2041 Sanctuary (Let There Be Light) (53 page)

Stowing the blade, he accepted a fierce embrace from an emotional Joseph followed by another from Rebecca. ‘You don’t have to do this, Richard. Please, there must be another way. This isn’t worth your life.’

Goodwin placed his hand on hers. ‘I have to go, and not just because they say so, but because I must. I’ve seen what’s down there now. I’ve seen many things. There’s a barrier under the water and it’s there for a reason.’

Rebecca’s expression grew worried. ‘Reason?’

Goodwin touched her cheek. ‘You’ll see.’

His words didn’t seem to ease her nerves, but Goodwin had regained his focus. He had a job to do.
She’ll soon see. They all will.
He’d been spared and now it was time to repay the debt.
God had spoken and he would answer.

Chapter Sixty Four

Rebecca watched Goodwin enter the lake, the pain of desperate emotion an onslaught on her mind, her heart yearning beyond the ties of friendship past. Joseph held her hand tight and waved farewell to the man they’d grown to trust and love.

Step by step the two men waded deeper until they submerged beneath the surface and only the light from their helmets could be seen swimming through the ripples.

Lieutenant Manaus stood tall and strong by Rebecca’s side, the Darklight officer a powerful presence with her fierce eyes and black armour. Behind, Priest and the leering beasts that called themselves men skulked in the shadows, prowling the fringes of light. Unlike before, however, this time Rebecca had the lieutenant and Joseph for company during her tense vigil.
Will that deter the soldiers from enacting their base desires?
she wondered
.
She prayed it was so, for the alternative brought back memories from a time far darker than the world they now inhabited, a time of shame and pain. She recalled the words her friend Julie had said to her on one of the few occasions when she’d been able to bear acknowledging the event. ‘They defiled themselves, Becca,’ she’d said, ‘they embraced the dark. No one can ever take your light, your power. You may think they have, but you need to let your body heal, to feel.’

And her friend was right, when she’d allowed herself to enter her senses to feel the fear, she’d wept until she thought her heart would burst, but afterwards she felt a power unlike anything she’d ever felt before. ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,’ her dearest pa used to say, and now she knew how true those words were.

The lieutenant broke the silence of Rebecca’s introspection.

‘I’ve just realised where we are.’

‘Where?’ Rebecca said.

‘Do you remember before Susan was taken by the light, the entity?’

How can I not?
Rebecca thought. ‘Yes,’ she said.

‘This place isn’t far from where I saw the light enter the lake,’ Manaus said, raising her voice for everyone to hear.

Rebecca looked at her. ‘Are you sure?’

‘Positive.’

A few of the men swore and Priest approached the Darklight officer. ‘If you don’t keep your mouth shut,
woman
, I’ll shut it for you.’

‘I thought you’d like to know.’

Priest glared at her before shoving a communication device into her hands and stalking away to shout out commands for his unit to double the watch.

♦

Moving through dark, misty waters, Goodwin tapped Walker on the arm and pointed in the direction he wanted to go.

Walker gave him the thumbs up. ‘Lead on, Director,’ he said, his voice distorted by his mask and coms system.

Goodwin continued on his path down into the lake with the corporal following close behind.

Lieutenant Manaus’ voice came through his helmet’s speakers. ‘How are you doing, sir?’

‘Okay so far, Lieutenant.’

‘Where’s Priest?’ Walker said.

‘Otherwise engaged,’ Manaus replied. ‘It seems he didn’t like the thought that this is near where I saw the entity enter the lake.’

‘And is it?’ Goodwin said, scouring the water for signs of any movement.

‘Is it what?’

‘Is it true the light was seen near here?’

‘I’d like to say no,’ Manaus said, ‘but that would be a lie. Be careful down there, Director, it might not be just fish you need to contend with.’

Goodwin felt his sense of invincibility retreat at the news.

‘And you didn’t think of telling us this before?’ Walker said, sounding angry.

There was no response until the lieutenant said, ‘I only just realised.’

‘Great,’ Walker said, ‘fan – fucking – tastic.’

Goodwin pressed ahead. ‘It changes nothing.’ He moved past the ancient water-bound sculptures that rose up around them while Walker muttered curses and objections under his breath in equal measure.

After a few more minutes of traversing the lakebed, the two divers neared their destination as the black wall emerged from the murky gloom like the Devil’s shade.

‘Is that it?’ Walker said, looking up at the forbidding barrier with anxious eyes.

Goodwin didn’t reply. He touched the thick, black ooze as he’d done before, sending ripples across its inky surface.

‘What’s your progress, Director?’ Lieutenant Manaus said over the radio.

‘We’ve arrived at the obstruction,’ Walker said.

‘Any sign of … anything else?’

‘Not so far,’ Goodwin said, distracted.

‘We have no idea what this is,’ Walker said, drifting closer to Goodwin, ‘the Anakim could have designed it to kill for all we know.’

Goodwin pondered the corporal’s words.
An ancient security measure. Perhaps he’s right
. The dark creation could easily be mistaken for being the veil that separated the living from the dead. And such were the terrors it inflicted on those who dared enter its hidden halls anyone could be forgiven for believing it to be the river Styx made real.

Walker touched the oil with tentative fingers before quickly withdrawing them.

‘It protects what lies beyond,’ Goodwin said, staring into the viscous obscurity.

‘A way to the surface?’ Walker said.

Goodwin nodded. ‘But I know its secret. I know how to defeat it.’

‘And how do we do that?’

‘I’ve solved its riddle.’

‘Riddle? I thought it was just some weird fluid?’

‘No, it’s much more than that. It sees into the darkest part of your mind. It turns you inside out and outside in. It’s like the ancients told us, as the Bible says, it’s a test, a test of faith.’

‘Good luck, Director,’ Manaus said over the com. ‘We’ll listen for your radio contact when you reach the other side.’

‘If there
is
another side,’ Walker murmured.

Goodwin glanced at his companion. ‘Are you ready, Corporal?’

Walker looked anything but, fear etched across his features like a gaping chasm.

Knowing what to expect should have made Goodwin’s knees tremble and hands shake, but he felt calm, because he knew the truth within.

‘May God guide our way.’ Goodwin took a deep breath and walked into the black.

Chapter Sixty Five

Goodwin disappeared into the rippling wall of darkness and Walker, breathing hard through his mask, checked his air supply. Five minutes remained. Taking one last look around, he made the sign of the cross on his chest, shut his eyes and followed Goodwin into the beyond.

♦

Lightning consumed Goodwin’s mind as he swam through thick ooze. Memories of long forgotten childhood events flickered before his eyes in a kaleidoscopic trance and faces and names merged as the black fluid poured into his helmet. Fighting back the terror that devoured his soul, Goodwin felt his forward momentum slow, the liquid solidifying around him. Panic gripped and doubts rose.
Have I made a fatal error?
An invisible force pulled him down and he fought for breath.
What if God spared me so I could find a different path?!

His speaker system crackled and Walker’s screams shocked him into lucidity.

‘Corporal,’ Goodwin said, realising his mistake, ‘swim up!’

Fighting against the strengthening current, Goodwin thrust out for the surface. The fluid thinned, his movements eased and a wave of energy engulfed his body, spinning him round and into Walker who surged up from below.

The corporal grasped Goodwin’s suit, his eyes bulging in terror. ‘HELP ME!’

The black ooze crept higher and inched over Goodwin’s mask. The oxygen supply faltered and his airway constricted.

Choking and wheezing, Walker’s grip loosened, his fingers turning claw-like as he hyperventilated.

Neurons fired and synapses activated in a cascade of electricity and a vision tore through Goodwin’s neo-cortex. An Anakim warrior spoke in a foreign tongue. A distant star turned supernova. The sun shone bright in space. Two planets swept past, followed by Earth, a blue pearl in a sea of dark. Goodwin floated through the solar system, a cosmic traveller in a terrestrial world. A jolt of clarity and Goodwin teleported into reality. He gasped for air before the vision submerged him again. The red planet reflected large in Goodwin’s eyes, rotating in mystery before the asteroid belt gave way to the gas giants. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. Goodwin’s speed through space increased. The dwarf planet Pluto whizzed by before the vision warped. Another planet hove into view. This rocky mass orbited a dark star. The Anakim warrior reappeared, kneeling before an altar covered in blood. A myriad of other scenes flickered into being. Pain burned through Goodwin’s lungs and he grabbed Walker’s spasming arm. The black oil thinned, turning transparent and a blue glow shone through warm, pristine waters, and Goodwin’s mind cleared as his air supply ceased. Above, a ceiling of azure crystal shimmered, iridescent.
There’s no way to the surface!
Goodwin did the only thing he could. Jettisoning his helmet and mask, he swam forward, dragging an unconscious Walker with him.

Pain racked Goodwin’s body, his lungs fit to burst. Vision failing, he spied a rippling distortion overhead. He aimed for the irregularity and used his last ounce of strength to propel them up through bright waters. With consciousness slipping, Goodwin’s momentum carried the two men through a weed-encrusted circle of stone. Air returned and Goodwin gasped loud, sucking in the precious gas like the elixir of life it was. Taking five more thunderous breaths, he filled his lungs like never before, his head dizzy with the rush of oxygen.

Goodwin looked around to see he was inside a strange tunnel that glowed with the same blue hue that had lit the clean waters below. He swam to the edge of the hole, heaved himself out onto dry ground and then turned back to pull Walker’s limp form up beside him. Goodwin forced off the corporal’s helmet and mask and washed away the stinking gunk that clung to his face before rolling him onto his side. Walker coughed and a gush of water and oil burst forth. The corporal continued to breathe and Goodwin lay back to recover, exhausted.

A minute or two passed before he felt strong enough to sit up.

Walker remained lying where he was. ‘Remind me,’ he said, his voice rasping, ‘never to listen to you ever again.’

Goodwin stood up. He cared nothing for Walker’s words, the man had threatened Rebecca with abhorrence and that was something he could never forgive. ‘Get up.’ He pulled the corporal to his feet, retrieved and washed out his headgear, and then moved off in search of answers.

Chapter Sixty Six

Somewhere beneath the surface of the subterranean aquifer, Richard Goodwin walked down a long, dark tunnel. The glow behind had faded and he’d decided to put his diving helmet back on to illuminate the way.

Walker stumbled along at his back, complaining all the while. ‘Do you even know what you’re looking for?’

Goodwin didn’t reply. Instead he searched round for clues, for anything that would aid their escape from Sanctuary.

‘You don’t, do you?’ Walker continued. ‘You hadn’t solved any riddle; you’re out of your damn mind like everyone says. We could have both died back there.’

They reached a large circular chamber and Goodwin slowed to a stop. ‘But we didn’t, did we?’

Walker grumbled something before wiping some black slime from his face. ‘How does that oil penetrate our breathing masks? They’re airtight.’ He looked around, confused. ‘And where the hell are we anyway? Are we still under the lake or what?’

‘I don’t know about the oil,’ Goodwin said, ‘but I’m pretty certain we’re inside the lake.’

‘So what now?’

‘Now we activate that.’ Goodwin pointed across a small expanse of water that barred their way.

‘What is it?’

‘I’m not sure, but I feel like I’ve seen it before.’

Walker pushed Goodwin aside and peered ahead at the construction that stood on a tiny island.

‘You’ve seen it too, haven’t you?’ Goodwin said.

‘I – I don’t know, I saw visions, weird visions …’

‘The lake was trying to tell us something, I think it was trying to guide us.’

‘Or warn us,’ Walker said. ‘We don’t know what it’ll do.’

‘There’s only one way to find out.’ Goodwin lowered himself into the icy water and swam across.

Less than a minute later he emerged next to the strange mechanism. Standing ten feet high, it glistened wet under the light from Goodwin’s helmet. Made from grey pockmarked granite, the intricate carvings at its pentagonal base melded into a smooth surface which ended in a singular point at the top. Halfway up the column, five rods of oxidised silver, each positioned at a forty-five degree angle, sprouted from a circular niche, like the handles on some sort of prehistoric, multiplayer slot machine. Goodwin defied anyone who saw them not to feel the urge to pull them down; they were as welcoming as handles on a door.

Unfortunately the device was designed for a being much taller than himself. He looked up at one of the metal levers and gauged the distance. He jumped, grasping for it, but his fingers fell just short.

A splash of water echoed through the cavern and Goodwin glanced back to see Walker swimming across. Moments later he stood by Goodwin’s side.