2041 Sanctuary (Genesis)

by Robert Storey

  ‘Is that Riley’s?’ Trish said.

  Jason turned to look and then frowned. ‘Where’s his body?’

  ‘They took it,’ Sarah said, feeling sick at the realisation.

  ‘What?’ Trish sounded hysterical. ‘Why? What do they want?’

  Sarah ran her finger over the white lettering which read: R. Orton and then looked up at her friends. ‘I don’t know, but I intend to find out. And Locke’s out there, somewhere, and he needs to pay for what he’s done.’

  ‘You really want to keep going,’ Jason said, ‘after what’s just happened?’

  ‘What choice do we have?’

  ‘I’d rather go up against bullets than face those … things,’ Trish said.

  Sarah saw the glint of metal on the floor, walked over and picked up her knife. ‘Then I’ll go alone.’

  Jason shook his head and looked at Trish. ‘We’ve come this far, we’re not splitting up now.’

  Trish gave a tremulous nod.

  ‘Then let’s go,’ Sarah said, and she moved off into the dark.

  Chapter Forty Eight

  Colonel Samson sliced through the air once, twice, a thousand times, but every time he struck, the female assassin whirled away out of reach. Growing tired, he waited for her to come to him.

  As Zhang Bai circled back, Samson could see Hilt and Ophion fighting high above on the sphinx’s giant stairway. If I can get rid of this assassin, he thought, returning his attention to Zhang, nothing will stand between me and the pendant.

  The thought was all the motivation he needed and he gripped his sword tighter and waited for his chance.

  Zhang leapt to the attack and Samson raised his sword to parry as the blows rained in. The woman danced and weaved around him and her blade spun through the air faster and faster. He struck and missed, struck again, and then felt something pierce his side; he staggered back and looked up to see Zhang raise her visor. She smiled, victorious, and held up her sword, the blade glinting red with blood.

  Visions of torture filled Samson’s mind. He roared in rage and surged forward.

  Zhang deflected the initial barrage with ease, but her defence turned to desperation as Samson’s onslaught continued. She retreated, and he powered strikes down, again and again and again. Harder and harder he hacked, until her sword shattered in an explosion of sparks. She somersaulted away, but Samson anticipated the move and spun round with his sword extended. The thermal blade sliced through Zhang’s armour, leaving a gaping wound in her side. The assassin staggered, but didn’t fall; instead she managed to enter into a run towards the sphinx and Samson followed.

  Zhang discarded her broken blade and produced her rifle.

  Samson ducked as bullets whizzed past before her ammo ran dry and he was on her. Grasping her throat, he lifted her off her feet and plunged his sword through her chest. The assassin shuddered and the gun fell from her grasp.

  Samson stared into her visor. ‘Where’s your vengeance now, girl?’

  Zhang Bai raised her hand and Samson saw a grenade pin dangling from her index finger.

  A blast of energy exploded in a flash of light.

  Flung apart, Zhang slammed into the stairs and Samson arced into the air, before weightlessness passed and he crunched into the ground. Electricity flickered over his armour and he let out a groan.

  Trying to rise, Samson’s strength faded and he dropped back down as darkness took him.

  ♦

  Hilt ducked and parried as Ophion’s blades whirred through the air in a dazzle of light and shadow, but no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to breach the man’s defence and, step by inexorable step, he was driven back. As they passed the halfway point on the sphinx’s giant staircase, Ophion halted his attack and opened his visor. ‘You fight well for an uninitiated. It would have been interesting to see how you fared once fully trained.’

  Hilt didn’t respond, his armoured chest heaving from exertion.

  A detonation from below made Ophion take a step back. The assassin turned his head to look down at the distant forms of Samson and Zhang lying on the ground at the bottom of the stairway. He stayed thus for a moment and Hilt prepared to attack, but Ophion raised one of his swords and looked back at him. The assassin’s face hardened and he leapt forward.

  Their swords clashed as Ophion pressed ahead with renewed vigour. Hilt retreated as the speed of the assassin’s blades increased and increased again. Ophion feinted left and sent one of Hilt’s swords spinning into the dark. And moments later, a cutting thrust sent Hilt’s second blade clattering to the steps.

  Hilt swayed back as Ophion’s sword cut a molten gash across his chest armour. An instant later, two blades came to a rest at his neck and Hilt gazed into the assassin’s ice cool eyes.

  ‘And so it ends,’ Ophion said

  Hilt’s face remained impassive as he waited for the killing thrust.

  ‘It is good you do not fear death,’ Ophion said, ‘we all must die with honour.’

  Hilt made to raise his hand, but Ophion increased his force and the blades melted into armoured panels.

  Heat seared Hilt’s skin and Ophion smiled. ‘You still seek to win?’ The assassin relieved some of the pressure. ‘Go ahead, show me … slowly.’

  With care, Hilt opened his hand.

  ‘Pretty,’ Ophion said, ‘and yet not an explosive. A gift perhaps?’

  ‘Perhaps,’ Hilt said, holding the shining blue crystal aloft, ‘but not for you.’

  A shimmering light appeared behind Ophion and a menacing growl changed the assassin’s expression to shock.

  The beast moved closer and Ophion’s eyes narrowed as he closed his visor. ‘So,’ he said, turning to face the creature, ‘we meet again.’

  With a deafening roar the Pharos leapt, Ophion vanished and Hilt ran.

  Chapter Forty Nine

  Sarah walked through the dense mist inside the Anakim Sphinx. Towering pillars emerged through the dark, and Trish and Jason followed behind in silence.

  Five minutes had passed since Locke’s attack and there was still no sign of the SED commander or of the elusive Susan. Whatever was controlling the strange, mute woman, it had a plan, but what that was Sarah couldn’t guess. When the question had been posed to Goodwin he’d become uncertain as to why they’d been brought to this place, if indeed that was the case at all.

  Sarah felt the weight of the orb in her coveralls, which were concealed beneath the decontamination suit given to her by Goodwin. She reached down to press her hand against the artefact in reassurance. Goodwin had suggested the symbol on her pendant indicated she’d been brought to this place much like he had, drawn in by an unseen power that manipulated those under its thrall, a power far older than anything they could comprehend. Did these creatures – what had Locke called them? Pharos? – did these Pharos really lead us here? Have they been shepherding us through Sanctuary from the beginning? It was hard to believe, although, Sarah had seen Susan speaking to the orb as if it were alive and could hear her words.

  Sarah looked at her palm. Have I been under its control ever since I first touched it back at the USSB’s military laboratories? A memory came to mind of silver symbols transferring from the orb’s surface to leach into her skin and she slowed to a stop.

  ‘Sarah?’ Trish said in concern.

  Sarah turned to her friend. ‘I think Goodwin was right.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  Sarah held up her chain to examine her remaining pendant and not for the first time wished it had the same power as its larger cousin. ‘The orb altered the pendant’s surface to show a symbol.’

  ‘The Libra constellation?’ Jason said.

  Sarah nodded. ‘Yes, but why did it alter it? Goodwin said he’d seen this symbol many times before. It can’t be a coincidence. When Susan was holding the orb, she was speaking to it as if it could hear her, as if it was alive. What if … what if it activated something in the pendant so that the creature, the Pharos, could find us?’

&
nbsp; ‘Even if that were true,’ Trish said, ‘what would be the point?’

  Sarah looked around them. ‘This place – to bring us here.’

  Jason and Trish eyed the mist with nervous eyes.

  ‘We were so close to a way out of Sanctuary,’ Sarah said, ‘not once, but twice. On two occasions we’ve been near temples that held transportation devices, yet both times the creature was there, chasing us on, forcing us into risks, moving us away from our goal. If it wasn’t for the Pharos we’d be on the surface by now. And it could have killed us ten times over, but we’re still here.’

  Her friends didn’t say anything, but Sarah knew she was right, it felt … right. And she also knew the Pharos were as much to blame for Riley’s death as Locke. She pulled down the zipper on her decontamination suit, reached into her coverall pocket and withdrew the orb. The twelve sided object throbbed inside its protective cloth, almost as if talking about it had awoken it.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Trish said. ‘It’s dangerous.’

  Can it hear what we’re saying? Sarah wondered. She stared at the artefact’s concealed form. The idea was disturbing. But even if it can, it wouldn’t be able to understand our language. Unless, she thought, it’s learning as we speak. She gazed at the orb and felt a powerful compulsion to touch it, and an image of her holding it flashed into her mind’s eye.

  Sarah looked up at her friends. ‘We need to find out what it wants. What it does.’

  ‘It might not do anything,’ Jason said, ‘except kill or knock you unconscious.’

  The sound of a distant explosion penetrated the mist and Sarah peeled back the orb’s cloth.

  ‘Wait,’ Trish said, grabbing her wrist, ‘it could attract the lights.’

  Sarah looked at her friend. ‘Some risks are worth taking.’ She grasped the Anakim artefact and its surface grew warm.

  Chapter Fifty

  Sarah held the orb in her hands and a familiar tingle ran down her spine. The hairs on her neck bristled and the orb grew light. Sarah knew what was coming next and she gripped the artefact tighter. The metallic surface vibrated and turned smooth. Her hands shook, pain seared through her head and she cried out as she fell to her knees.

  Someone called her name, but she clung on, trying to remain conscious. The top of the orb glowed and slid back. The rest of its pentagonal sides pulsed white, and the agony increased. An Anakim face flashed before her eyes and she gasped and collapsed to the floor, her body convulsing.

  ♦

  ‘Sarah!’ Trish shook her friend’s shoulders, but there was no response.

  Jason crouched down and tried to prise the orb from her hands. ‘It’s stuck fast.’

  ‘What do we do?’ Trish said as Sarah’s body continued to twitch in spasm.

  ‘There’s nothing we can do. We wait.’

  Trish glanced around at the icy mist that surrounded them and withdrew her small pocket knife to stand guard over her friend.

  ♦

  Visions flashed before Sarah’s eyes and a spark of electricity washed over her brain like a storm. She saw strange lands and stranger peoples. A procession of Anakim priests and priestesses walked across a causeway. The flames from their torches glowed orange in the dark and flickered in the breeze. Sarah looked up through their eyes and saw the great Anakim Sphinx, glinting silver against a ring of fire. And then she was inside, looking at a bloodstained altar amidst a sea of black, and flanked by strange walls that glowed from within. Beyond this curiosity, Sarah floated towards another wall and a sculptural relief that glittered like stars in the night. It showed the heavens and the Earth, and all manner of constellations decorated its great width. Amongst these images, five objects shone like diamonds. Each was too large to be a distant star, but far too small to be the moon. A glimmer of remembrance formed before a crushing pain surged through her mind and darkness closed in.

  ♦

  Sarah opened her eyes and looked up to see Trish and Jason looking down at her.

  ‘Are you okay,’ Trish said, helping her into a sitting position.

  Sarah nodded and breathed deeply.

  ‘It’s still glowing,’ Jason said.

  Sarah looked down to see she still held the Anakim orb, which shone from its activation. There was no pain, just a tingle that tickled her palms. As they watched, the topmost pentagonal side reappeared, before tendrils of electricity flickered over its surface. The orb dulled and then its whole shape changed, its sides sliding over one another like some kind of spherical Rubik’s cube.

  ‘What’s it doing?’ Trish said.

  The orb’s sides rearranged themselves until it flattened into a saucer-sized pentagonal disc, and Jason reached out to touch it. ‘It’s like a bigger version of your pendant.’

  ‘Which helps us how?’ Trish said.

  Sarah ran her fingers over the disc’s smooth surface. ‘I think it’s trying to tell me something.’

  Trish frowned. ‘Like what?’

  ‘I don’t know. I saw images, like … like it was trying to speak to me.’

  ‘Did it tell you how to get out of here?’ Jason said.

  ‘Maybe, I—’

  A flicker of light made Sarah look up.

  Beyond the gloom, a deep growl emanated from the mist and a Pharos shimmered forth, its rows of razor-sharp teeth disappearing and reappearing through its alien glow.

  ‘Sarah, get up,’ Jason said, as he and Trish backed away.

  The beast followed their movement, ignoring Sarah as she struggled to her feet.

  Jason moved in front of Trish as the Pharos bore down on them and Sarah grasped the disc, unclipped a shackle from her harness and threw it in the vicinity of the creature’s back to distract it.

  The object bounced harmlessly from its hidden bulk and the Pharos continued backing Trish and Jason up.

  ‘Hey!’ Sarah waved her arms and aimed a kick at the creature’s trailing light. Her boot rebounded from something hard and the Pharos swung round and bared its teeth.

  Sarah backed away as it turned towards her. A strange clicking sound emanated from within and she went to move towards her friends, but the Pharos darted the same way, cutting off her escape.

  ‘Sarah!’ Trish called out.

  ‘Go,’ she said and held the flattened orb before her, ‘it won’t hurt me!’

  The beast opened its gaping maw and roared, and Sarah’s sense of security evaporated.

  She backed away as it stalked her and felt something press against her back. She’d walked into a stone column. The Pharos let out a predatory growl as it prepared to strike.

  Sarah dived right as the light surged forward and caught her with a glancing blow. She was thrown from her feet and the disc slipped from her grasp.

  ‘Sarah,’ Jason said, ‘RUN!’

  Heartbeat pounding, Sarah scrambled to her feet and sprinted into the dark.

  Chapter Fifty One

  Sarah ran through the sphinx’s endless halls and glanced back to see the Pharos chasing her down. She veered left and then right, but a bellow of fury told her the beast was closing fast. Her manic flight thrust her headlong into thickening mist and a column loomed before her; she dodged left and stumbled, but kept up her speed, driven on by terror.

  Careering past statues and tombs, she glanced back again. The light from the Pharos had gone and when it failed to re-materialise on a second inspection, she slowed as silent darkness surrounded her.

  No sound from the creature reached her ears and she wondered if it approached unseen. She strained her ears, listening, but all she could hear was her own breathing, which sounded muffled by the thick vapour.

  An icy chill permeated her bones and Sarah pressed a button on her helmet. ‘Trish,’ she whispered, ‘I’m okay, can you hear me … Jason?’

  A crackle of static washed through her helmet’s speakers before a faint voice replied.

  ‘Sarah,’ Trish said, her voice sounding distorted, ‘where are you?’

  She was about to reply
before a rough hand clamped over her mouth and she was dragged back into the dark.

  She tried to speak, but whoever held her tightened their grip.

  ‘Shhh,’ a voice whispered in her ear, ‘they’re close.’

  Sarah recognised who it was and she turned her head to see Richard Goodwin staring over her shoulder into the darkness. She followed his gaze and her visor adjusted to show a massive plaza shrouded in thinning wisps of mist. At its furthest edge, Susan moved in a shuffling walk towards a steep slope.

  Goodwin let go of Sarah’s mouth and pointed to the right, where the shimmering form of a Pharos glided across the ground. Every so often the two unlikely companions stopped and moved closer together, before carrying on their slow procession.

  ‘Locke called it a Pharos,’ Sarah said, keeping her voice hushed.

  Goodwin gave a nod.

  She frowned. ‘What are they doing?’

  ‘I don’t know, but I know where they’re going.’ Goodwin moved back behind the column and Sarah followed.

  ‘I need to find my friends,’ she said.

  He gestured behind her. ‘I think they’ve found you.’

  She turned to see Trish and Jason approach out of the mist.

  Sarah moved towards them and put a finger to her lips to signal for quiet.

  ‘We thought we’d lost you,’ Trish said while Goodwin returned to his vantage point to spy on the Pharos.

  Jason held up the orb-turned-disc and passed it to her. ‘So much for the light not wanting to hurt us.’

  ‘We’re still alive, aren’t we?’ she said, tucking the artefact into her coveralls.

  ‘For now.’ Trish reached out and touched a jagged gash on Sarah’s chest. ‘But we have to get out of here, our luck’s running out.’

  Sarah looked down at the bleeding wound. The Pharos had got closer than she’d thought. She felt her neck and face where a host of other lacerations had resulted from her close shave with the creature. She hadn’t felt any of them; not even the deep cut on her palm dealt by Locke’s knife back outside the sphinx. ‘Susan’s close,’ she said, ignoring the pain that belatedly kicked in.