‘When those people died—’
‘On the lake?’
‘Yes, when I found out, I … it felt – it felt like I didn’t care, I felt nothing, part of me almost felt relieved, a few more people not to worry about.’ He hung his head in shame. ‘What kind of person does that make me?’
Rebecca stopped walking and pulled Goodwin to a halt. She put her hands to his face. ‘You look at me, Richard. You’re a good man, one bad thought doesn’t change who you are. A thousand bad thoughts won’t change who you are. Thoughts are just thoughts, depression, anxiety, it makes you stronger, it’s your body’s way of telling you things need to change, and if you don’t change it’ll keep telling you they need to until you do something about it.’
She drew him into a hug.
‘I’m trying to change, to find a way out.’ He buried his head in her shoulder and her soft hair covered his face. He felt like he could cry, but no tears came.
‘I might have known I’d find you with her!’
Goodwin looked up to see Kara standing nearby, her eyes full of cold fury.
Goodwin didn’t know what to say.
‘Kara,’ – Rebecca took a step forward – ‘it’s not what it looks like.’
‘I don’t care what you think, little miss perfect. But I do care when you put things in his head,’ – she turned on Goodwin – ‘and encourage him to go chasing after miracles. Jesus wept, quoting the damn Bible, for pity’s sake! Are you trying to get us all killed? Without your help we’re struggling, or hadn’t you noticed? People are dying and you two carry on like it’s a game, looking for clues, searching for God knows what, God knows where!’
Kara paused for a breath and Goodwin went to speak.
She held up a hand. ‘I don’t want to hear it. You know full well we just lost two crews on the lake, and you go and take five more out into its furthest reaches. I have people coming up to me asking what route out of Sanctuary you’ve found, and how long will it take to reach the surface. False hope, Richard, really?! I thought you were suffering from depression, but it looks like you really have lost your damn mind!’
‘Kara, he needs your help, not your anger.’
Kara glared at Rebecca. ‘I thought I told you, I don’t care what you think.’
‘But I have found a way to the surface,’ Goodwin said, ‘it’s in the lake.’
‘Just stop, stop it!’
Rebecca tugged on Goodwin’s hand. ‘Perhaps you’d better go.’
‘Perhaps you’d better both go.’ Kara stood aside.
Rebecca moved past her and Goodwin followed, before pausing to look Kara in the eye. ‘I’m doing my best, that’s all I can do.’
‘I don’t know who you are anymore.’ She turned her head away and Goodwin sighed and followed Rebecca into camp.
♦
Kara watched Goodwin go, her fury simmering above a sea of loss. A part of her felt relief at what had to come next, but another part felt a deep sense of fear and woe. She took a deep breath and pressed a button on her walkie talkie.
‘Ma’am?’
‘Put me through to the major.’
She waited before another voice responded. ‘This is Offiah.’
‘Major, it’s far worse than we thought.’
‘What’s happened?’
‘Richard has become a liability; as of this moment he’s no longer in charge of this camp.’
‘How should we proceed?’
‘As planned. Until he returns to sound mind he is a danger to himself and everyone around him.’
‘I’ll issue the arrest order.’
‘Fine, but do it with as few witnesses as possible. We don’t want to cause a scene; we need to preserve the integrity of command for the sake of the camp.’
‘Very good, I’ll see it’s done.’
‘Oh, and Major—’
‘Yes?’
‘Make sure he’s secure, and administer the drugs as discussed. We need him back to normal as soon as possible.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
Offiah hung up the com and Kara let out a sigh of her own. It was done.
Chapter Fifty Two
Richard Goodwin stared in disbelief at the three soldiers before him. ‘Under whose authority?’
‘Major Offiah, sir.’
‘There must be some mistake, let me speak to him.’
‘I’m sorry, sir, we were told to take you straight into detention.’
Goodwin found himself being relieved of his possessions and another soldier secured handcuffs to his wrists.
‘Is that necessary, soldier?’
Goodwin turned to see the form of Lieutenant Manaus approach, her amour glinting in the dim floodlights.
‘Orders are orders, Lieutenant.’
‘Where are you taking him?’
‘North side, he’s to be held along with the U.S. Army decontamination team.’
Manaus turned to Goodwin. ‘I’m sorry about this, Director. I’ll speak to the major for you and see what can be done.’
Goodwin felt disorientated and gave her a nod as he was led away.
♦
‘And you both think having him locked up is going to help this camp?’
‘You forget yourself, Lieutenant, this is a command decision.’
Dr. Kara Vandervoort held up a hand to Major Offiah. ‘No, wait, let’s hear her out.’
‘Thank you, ma’am,’ Manaus said. ‘What I’m saying is, even if Director Goodwin has taken leave of his senses, surely locking him up won’t help anyone. Or am I missing something?’
Vandervoort shifted her stance. ‘You’re quite right, spouting religious scripture and jumping to ridiculous conclusions isn’t an arrestable offence. But when that person is in charge, and is capable of making decisions that affect us all, he needs to be removed from office. If he’s left to his own devices there’s no knowing what chaos he could cause. He would still have great influence over the civilians and he won’t let go of his crusade. More lives could be lost.’
‘I still don’t like it,’ Manaus said. ‘Word will get out.’
‘And we’ll let everyone know Richard is sick and is being properly cared for. In the meantime we’ll continue as we were and wait for news from Commander Hilt.’
Lieutenant Manaus knew she could say no more without crossing the line.
‘If that’s all, Lieutenant,’ Vandervoort said, ‘we have work to do.’
Manaus bobbed her head and gave a crisp salute before leaving the command tent behind. Walking through the camp, her thoughts swirled with a myriad of concerns, while instinct screamed its warning that there would be trouble ahead.
Chapter Fifty Three
Corporal Adam Walker sat in his fabric prison, a large black tent provided and administered by the heavy hand of his jailers, Commander Hilt and his mewling pet, Major Offiah. As the ranking non-commissioned officer of his U.S. Army decontamination unit, Walker was in charge of the twenty-seven other soldiers who had also been put under house arrest at Hilt’s behest. After the hulking Darklight Commander left on his quest to hunt down the creature, Walker had hoped Offiah would see fit to release him and his men from their invisible bonds, but it seemed Walker’s deceased sergeant – Alvarez, who’d been killed by the entity – had given Offiah cause to feel only distrust and thinly veiled contempt for all those that wore the baggy green uniform of the United States Army.
Walker watched as one of the armoured Darklight mercenaries strolled past the tent, the visor of their helmet lowered and blue eyes aglow in the darkness, while their assault rifle remained in hand, at the ready.
Walker’s eye twitched. He rubbed a hand over his goatee beard and returned his attention to the newest member of their motley crew. Director Goodwin sat apart from everyone else, fiddling with his shirt sleeve while staring into space. How the leader of the camp had fallen so low as to become imprisoned by his own people, Walker couldn’t imagine, but he intended to find out. He got up, exchanged a few lig
ht-hearted insults with some of his men, and made his way over to the dishevelled form that had been deposited in their midst.
‘Director,’ he said.
‘Corporal.’
‘You look the worse for wear.’
Goodwin glanced in his direction. ‘You don’t look so hot yourself.’
Walker chuckled. ‘That’s what happens when discipline goes out the window. Most of us joined the army for a sense of control and purpose. It’s funny, I thought once I made it into USSB Sanctuary my chances of becoming some bum rotting away in a prison cell somewhere had all but gone. But here I am, locked up, rotting away in the biggest prison cell on Earth.’
Goodwin failed to respond, his expression unchanging.
Walker leant closer to him. ‘So, Director, why are you here?’
Nothing.
Walker tried a different tack. ‘Come on, sir – Richard – we’re all comrades in this tent, your secret’s safe with me, I swear it.’
‘On what?’
‘Eh?’
‘You said you’d swear it; swear on what?’
‘On my mother’s life.’
‘Not good enough.’
‘On my daughter’s life, then.’
‘Do you have one?’
Walker pointed a finger at him. ‘Aha, you’re quick. So what’s the word then?’
Goodwin remained silent.
‘You still want me to swear, eh?’ Walker scratched his head. ‘Oi, Priest!’
A balding soldier at the rear of the tent turned round.
‘Loan me your book.’
‘No chance.’
Walker grunted, got up and went over to the man’s bunk, which consisted of a rolled up decontamination suit at the end of a piece of ground that had been fashioned into a body sized dip. Walker snatched the book from under the makeshift pillow and waggled it in its owner’s direction.
‘You ruin it,’ the man said, ‘and I’ll cut your balls off and stuff ’em down your throat!’
Walker laughed before sitting down next to Goodwin again. He placed his hand on the Bible. ‘I swear whatever you tell me is in strictest confidence, so help me God.’
Goodwin’s expression changed and he snatched the book from his grasp.
Walker’s cheek trembled and his eye twitched in response; he rubbed it with the palm of his hand.
The director flicked through the book’s pages as if searching for something. ‘So you want to know why I’m here?’
Walker nodded.
Goodwin stopped reading and looked him in the eye. ‘I’m here,’ he said, keeping his voice low, ‘because I’ve found something they don’t want anyone else to know about.’
Walker frowned. ‘And what’s that?’
‘I’ll tell you if you promise to help me.’
‘Help you do what?’
Goodwin nodded to the guards outside the tent, a feverish look in his eyes. ‘Escape from them.’
Walker followed his gaze. ‘And what’s in it for me?’
Goodwin chuckled, the sound hollow and unnerving. ‘How about getting out of here?’
‘To the USSB?’
Goodwin shook his head. ‘No, better.’ He leaned toward him and whispered, ‘I’ve found a way out, a way to the surface.’
‘And why wouldn’t they want anyone else to know that?’
Goodwin dropped his voice further. ‘Because it’s the end of the world, the asteroid, the dust cloud.’ He held up the Bible. ‘The Apocalypse is nigh!’
Chapter Fifty Four
Walker eyed Goodwin with apprehension; the man looked to be out of his mind. He’d been babbling on about biblical tales, some weird sculpture they’d found in the city and a map of the lake. Leaving the director to his ramblings, he got up to see two Darklight soldiers talking outside. One of them, a female officer, handed her weapons to the other, and headed towards the tent. The soldier she’d left behind blew out his cheeks and bent his head to one side to drink in his colleague’s seductive form. Ducking inside, she removed her helmet and dark hair fell in waves down her back.
She moved toward the director, but Walker barred her way. ‘What brings you here—’ he looked down at her chest armour, ‘—Lieutenant Manaus?’
‘I’ve bought Director Goodwin some of his possessions.’
‘I’ll take them to him.’
‘I don’t think so.’
He held his ground. ‘What’s with him, anyway? He’s acting odd.’
Manaus hesitated. ‘He’s been medicated for his condition.’
‘If that’s medication I’d hate to see what he was like before.’
She peered over his shoulder. ‘And why’s that?’
‘Because he’s lost the plot, raving on about signs on the ground, angels from heaven and the end of the world.’
Manaus searched his face with her eyes. ‘And yet you believe him, don’t you?’
He laughed. ‘Don’t be stupid. Why; do you?’
‘I saw a frieze in the ground. It was … interesting.’
Walker felt his eye twitch. ‘Interesting or not, the man’s not well.’
‘Hmm, I was afraid the drugs might make him worse, but they wouldn’t listen to me.’ She handed Walker what she held, some photos and a portable computer. ‘Give him these; tell him I’ve arranged for visitors tomorrow.’ She went to leave and stopped by the tent entrance. ‘Corporal Walker, isn’t it?’
‘It is.’
‘Look after him and I’ll see about getting you some more freedom.’
His expression turned serious. ‘You have my word.’
She gave him a nod and left.
Walker looked down at the cluster of objects in his hands and then over at Goodwin. So, someone else thinks there might be something to the director’s theories. Has he really found a way to the surface? Either way, he thought, things are looking up.
♦
Goodwin woke late the next day, his mind still foggy from the drugs given to him by the Darklight medic over eighteen hours before. They said it was some kind of tranquiliser, but he felt awful, like he had the hangover from hell. Why they’d had to drug him in the first place was a mystery, he felt fine apart from his low mood, but to keep the peace with Kara he promised them he’d try his best to get better from the illness from which they believed he suffered. His reasons for this were many, but he’d come to realise if he wanted to pursue his search of the lake he would need his freedom, and that meant toeing the line.
At least I have my photos back, he thought, as he gazed at the images before him. But despite what he’d already discovered he still had the niggling feeling that he was missing something. He picked up the photo of the Anakim frieze, which contained the pentagram and the five-sided regular pentagon in its centre. He then unfurled his mobile computer’s big screen and looked at the image of the lake he’d uncovered, and the pentagon near its centre:
After an hour or three of contemplation an idea struck him.
‘Corporal?’
Walker sat by his side, engrossed in photos of the constellation carvings. He glanced up.
‘Do you have a marker pen?’
With a bob of his head, Walker scurried away and returned a moment later with a selection.
Thanking him, Goodwin uncapped one of the pens and used it as a stylus to draw on the digital image. First of all he went over the central pentagon, redefining its borders, and then he drew a series of five straight lines, using each side of the same pentagon as a starting reference. Each of these lines extended out to intersect with one of its counterparts to create a five pointed star.
Walker sat back down, intrigued. ‘What’s that?’
‘A message.’ Goodwin looked at the corporal, but his eyes were drawn to a badge on his shoulder:
He lifted his screen and took an image of it. ‘Do you remember why they call Homo giganthropsis the Anakim, Corporal?’ Goodwin manipulated the emblem’s image.
‘No,’ Walker said, watching, ‘no one ever
said. Why?’
‘It’s funny, don’t you think?’
‘What?’
‘That the emblem for USSB Sanctuary has not one, but two pentagons hidden in its design.’ Goodwin removed all the text from the emblem, the central map and the middle rings, along with the coded base identification bars located at the bottom. This left the outer circle and ten small triangles in its centre, five of them small and five slightly larger.
Goodwin then drew five straight lines, linking the five largest triangles together.
‘I see one pentagon,’ Walker said.
‘Look again; the smaller black triangles are the corners of another, only it’s upside down.’
‘Is that significant?’
Goodwin gave a shrug, but he looked at the single circle surrounding his latest image and returned to the map of the lake. Selecting another digital tool, he laid a circle over the five pointed star.
And there it was, as plain as the nose on his face: a pentagram – a pentagram which pointed the way to the shoreline, not only by the point of its star, but by the circle that intersected the land in the exact same place. It was a sign, a hidden message from the Anakim, and a way to access the secret protected by the lake that enveloped it. All he had to do now was get there.
‘What do you think?’ Goodwin said.
Walker’s eyes glittered with fervent fascination. ‘I think you’ve just made me a believer, Director.’
Chapter Fifty Five
Two days had passed since Goodwin had discovered the Anakim’s hidden message and almost ever since he’d been waiting for the opportunity to speak to the woman who currently sat on the ground opposite him. Rebecca had been allowed in as a visitor and he held her gaze, his eyes imploring her to reconsider.
‘Richard,’ she said, I’d love to help you, but I can’t.’
Goodwin held up the screen. ‘But, look!’
2041 Sanctuary (Let There Be Light) Page 34