctuary has not one, but two pentagons hidden in its design.’ Goodwin removed all the text from the emblem, the central map and the middle rings, along with the coded base identification bars located at the bottom. This left the outer circle and ten small triangles in its centre, five of them small and five slightly larger.

Goodwin then drew five straight lines, linking the five largest triangles together.

‘I see one pentagon,’ Walker said.

‘Look again; the smaller black triangles are the corners of another, only it’s upside down.’

‘Is that significant?’

Goodwin gave a shrug, but he looked at the single circle surrounding his latest image and returned to the map of the lake. Selecting another digital tool, he laid a circle over the five pointed star.

And there it was, as plain as the nose on his face: a pentagram – a pentagram which pointed the way to the shoreline, not only by the point of its star, but by the circle that intersected the land in the exact same place. It was a sign, a hidden message from the Anakim, and a way to access the secret protected by the lake that enveloped it. All he had to do now was get there.

‘What do you think?’ Goodwin said.

Walker’s eyes glittered with fervent fascination. ‘I think you’ve just made me a believer, Director.’

Chapter Fifty Five

Two days had passed since Goodwin had discovered the Anakim’s hidden message and almost ever since he’d been waiting for the opportunity to speak to the woman who currently sat on the ground opposite him. Rebecca had been allowed in as a visitor and he held her gaze, his eyes imploring her to reconsider.

‘Richard,’ she said, I’d love to help you, but I can’t.’

Goodwin held up the screen. ‘But, look!’

Some of Walker’s men glanced round, the corporal having gathered them together at the back of the tent.

Goodwin lowered his voice. ‘Just look, it’s amazing. It points the way, there’s something there. All you have to do is what I just said, simple.’

Rebecca grasped his hand. ‘I believe you, but I’m scared. What if they lock me up, too? I have to look after Joseph.’

‘They won’t, trust me. When we find what’s at the lake they’ll realise I was right all along.’

She shook her head. ‘I can’t—’

‘What if I told you there was more truth to the frieze than you know? What if I told you the words you quoted were right?’

‘What do you mean?’

He looked around to make sure they weren’t overheard, then flicked through the pages of the Bible. He held it up for her to read.

‘And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority,’ he said in quotation, ‘but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgement of the great day. Jude 1:6. Your words, yes? Do you remember when you said, it’s not like it’s the end of the world?’

She nodded, captivated by Goodwin’s intensity.

‘Well, it is. There are six more asteroids heading for Earth right now and only a miracle will stop them all.’