2041 Sanctuary (Genesis)

by Robert Storey

  Another symbol on the altar lit up.

  She could feel the energy draining from her body, her soul torn from its home.

  She was the sacrifice for the thing unknown.

  The void flared with light and Sarah felt the darkness taking her.

  ♦

  ‘Let me go!’ Trish dug her fingernails into Jason’s arm. ‘It’s killing her!’

  Jason clung to Trish as he watched Sarah die; there was nothing they could do.

  ♦

  Sarah’s vision drifted lost and images from her life flared real.

  She was a child chasing a butterfly across a field … sharing her first kiss with the boy next door … accepting her diploma at graduation …

  The pendant throbbed against her chest with excruciating pain and the altar’s circle of symbols neared completion.

  ‘This is SED Command. We are a go for shuttle launch in T minus thirty seconds.’

  ‘Sit down, Miss Morgan,’ a man said, folding his arms, ‘my name is Dresden Locke.’

  Pain exploded in her face. ‘I told you,’ Mark said, standing over her with madness in his eyes, ‘you’re not going anywhere.’

  Sarah’s eyes flickered closed and the spinning pentagram whirred faster, its pitch increasing.

  ‘This is SED Command. We are a go for shuttle launch in T minus ten seconds.’

  ‘The blinds,’ – her eyes widened as Riley pleasured her – ‘people … are watching.’

  Sarah held the ancient skull in her hands; it was proof positive of the existence of Homo gigantis!

  He kissed her deeply. ‘Let them watch.’

  Dresden Locke held her gaze. ‘I employ the best, so I expect the best.’

  Riley smiled. ‘Did you miss me?’

  ‘Where you … go,’ she murmured. Fire blossomed into being and smoke choked her lungs.

  ‘Why do you fear me?’ a sibilant voice whispered.

  Sarah gazed into the mirror. ‘Am I not what you desire?’

  ‘One thing is for certain,’ Jason said, ‘you don’t deserve to die.’

  ‘Let go … give in … it will feel so gooood.’

  Riley gazed into her eyes. ‘You’re a hard woman to find, Sarah Morgan.’

  ‘It’s all my fault,’ Sarah clung to Jason and cried. ‘I killed her. I killed Trish and I’ve killed you too!’

  ‘Sarah, are you okay?’ Trish’s face loomed before her.

  ‘I killed my mother. I deserve to die, I have to die. I want to die!’

  ‘Only you’re crying.’

  A tear rolled down her cheek.

  Jason placed his hand against her heart. ‘You decide who you are and if you don’t like what you are, you damn well fight back!’

  ‘Let go … give in … surrender.’

  ‘Never give in, as at the end of the day, when there’s nothing else left—’

  ‘Let go … give in.’

  ‘That’s all we have—’

  ‘Let go …’

  ‘—that’s who we are.’

  Sarah’s heartbeat stuttered slow.

  ‘This is SED Command. We are a go for shuttle launch.’

  ‘Why do you fear me?’

  ‘In T minus three—’

  ‘One thing is for certain.’

  ‘—two—’

  ‘Give in.’

  ‘You don’t deserve to die.’

  ‘Let go.’

  ‘—one—’

  ‘Am I not what you desire?’

  A strobe of images flickered through her mind.

  ‘—launch!’

  Sarah’s heart pulsed its final beat and a white brilliance emerged from the void.

  ‘I’ll always … be with you … Sarah.’ Riley’s voice echoed through time.

  The altar’s final symbol lit up.

  ‘—have faith … there’s always light … in the dark.’

  Through a sea of black, a blue glimmer blazed bright. Susan shrugged Goodwin aside and slammed down the glowing crystal, shattering it over the spinning pentagram. Electricity enveloped the altar and Sarah’s eyes flew open as power surged through her. The pendant blazed beneath her coveralls, the void opened into a swirling portal and winds shrieked as the storm funnelled down. Riley’s alcove crystallised and a star of light formed around her. A black patch appeared on her chest as cloth smouldered and peeled back, aflame. Her cross glowed orange and beneath it the Anakim pendant shone white hot.

  Sarah cried out in agony as metal seared into flesh.

  The power kept increasing, growing stronger, bigger, faster, filling her body with agonising pain. Darkness streamed out of the portal and Sarah’s eyes drifted to Goodwin’s sign.

  Sarah gritted her teeth against the onslaught of power, her body shaking. The gold cross melted through its chain and merged with the Anakim pendant.

  Electricity coalesced on the pentagram and crackled round in a massive spiral of energy towards the altar.

  Sarah knew she was going to die and the force that held her vanished.

  Blood seeped from her palms, metal fused to bone and tears streamed down her face. She looked at Riley’s frozen form with bloodshot eyes. ‘Where you … go,’ – she wrenched the device round toward the statue – ‘I … GO!’

  The portal vanished in a whoosh of air and a vacuum of sound. The Anakim pendant sank into her chest. Sarah screamed and a blast of energy shot into the silver statue and on into the sphinx’s head. The ground shook, Sarah’s scream stretched on, and a massive beam of light powered into the Anakim city.

  Chapter Fifty Six

  Blinding, white light roared from the sphinx’s eyes, blazing through the underground chamber like a galactic gamma ray. Miles distant, Anakim towers flared bright as the energy slammed into their translucent structures like a supernova.

  The earth shook. Goodwin covered his ears and closed his eyes. Wind tore at his clothing. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed.

  The barrage of noise continued. Light seared bright and Goodwin squeezed his eyes tighter, praying for an end.

  The noise reached an unbearable crescendo. Pain lanced through his ears and then … moments later … it was gone.

  The white brilliance vanished, the gale dropped to a breeze, and Goodwin cracked open an eye as the storm dissipated to cloud. The pentagram continued to rotate, but the altar’s symbols dimmed and the glow inside the crystal wall died along with them.

  Outside the sphinx, on the chamber’s horizon, the Anakim spires shone bright with the charge of power, and those who could see it were transfixed by the sight.

  Back inside the ancient monument, Goodwin was equally awestruck by the glowing statue of the Anakim god, before someone’s scream broke the silence.

  ♦

  Jason and Trish rushed forward and leapt onto the metal pentagram as it slowed. Their helmet torches revealed a gruesome scene in the darkness. Sarah hung in limp suspension from the metal ring. Her clothing smoked with heat and her chest was bloodied and charred. Blood dripped from her palms and the soles of her boots had melted. The strange mechanism released the clamps holding her wrists and ankles, and Sarah’s body slumped onto the altar.

  Crying, Trish turned her over.

  Jason pulled back his friend’s eyelid. Her pupil was fixed and dilated and her iris shone with a purple sheen.

  ‘Sarah!’ Trish shook her friend. ‘SARAH!’

  Jason felt for a pulse then pushed Trish aside to begin CPR, but no sooner had he placed his hands on Sarah’s chest than a jolt of electricity shot through his hands. He yelped in pain.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Trish said.

  Jason tried again. Light sparked and another shock zapped through him. He swore and looked at his singed fingers.

  Trish touched Sarah’s scarred chest and snatched her hand back in pain. She looked at Jason in anguish. ‘Do something!’

  Jason saw the glint of metal beneath the congealed blood on Sarah’s chest. The pendant had sunk into her breastbone. He tilted her he
ad back and breathed into her mouth.

  Trish held Sarah’s hand as tears rolled down her cheeks.

  ‘I’m not giving up on you, Sarah!’ Jason made a fist and delivered a precordial thump to her chest. Electricity flashed and pain lanced through his hand. ‘Do you hear me?! I won’t,’ – he thumped her again – ‘give up,’ – his fist fell again – ‘ON YOU!’

  He brought his fist down a fourth time and Trish grasped his arm. ‘Stop! STOP!’ She pressed two fingers to Sarah’s wrist. ‘I think I feel something.’

  Jason felt Sarah’s carotid artery and waited for a sign of life.

  None came, but as he gazed at his friend’s gruesome wounds a wave of energy flowed out from her chest. Trish shouted a warning and Jason leapt back.

  After the electricity had faded, he reached out a tentative hand and pulled back her eyelid once more. The pupil contracted under the glare of his helmet’s torches and the purple iris faded back to blue. Seconds later her chest expanded and settled into the rise and fall of shallow breath.

  He looked down in amazed, joyous relief. ‘She’s breathing!’

  ‘Her pulse is weak,’ Trish said, ‘very weak.’

  ‘What do we do?’

  Trish squeezed Sarah’s hand. ‘I don’t know. We need help.’

  ‘What do you need?’ said a voice.

  They looked up to see Goodwin standing close by, with Susan at his side and Commander Hilt just behind.

  ‘A doctor,’ Trish said, ‘and fast.’

  The ground trembled and Jason realised the altar was sinking.

  A flood of transparent fluid bubbled up from beneath the metal pentagram.

  ‘Move!’ Goodwin said.

  Jason picked Sarah up then cried out in pain. ‘My ankle!’

  Hilt rushed forward and scooped Sarah into his arms, and they ran from the crater.

  Chapter Fifty Seven

  Colonel Samson opened his eyes and let out a groan of pain. The last thing he remembered was plunging his sword into the chest of the S.I.L.V.E.R. assassin – Zhang Bai. He raised his armoured hand to see it blackened and charred. Pain throbbed through his body and he turned his head towards the staircase which led up to the colossal Anakim Sphinx.

  At the bottom of the steps, forty feet away, the still form of the chrome-clad assassin lay sprawled on the ground in a pool of her own blood.

  The mirrored visor on Zhang’s helmet slid up. Blood trickled from her mouth and her eyelids fluttered as her vision faded. Her arm was extended in his direction and her fingers unfurled to release a large sphere, which slid to the ground with a clunk. Samson watched in fascination as the object rolled towards him.

  Zhang Bai focused on him. ‘For … my … sister.’ Her hand dropped loose and her lungs exhaled their last shuddering breath.

  Samson looked at the metallic ball as it came to a stop near his head. A small display lit up on one side and his mind cleared, enabling him to figure out what he was looking at: digits counting down. His eyes widened in realisation. S.I.L.V.E.R. operatives always have redundancy!

  Samson reared up and scrambled for the high yield bomb. Grasping the device, he spun round to see the lattice of burning bridges spread out before him.

  He glimpsed the timer as he wound back his arm.

  FIVE SECONDS!

  Samson launched the device into the air.

  The bomb arrowed out into the dark, cleared the flames and disappeared into the abyss beyond. Seconds ticked by before a distant detonation shook the ground. A sudden rush of light erupted upward and Samson staggered back.

  A deep rumbling sound grew louder and stronger. Cracks crisscrossed through the stone beneath his feet and up onto the sphinx’s stairway.

  A terrifying sight reflected in Samson’s visor as the earthquake struck. The fiery walkways collapsed in every direction, and beyond them the standing stones toppled as water seethed into the basin.

  There was no escape!

  He turned and sprinted up the splintering steps towards the sphinx’s entrance. But as he ran his visor showed structural warnings in all directions. The cracks extended up onto the sphinx’s body and widened.

  He ran faster.

  The stairs flashed past and Samson saw the entrance ahead.

  Great rents appeared in the sphinx’s face and chunks of masonry thumped down around him. Samson glanced up as the giant Anakim head sheared free and plummeted towards him. He snarled in defiance as death approached, and dived forward. The monument smashed down through the stone staircase, obliterating everything in its path. A cloud of dust billowed up and the shaking increased.

  Chapter Fifty Eight

  Goodwin waded through transparent fluid, up out of the crater and onto solid ground. Hilt emerged alongside him, carrying Sarah’s limp form, while the Englishwoman’s two friends, with Susan in tow, joined them moments later. Behind them, the pentagram and altar had long since been immersed in the rising tide, leaving a rippling covering that slowly solidified. The Pharos were nowhere to be seen, but the calm didn’t last for long as a distant tremor set the ground vibrating. Goodwin turned on his torch to see debris and dust sifting down from above.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Jason said.

  Goodwin wasn’t sure. He stood frozen in place, listening.

  The silver statue, still glowing with the residue of energy, rocked on its golden throne. Cracks appeared in the crystal wall and then the ground lurched violently.

  ‘Earthquake!’ Goodwin grabbed Susan’s hand and made for the exit, but through the mists he could see pillars toppling to the ground in all directions. Skidding to a stop, he ran back the other way.

  ‘Where are you going?!’ Jason said.

  ‘This way.’ Goodwin waved them on. ‘The whole place is coming down!’

  Goodwin ran past Rebecca’s frozen alcove and the fracturing crystal, and on up a slope.

  Massive statues toppled to the ground, exploding in showers of shattered stone. Someone screamed, but Goodwin kept running.

  Seconds later three statues loomed through the dark, their Anakim forms still kneeling before a pewter frieze.

  Goodwin hauled Susan down onto shadowy, oversized stairs. Steps flew by and Goodwin ran on. They reached a tunnel and splashed through shallow water. The ground continued to tremble. The beam from his flashlight rose and fell, and a crack appeared in the ceiling and raced ahead like a runaway train. The stone floor groaned and sagged. Goodwin jumped over a growing fissure, with Susan following.

  He glanced back. Sarah’s friends followed, and close behind them ran Hilt with Sarah in his arms.

  Ploughing on, Goodwin saw light ahead. Another Anakim staircase loomed and they dashed up into a growing blue radiance.

  As they burst out into fresh air, the ground buckled and broke. Susan stumbled and Goodwin fell towards a wall of flame.

  ♦

  Jason ran for his life as the earthquake gained momentum. A gaping hole appeared before him. Unable to avoid it, he leapt out into mid-air. An instant later he landed, but his ankle buckled and he slammed into the ground. Lava spewed forth from behind and the ground tilted up. He scrabbled forward, but the incline increased, forcing him towards molten rock.

  ‘Jason!’

  He looked round to see a hand appear through the steam. He reached out and grabbed it and Trish hauled him to safety and then helped him into a run.

  Susan and Goodwin reappeared alongside and the Steadfast director pointed towards the blue glow. ‘Keep going, the transportation device is close!’

  Jason didn’t need telling twice, and they ran on with Hilt hot on their heels.

  Soon after, they passed between two standing stones and moved down into a basin lined with shining, blue crystal. Rattling down translucent steps, they reached the bottom which was filled with mounds of compacted soil.

  Goodwin ran over to an oblong megalith wreathed in symbols and pointed at a circle indented in its surface. ‘Your Anakim device.’

  Jason rushed to e
xamine it, but his elation was short lived as he looked around, frantic. ‘Where’s the platform?!’

  ‘What?’ Goodwin said.

  ‘This isn’t a transport device, there’s no platform!’

  ‘There must be!’ Trish said and ran round the bowl-shaped depression, searching.

  ♦

  With care, Hilt lay Sarah down on the ground while Goodwin looked around in confusion. Hilt’s back ached and his soul was weary. He’d lost too many people, far too many; Major Offiah, Rebecca, Joseph, hundreds of operatives under his command. He wondered if Darklight had ever witnessed a darker hour.

  While the earth shook around them and Sarah’s friends dug for God knows what in the dirt, something touched his hand. He looked down to see Sarah’s arm drop back to the ground and he crouched down beside her.

  She said something and he lent closer.

  ‘Ri – ley?’ she whispered.

  He held her hand and shook his head.

  ‘I’m sorry … about Rebecca, I—’ Sarah fought for breath. ‘I wasn’t able … to … save her.’

  ‘I know,’ he said as her eyes fluttered closed, ‘try to rest.’ He looked round as the crystal stairs fractured and collapsed. ‘It’ll all be over soon.’

  Chapter Fifty Nine

  Jason stared at Goodwin in despair. ‘You said it was here, you said there was a transportation device!’ He lashed out with a foot, sending a clump of earth flying.

  ‘I thought there was,’ Goodwin said, looking equally dismayed.