Red lasers traced dots all over her body and Sarah raised a hand to her eyes and squinted against the glare. ‘Who are you?’ she said, her voice trembling. ‘What do you want?!’
‘DON’T MOVE!’ A blurred form emerged from the light, rifle raised. ‘On your knees! Put your hands on your head!’
Sarah did as she was told before another voice said, ‘You’re a hard woman to find, Sarah Morgan.’
The soldier moved aside and another person appeared in the glare. He gestured for the soldier to lower his weapon and he held out his hand and helped Sarah to her feet.
‘Who are you?’ she said, confused.
‘Who am I?’ His grip clamped tight. ‘I’m someone who is pleasantly surprised.’ Malcolm Joiner removed his dark glasses. ‘And you, Ms. Morgan,’ he said, staring down at her with cruel, hungry eyes, ‘have something I want.’
Chapter Eighty Six
One after the other, three unmarked helicopter gunships lifted into night skies with a great roar and a rush of air. Trees and plants, lit up by the aircraft’s floodlights, bent and twisted in the downdraft before disappearing into darkness as the aerial convoy gained altitude.
Malcolm Joiner looked across at his prisoner with calculating eyes. Sarah Morgan, the woman who’d started it all. She has no idea, he thought, how much trouble she’s caused me. He glanced to his right. ‘Show me.’
Agent Myers reached out and pulled down Morgan’s T-shirt, exposing her chest.
Joiner lent forward to inspect the wound before looking up into her defeated eyes. There was no fight left in her, which was why she’d capitulated to his agents’ interrogation in a matter of moments. He gave Myers the nod and he released his hold.
Joiner sat back in his seat. It was a curious turn of events. They both had something inside them that didn’t belong. He resisted the temptation to touch the scar on the back of his neck and frowned. Regardless of their shared circumstance, that she knew nothing about the hacker or Steiner was vexing. Why had she been here at all? Joiner wondered. And where are Bic and the Professor?
Myers had no answers and Joiner was left to ponder the puzzle that was left. Every piece of intel indicated the hacker should have been there. Was it a false trail? Did Bic lead us to Morgan on purpose, or is some other power at work? Those were the questions he needed answering. Or was the hacker alerted to our presence? Or did he somehow detect our arrival and abandon his plans? If so, then he might have been on his way to meet Morgan himself – a worrying prospect.
Or does the hacker know more than he’s letting on? Does he know the importance of the Anakim artefact? Or was it Steiner that arranged the meeting?
Joiner interlaced his fingers and placed them on his lap. Whatever the case, he thought, I’m in possession of the most powerful object on the planet. The question isn’t how I came to have it – he continued to study Morgan as she gazed out the window – but what am I going to do with it next.
Chapter Eighty Seven
Sarah let the whine of the aircraft’s engines vibrate through her body without resistance as she stared out into the brightening night sky. She had no idea where they were heading and quite frankly, she didn’t care. Everything had been for nothing. All the fighting, all the trauma, all the death, where had it got her? It was as she’d known all along. Everything I touch turns to dust. The world is better off without me. But even though she’d accepted defeat, she knew there was one good thing that would come from her capture. Without her influence, Trish and Jason could live out the rest of their lives happy and content in the light of day.
She looked left and caught one of the soldiers staring at her bare, mud-splattered legs and she pulled her T-shirt lower. The man with the glasses, whoever he might be, saw the movement and glanced in her direction before turning to look back out of the window. Sarah knew there was only one thing on his mind, and it had nothing to do with libidinous lust.
She drew her hands to her chest and pressed them against the hidden cross beneath and embraced the only comfort she had left, that the man she loved would forever be in her heart.
Dazzling sunlight appeared over the horizon and Sarah turned to gaze out at a new dawn over empty seas and asked herself, what is it all for? What is the point of living? But as the aircraft banked left and Sarah glimpsed the flag of the United States fluttering free over its capital city, there was only one question left in her mind … when, she wondered, will it all end?
Chapter Eighty Eight
Malcolm Joiner sat at his desk inside the Intelligence Division’s D.C. branch and stared into space, deep in thought. He’d been left with a big decision regarding the Anakim pendant and its human host, perhaps the biggest decision of his life. Should he hand over something that might be capable of imbuing its owner with near limitless power, or keep it for himself and risk the Committee terminating his life with the flick of a switch? There was another argument against keeping the artefact; it would also mean he sacrificed the upper hand. The Committee thought he was under their thrall; if he broke ranks now that edge would be lost. But despite the pros and cons, the whys and wherefores, neither option had been particularly appealing, and relinquishing something he deserved – the chance of greatness – went against everything he knew.
The wallscreen opposite brightened and the figure of a woman appeared, surrounded by a corporeal glow. ‘Director,’ the artificial intelligence said, ‘I have detected an untraceable, incoming call routed through an unofficial channel. Do you wish me to transfer it to your desk?’
Joiner looked at the shimmering image of his A.I. assistant and nodded.
A moment later a green answer button materialised on his tabletop screen and he tapped it with a finger.
‘Director,’ said a voice, its tone disguised deep, ‘you have seen what we see and now it is time to earn your keep.’
‘I wondered when I’d hear from you again.’ Joiner checked his watch. ‘Your timing couldn’t be better. What is it you want?’
‘The woman, we know you have her.’
‘Do you?’ he said, his tone scathing.
The voice hesitated. ‘You have already given her to the Committee?’
‘Did I say that?’
‘Do not play games with us, Director, you have already taken the life of one of our people, we will not tolerate anymore defiance.’
Joiner’s eyes narrowed. ‘Your fanatic took his own life and if you wanted to take mine you already would have. Do what you must.’ He hung up and sat back in his seat. He was done playing games. He’d never shied away from making big calls and he wasn’t about to now, it was time to call their bluff.
He waited for the caller to ring again, but no transmission arrived and Joiner was left wondering if he’d made a mistake.
Someone knocked on the office door and Agent Myers entered at Joiner’s behest.
‘Your transport has arrived,’ Myer said, ‘you’ll be in New York within the hour.’
‘Do you have it?’
Myers nodded and placed a small device on the desk. ‘It should block any signal from activating the kill switch, but without testing it I can’t be a hundred per cent certain.’
‘Then how certain can you be?’
‘Ninety-nine point nine per cent.’
‘Good enough,’ Joiner said.
‘It’s already active; you just have to keep it within ten feet at all times.’
‘And no one else knows but you?’
‘No one,’ Myers said.
Joiner picked up the jammer, examined it and then slipped it into his pocket. It was always a good idea to have a back up and now he had someone he could trust, the Committee would be none the wiser – until that was, they made an attempt on his life.
Joiner turned to his A.I. assistant. ‘Activate protocol Overwatch.’
‘Activating …’ the computer said.
The office door locked and the wallscreen filled with the live images from Sanctuary’s secret laboratories.
‘
Locate Dagmar Sørensen,’ Joiner said.
‘Locating …’ said the computer.
A red rectangle moved across the video grid in search of the specified parameters before stopping and switching to green.
‘Sørensen, Dagmar,’ the A.I. assistant said, ‘located.’
A single image moved to the centre of the wall and Joiner saw the familiar figure of the R&D director, dressed in a white lab coat, waiting at an elevator.
‘Shouldn’t we be heading to the roof?’ Myers said. ‘If you want to get to the summit by noon …’
‘In a moment.’ Joiner watched as a scientist approached the R&D director. ‘Computer, activate audio sync.’
‘Lip reading conversion, processing,’ said the computer, ‘estimated accuracy … ninety-six per cent.’
Joiner waited for the conversation to start. What are you up to Dagmar? Joiner thought. What secrets are you hiding from me?
♦
Two thousand miles away, deep beneath the mountains of Mexico, Dagmar Sørensen, the GMRC’s R&D director, stood before the elevator doors in anticipation of his guests. An unusual thrill of excitement flooded his pain-riddled body. Soon he would be able to begin the first stage of what he’d worked for so many years to achieve and Project Ares would finally soar to the heights he’d always envisaged.
He turned as one of his scientists approached. ‘I said no interruptions.’
‘Yes,’ – the man gave a nervous smile – ‘forgive me, Director, but we believe we’ve located the source of the data anomaly.’
‘And?’
‘It’s a signal, and its signature is virtually identical to readings we’ve taken from functioning Anakim technology.’ The scientist passed his superior a sheet of printed paper before continuing. ‘We were able to use satellite replacement relays to extrapolate and verify the global positioning and narrow the time of the event to a twenty-four hour window.’
‘Which was?’
‘Two months ago, at roughly the same time when the energy wave activated Sanctuary’s ceiling.’
‘And the location?’
‘It’s as we thought, the event occurred on the surface, approximately a thousand miles south east of what we believe to be Sanctuary Proper’s southernmost border.’
Dagmar wiped a handkerchief over his sweating brow. ‘And the instrumentation is functioning within parameters?’
‘We ran a full diagnostic, there can be no mistake.’
Dagmar considered the news. Functioning Anakim tech on the surface? It’s unprecedented. Well, he thought, almost unprecedented. ‘Do we know what lies a thousand miles south east?’
The scientist nodded. ‘We do, it appears to be a disused settlement, ancient by human standards. It’s a well-documented site of Mayan creation; they call it the ruins of Copán.’
‘Send a team …’ – Dagmar inhaled a rattling breath – ‘to the surface to investigate.’
‘You might want to make that three,’ the scientist said, ‘we have yet to confirm, but it looks like two more distinct signals occurred at the same time as the first.’
Dagmar grasped the scientist’s arm. ‘Two more? You’re sure?’
The man winced as his director’s fingernails bit into his flesh. ‘Quite sure. One looks to have originated in the Amazon rainforest, while another was in central China.’
A bleep from the elevator indicated someone was descending from a level above, and Dagmar released his hold. ‘Update me when our guests have left.’
The scientist bobbed his head to acknowledge the request and scuttled away just as the elevator pinged and the doors slid open.
Selene Dubois and two other, equally tall, Committee members, a man and a woman, emerged into the brightly lit, white corridor. Behind them, four S.I.L.V.E.R. assassins shadowed their masters’ movements, their chrome armour and formidable weaponry glittering under the lights.
Dagmar mustered an expected subservient bow. ‘Your bodyguards are not necessary,’ he said, indicating the four warriors. ‘This facility is entirely safe, I can assure you.’
‘Dagmar,’ Selene said in greeting as she and her two companions surveyed their new environment. ‘Considering what it is you have down here,’ – her gaze settled on him – ‘I doubt anyone of us is safe.’
‘Of course, as you wish.’ Dagmar gestured at two Special Forces commandos who guarded a nearby entrance. ‘But rest assured we have a hundred such soldiers on standby in the event of a … situation.’ He gestured down the hallway. ‘Shall we proceed with the tour?’
♦
Malcolm Joiner watched from his distant vantage point on the surface as Dagmar led Selene and her delegation down the corridor of the laboratory complex. So, he thought, it’s as Morgan said, she escaped Sanctuary using some kind of Anakim device, which also answers the question of how she broke into Sanctuary in the first place. He pondered what he’d just learnt before the group disappeared from view as they passed into another area of the facility.
‘Sir,’ Myers said, stepping closer, ‘we have to go – the summit …’
‘The summit can wait, this is too important.’ Joiner searched the other camera streams to see if he could find where Dagmar had taken them. ‘Computer,’ he said, ‘expand grid frame K five.’
The image expanded to the centre of the wall to show the delegation stopping to inspect the skeletal remains of an Anakim man.
‘Computer, re-create audio,’ Joiner said, ‘and track and record Dagmar Sørensen and his group from camera to camera, I want to see and hear everything.’
‘Certainly, Director,’ said the A.I. assistant, ‘actioning.’
♦
Dagmar waited for Selene and her associates to finish discussing the Anakim skeleton before leading them through another doorway and into an adjoining laboratory.
‘What news of the space station?’ Selene said, ‘you mentioned an issue.’
‘We lost contact for a few days,’ – Dagmar paused to cough – ‘but everything is fine now, communications have been fully restored.’
‘Have any new predictions been made?’
Dagmar saw the other two Committee members listening with interest. ‘Not as yet. The technology is complex and the images provided are jumbled and nonsensical, to our minds, anyway.’ He paused for breath. ‘When we find something new – as always – the Committee will be the first to know.’
‘And the … God Device, it continues to function as expected?’ Selene said. ‘If I remember rightly you were concerned about its long term exposure to a micro-gravity environment.’
‘Space seems to optimise its power output,’ – Dagmar guided them into another hallway – ‘the source of which we are yet to determine. The quantum realm continues to surprise in its complexity.’
♦
Back in Washington D.C., Agent Myers looked to his director. ‘I thought all the space stations were destroyed?’
‘So did I.’ Joiner grimaced. ‘Their operation is even bigger than we thought.’ He returned his attention to the wallscreen.
‘—seems to be a success,’ Selene was saying, ‘he continues — as you envisaged.’
Dagmar smiled. ‘The implant and retraining — powerful — Joiner — continue to — compliant.’
‘Computer, switch to another camera,’ Joiner said, ‘now!’
‘I’m sorry, Director, no other view is available; audio creation requires line of sight, lip-reading conversion is fifty per cent and falling … thirty per cent – ten – five – two. Conversion lost.’
Joiner swore in frustration as Dagmar and Selene moved away from the camera.
♦
‘When will you tell him about the implant?’ Dagmar said.
‘There is a strong possibility he already knows.’ Selene paused as the R&D director unlocked a set of doors. ‘Malcolm Joiner is nobody’s fool. However, whether he knows or not will not reduce our hold over him, it may even strengthen it.’
‘And the abduction?’ Dagma
r said. ‘You still haven’t found out who may have compromised him?’
Selene frowned. ‘No, but we will. There has been another incident since, at a baseball stadium. We will wait for them to overreach themselves, or until Malcolm hunts them down, and then we will erase them from existence – together.’
‘Joiner will obey your commands to a point,’ Dagmar said, ‘but he is not without autonomy; he may learn to resist in other ways. There might come a time when you have to flick the switch and activate the implant.’
‘Malcolm is one of us now, whether he likes it or not,’ Selene said, ‘and he has a part to play in what is to come, of that we know. How long that part will last remains to be seen.’
Dagmar nodded and refrained from further comment. He knew a rebuttal when he heard one.
They reached a massive pair of blast doors and a contingent of ten Terra Force soldiers standing guard before it. Dagmar approached a panel on a nearby wall and swiped his card across a reader, tapped in a code, and inserted his hand into a biometric scanner which analysed his fingerprint, heart rhythm and DNA. Overhead, a red light turned to green and a siren sounded before the blast doors inched apart.
♦
The delegation entered a new area and Joiner’s computer switched to the next available camera. A few seconds after that, the audio creation resumed.
‘What have you learned?’ Selene said to Dagmar.
‘So far? Unfortunately not a great deal, it seems to be able to avoid our attempts at investigation.’
‘It’s caged, is it not? What is the difficulty?’
‘There is a well known and bizarre process in quantum mechanics whereby a particle can pass through solid barriers. It’s called quantum tunnelling and while—’
‘Spare me the physics lesson, Director,’ Selene told him.
2041 Sanctuary (Genesis) Page 42