2041 Sanctuary (Let There Be Light) (61 page)

Chapter Seventy Seven

Richard Goodwin stared into the black, the lights from his diving helmet illuminating shadowy steps that led down into a place so sacrosanct, so gloriously protected, that even the Anakim must have rarely crossed its threshold. When he’d activated the golden throne by aligning the constellations to match the pewter frieze, he couldn’t have dreamt of a better result. That the three statues of the Anakim women, who knelt before him now, had moved to their current position was amazing enough. But to reveal this hidden passageway was a true gift from the gods.

The beautiful female sculptures had each settled onto one giant knee, the arms of the central Anakim resting outstretched hands on her two sisters’ considerable shoulders. Motionless, heads bowed as if in prayer, the mysterious forms created a semi-circle around the pentagram’s central pentagon and the stairwell beneath.

This must be it
, Goodwin thought,
the way to the surface is within reach. Everything has led me here. The frieze in the city, the carvings that revealed the lake’s secret, the dark abyss beneath the water and then the riddle of the Sphinx.
It was almost too good to be true. If it hadn’t cost him his freedom, leadership and probably his relationship with Kara, he might have believed it was.
But he knew if he could get everyone to the surface it all would have been worth it.
I brought everyone here, I put everyone’s life in jeopardy, and it is long past time to repay their faith in me.

‘What I don’t understand is,’ Rebecca said, breaking the silence, ‘how can the biblical texts be the key to what’s down here?’

Goodwin couldn’t tear his gaze away from the entrance before him. ‘It just means some of the ancient legends may have more truth to them than we thought.’

‘Our myths and tales are the Anakim’s reality?’

‘Why not?’ Goodwin said, turning to face her. ‘If they interacted with humans it stands to reason knowledge would have passed from one species to the other.’

‘I suppose,’ Rebecca said. ‘For all we know Neanderthals could have taught humans art, or how to hunt in the colds of the north.’

Goodwin nodded and resumed his study of the Anakim portal. He went to take a step down onto the stairs but Manaus held him back.

‘I’ll go first, sir.’ The Darklight officer moved past without waiting for his reply.

Goodwin felt a rush of anger at her taking the lead, followed by a sense of shame.
The woman isn’t trying to steal my limelight;
she’s trying to protect me from whatever may lurk beneath
. His agitation remained, however, despite this thought.
I found this place; I should be the one to learn its secrets first
. Trying to keep a hold on his impatience, he followed Manaus down into the Anakim passage, while those behind filed in after them.

At the bottom of the oversized stairs, some hundred steps down, the passage levelled out and shallow water lapped at their feet. The surrounding rock changed from smooth, polished stone to a porous substrate full of tiny holes. Goodwin reached out a hand as he splashed through the waterlogged tunnel and touched the pockmarked surface that glistened wet in the light. Despite the fluid running down its walls it felt rough, like sandpaper or stony coral.

Ahead the Darklight lieutenant pressed some buttons on her helmet and then gestured at the passage around them. ‘Sir, switch to ultra violet on your helmet, if it has it.’

Goodwin scrolled through the options on his visual display, saw the UV tag and selected it. To his wonder the walls around him glowed bright with strange patterns, pictures and abstract scripts of all shapes and sizes. The further they went the more intricate the images became, dazzling in their majestic beauty. From Anakim warriors to ancient beasts, from scenes of nature to cityscapes beyond compare, the walls hinted at knowledge beyond comprehension.

‘What do you see, Richard?’ Rebecca said from behind.

‘Wonderful things,’ he said, ‘many wonderful things.’

‘I’m still recording ma’am,’ Manaus said over her shoulder, ‘when we get back to camp remind me and I’ll show you.’

Walker’s voice echoed down the tunnel, ‘If we get back to camp.’

Goodwin grimaced in the dark; he’d momentarily forgotten their current situation.
One thing at a time
, he counselled himself.
Find the way out and everything else will fall into place
.

The water at their feet shallowed and Lieutenant Manaus slowed her advance.

‘What is it?’ Goodwin said.

She stopped and held up a hand for silence.

‘What’s the hold up?’ Walker said as everyone bunched up.

Manaus turned round and raised her visor. ‘There’s a light source up ahead.’

A couple of the soldiers swore and Priest pushed past to join the lieutenant.

‘Is it moving?’ Goodwin said.

Manaus shook her head. ‘No, it’s not localised.’

‘Keep going,’ Priest said to the lieutenant, ‘we’ll cover you.’ He called forward two of his men.

Manaus glanced at Goodwin before sealing her face back inside her helmet and moving on.

Goodwin thought she might have been trying to tell him something with her eyes, but if she had, he’d been unable to decipher it.

After a few minutes the light had grown to a steady pervasive glow, bright enough to see by without the aid of spectral enhancement.

The Darklight officer, still proceeding with caution, disappeared up another flight of stairs, followed by Priest and his men, who continued to scan the way ahead with their rifle scopes.

After a while they emerged into fresher air and a swirling mist that hung in dense patches, lit up by the glow in the encompassing gloom.

‘We’re back outside the sphinx,’ Goodwin said.

Looking round, he could just make out the outer ring of megaliths and beyond those a blacker shape in the dark – the massive form of the Anakim Sphinx.

‘We must be on the opposite side we entered from,’ Rebecca said.

Goodwin adjusted his visor to see a river of black ooze separating them from the mainland, its deadly reach sweeping round on either side to enclose them within its toxic maw.
One way in, one way out
, Goodwin thought, before hurrying to catch up to Manaus and Priest who disappeared into the brightening mist.

Goodwin removed his helmet as he passed between two more megaliths, their rune-encrusted surfaces thick with ice. The reason for the illumination soon became clear when they entered a large, bowl-shaped depression much like a Roman amphitheatre. Unlike the human equivalent, this structure was naturally formed and its crystalline surfaces pulsed bright with a dark blue radiance. A couple of hundred feet across and surrounded by a circle of twelve colossal pillars, the giant terraces shimmered and gleamed in the shadows like a mythical grotto from another world.

The taste of rusting metal lingered in the cold air and water ran in rivulets over every surface; Goodwin licked his lips and stepped onto a translucent stairway that led down to a wide circular basin. Inside this area a large swathe of soil had built up into odd shaped mounds, creating a dark crater amidst its shining blue surround.

‘Can you hear that noise?’ Rebecca said, as she helped Joseph descend.

Goodwin listened for a moment. ‘Like a deep hum?’

‘Yes, I can feel it going right through me.’

Goodwin touched a step but felt no vibration. The weird sensation brought with it a sense of disorientation and a dull ache that took up residence at the crown of his head. Trying to work out if the feeling was pleasant or painful, Goodwin reached the bottom and stepped onto sodden dirt, which crunched underfoot.

When everyone had gathered, Priest relaxed his guard and looked at Goodwin. ‘So, what now, Director?’

Goodwin gazed around. There was nothing there and no other route out except the one they’d entered by. And apart from the glowing crystal itself, there were no other features of significance. Around the edge of the soil water collected in a tiny stream that cut a path towards the far side, where it fed a small, clear pool. At the rear of this tiny oasis a narrow fissure carried away any overflow, the unbroken, musical trickle of water transported away in perpetuity.

‘He hasn’t got a clue,’ Walker said, his tone loaded with derision.

‘Give me a minute.’ Goodwin wandered around the site, looking for something … anything.

‘Perhaps the answers you seek are back in the tunnel,’ Manaus said, joining him in his search, ‘and the images on the walls.’

Goodwin crouched down and inspected the ground while the soldiers stood guard. After a further five minutes of fruitless observation Goodwin decided to go back to inspect the tunnel as the lieutenant had suggested.

Rebecca followed, but stopped when Joseph failed to accompany her.

‘Joseph, come on. What are you doing?’

Halfway up the stairs, Goodwin turned round to see Rebecca heading back to collect her wayward ward. But despite her best efforts, the young man refused to leave his position on the dirt laden ground.

Feeling a sense of urgency, Goodwin trudged back to help her prise Joseph away from his distraction.

‘He won’t move,’ Rebecca said. ‘I don’t know what’s gotten into him.’

Goodwin crouched down and put a hand on the lad’s shoulder. ‘Joseph, it’s time to go.’

Joseph remained staring at the earth.

‘The boy’s fed up with you, too,’ Walker said.

The comment elicited a laugh from a few of the men.

Goodwin cupped the boy’s chin in his hand and turned his face towards him. Joseph looked into his eyes and Goodwin let out a shout of alarm and fell back.

‘What is it?!’ Rebecca dashed to Joseph’s side and looked back at Goodwin who stood staring down at the boy in shock. ‘Richard, what’s wrong?’

Goodwin shook his head, trying to rid it of the vision he’d just seen. The boy’s eyes had been bloodshot and glowing with the same hue as the cave around them, but as he looked into them now they were the same innocent brown eyes they’d always been. ‘It’s nothing, my mind’s playing tricks.’

Joseph stood up and wandered away.

‘Sir, what did you see?’ Manaus said.

‘His eyes … I don’t know – nothing, I guess – a reflection of the light.’

A shout of warning made Goodwin spin round to see Joseph grappling with one of Priest’s men. The soldier stumbled back and Rebecca screamed as Joseph, his expression blank, held his prize aloft in the air … a pistol.

Manaus swore and the soldiers ducked as the mentally handicapped man wielded the weapon in random directions.

‘Put it down, boy,’ Priest said, advancing. ‘Put it down or I’ll put
you
down!’

Rebecca rushed to intervene, but Walker grabbed her. ‘He doesn’t understand,’ she said, struggling against her captor. ‘Richard, do something!’

Goodwin put himself between the array of weapons now trained on Joseph and the young man himself, and held out his hands. ‘Joseph, it’s Richard, Winnie, put down the gun.’

Lieutenant Manaus moved in from the other side and a look of confusion flitted across the lad’s face before he pointed the weapon and fired.

A deafening gunshot echoed out and Joseph dropped the pistol and put his hands over his ears. Manaus took two long strides and snatched the gun from the ground while Rebecca, now released, rushed to his side.

‘How the hell did you let him get a hold of that?’ Walker said.

One of the soldiers, looking furious, approached Manaus and held out his hand. ‘He took me by surprise.’

‘Give it to him,’ Priest said, his rifle trained on Manaus.

Reluctantly, the lieutenant handed over the weapon.

Goodwin didn’t know or particularly care about the whys and wherefores. He approached the ground where Joseph’s wild shot had dislodged a piece of the compacted sediment. Bending down, he swept aside the sodden deposits underneath to reveal a shiny, bronze surface. ‘Have you got my knife?’ he said to Manaus. The lieutenant nodded and handed it to him.

Goodwin took the blade and prised off another chunk of the rocky soil. ‘There’s something under here,’ he said, scooping out the thick mud beneath.

‘You,’ Priest said, pointing to one of his men, ‘keep a watch.’ He turned to another man. ‘And you, keep an eye on the lieutenant and the boy. Everyone else, get digging.’

Goodwin was joined by Walker, and Priest’s four remaining men, while the man himself looked on, a finger never too far from his rifle’s trigger.

Not needing any encouragement, Goodwin pounded away at the layer with a ferocity born of months of pent up frustration. Clawing at it with knife, hand and finger, he tore away the surface like a man possessed. Chunks of hard rock, mud and compacted soil disappeared in a flurry of activity. Even Walker seemed to relish the task, the corporal shifting nearly as much earth as Goodwin himself.

After a while a large area had been cleared and Priest called a halt to proceedings.

‘No!’ Goodwin said, carrying on. ‘There’s more under here.’

Someone dragged him away and Goodwin looked up into a steely gaze.

‘I said, that’s enough,’ Priest said.

Goodwin, undeterred and breathing hard from his exertion, turned to look at their handiwork.

‘What is it?’ Rebecca said, moving to inspect the strange object.

Goodwin didn’t know. It looked like the top of a giant sphere, its curved surface dipping down into the ground on all sides.

Lieutenant Manaus pushed past one of Priest’s men, removed her water casket and poured the contents over the metallic surface. The water sloshed down over the strange artefact, washing away the muddy covering.

‘It’s the Earth,’ Walker said.

‘No.’ Goodwin stepped forward, pulse racing. ‘It’s much more than that; it’s a globe, a map. This is what I’ve been looking for; this will lead us out of Sanctuary!’

Chapter Seventy Eight

‘How does it work?’ Rebecca said.

Goodwin hadn’t thought that far ahead.
I was right all along!
Elation coursed through his veins, his suffocating veil of depression lifting.
I’ve found it, at last, a way out of this godforsaken hole in the dark!