2041 Sanctuary (Dark Descent) (35 page)

‘I don’t know what you want, Colonel, but I assure you I’ll be lenient when charges are brought against you.’

‘Oh you will, will you? Perhaps it’ll be me that is lenient toward
you
.’

Steiner floundered for something to say.
What was the man going on about?

‘My fucking God, the great Professor Steiner, Director General for the GMRC’s most powerful division, lost for words. Let me show you something which might make you more talkative.’ Samson removed a small device from a side pocket on his utility belt and pressed it against the room’s wallscreen data pad. The flat display flickered to life and a scrambled black and white mass of pixels danced across it, accompanied by a loud hissing crackle. This same repetitive noise and picture went on for some time.

‘What are we supposed to be looking at here?’ Steiner said as Samson watched him like a bird of prey eyeing up its quarry.

Samson didn’t respond and Steiner moved his eyes back to the screen in an attempt to avoid the Colonel’s unnerving stare. Finally a picture resolved itself, a section at a time, and a garbled audio track stuttered to life. Steiner realised what Samson had brought him to watch and his heart sank, the reason for the man’s actions becoming clear. The voice emanating around his office from the speaker system, now fully recognisable, was his own. He watched in shock as the imperfect footage of himself he’d recorded months before on a computer phone in this very building played out on screen.

‘—about to tell you is well beyond top secret,’ Steiner’s slightly younger self was saying, ‘and is far above your clearance level, but given the new circumstances forced upon us by Malcolm Joiner I feel full disclosure is very necessary at this point. When the asteroid 2011 AG5 was first discovered twenty-nine years ago NASA had already begun testing a new high Earth orbit deep space detection array. This system was categorised as an unacknowledged Special Access Programme, or black project as we call them, due to its unique capabilities, which included satellite disruption technology that was to be utilised against enemies of the United States as required.

‘During its first year of full operation the array surveyed large swathes of space. In 2012 this new system revealed an extremely disturbing image. Following in the same trajectory as AG5 were six other asteroids. The first four of the six will be impacting Earth in 2042 the last—’

The picture distorted wildly and then went black, the sound also cutting out. Steiner found himself gawping at the wallscreen; he composed himself, his jaw tightening as he turned back to his tormentor. ‘How did you come by that message?’

‘You don’t deny its authenticity then?’ Samson said, now frighteningly measured, serene even. ‘Good. As to where I got it, I’ll tell you a little story.’

Wonderful
, Steiner thought, his inner voice dripping with witty sarcasm,
just what I always wanted, a tale from a psychotic Neanderthal
.

‘I’ve been wondering, as many people have,’ Samson began, ‘why the Director of Intelligence, Malcolm Joiner, buried us all down here. Why would a member of the GMRC Directorate be willing to condemn a whole base, including the Director General of its prized Subterranean Programme, to a slow and painful death?’

‘If you think I know why Joiner did what he did, you are mistaken.’ Steiner knew that he could only guess at Joiner’s duplicitous actions.

Samson’s mouth twisted into a sneer of contempt, his disbelief at Steiner’s comment complete. ‘A few months back,’ the Colonel said, resuming his tale, ‘I ran into a technician from the Signal Corps. They carry out communications development, management and—’

‘I’m well aware of the function of the army’s Signal Corps, Colonel,’ Steiner said, in no mood to be lectured by a man who effectively held him hostage.

Samson, now in his favourite position of control, didn’t become agitated by Steiner’s scathing tone; in fact what passed for a smile flitted across his craggy features, a bitter and twisted smile, perhaps, but a smile nonetheless.

‘The technician revealed to me,’ the Colonel continued, ‘he’d been trying to trace and pinpoint Joiner’s transmissions prior to him ordering our forces to take out your precious Darklight mercenaries. He believed if he could retrieve the streams from the ether it may shed some light on what had transpired and the reasoning behind it. He failed, but the idea was sound. I asked him if he’d found anything else around the same time, on other frequencies or systems. Turns out it takes time to trawl through the data and track down what could constitute something of interest. I told him I wanted him to spend as much time on it as he could and if he found anything to send it directly to me without watching or listening to whatever it was himself. If there was something important, I didn’t want an NCO finding out about it and blabbing it all round the base first.’

‘And you’re sure he did what you asked?’ Steiner said, now more concerned that this information might not be just in the hands of Samson.

‘I can be very persuasive,’ Samson replied ominously.

Of that Steiner had no doubt, and it was perhaps just as well in this instance, he concluded. ‘And there are no copies?’ he said, pressing the SFSD commander.

Samson smiled at Steiner again;
most likely happy to have me just where he wants me
, Steiner presumed with bitter remorse. He’d thought the data file he’d sent to Richard Goodwin had enough encryption to be secure; he was wrong. At least only a partial section had been retrievable, the full truth still eluded the Colonel, but Steiner knew Samson wanted the whole shebang and wouldn’t relent until he had it.

‘I wonder what would happen if your precious followers found out that six more asteroids are headed our way?’ Samson said, his calm voice belying the vicious nature of the remark. ‘Would they remain loyal to you or would they string you up from the rafters?’

‘Colonel, the information you hold is very dangerous; if there are any copies they need to be destroyed.’

Samson laughed at him. ‘Are you pleading with me, Professor?’

Steiner wanted to curse at Samson and physically wipe that filthy smirk from his cruel, spiteful face; he knew, however, Samson could squash him like a bug and to reveal his emotions to the man would only please him further and weaken Steiner’s own precarious position.
I must find out if a copy of the video has been made
, he told himself.

‘If this information got out it wouldn’t just be my neck on the line,’ Steiner said after a momentary pause, attempting to tackle the colonel by another route. ‘You think your men would believe you didn’t know either? Everyone in authority would be enemy number one.’

Samson considered Steiner in return. ‘What are the impact zone coordinates for the six asteroids?’ he asked, his intensity and anger frothing back to the surface. He walked over to the dishevelled table to pick up a glass. Looking at Steiner, he crushed the thick tumbler to dust within his metal-shrouded hand; a crude yet effective threat of violence, which Steiner had no doubt was designed to intimidate him into submission. The sad fact was, he had no other hand to play than the truth; a physical beating would be extremely unpleasant, but one he could ill afford if he was to attempt to save the lives of all those entrusted to his care. Besides, Samson knew too much and further lies would be pointless and transparent; the colonel was no fool, despite his actions intimating otherwise.

‘There’s an atlas on my bookshelf,’ Steiner said, pointing.

Samson strode to the shelving, his heavy, metal-clad boots thudding dully on the carpeted floor. He selected a large, leather bound volume, the cover whispering as he withdrew it from between its fellows, then stomped back and dumped the atlas into Steiner’s lap, making him jump slightly at the force.

Opening the cover, Steiner flicked to an illustration of the world, located within twin, intersecting ovals and spread across two adjacent pages. Angling the book towards Samson, Steiner pointed, one by one, at the locations where each asteroid would touch down.

‘Wait,’ Samson said after Steiner had touched the map near the New Mexico and Colorado border. ‘That’s right on top of us.’

Steiner looked up at Samson and gave a solemn nod.

‘When will it hit?’

‘We have eight months,’ Steiner told him, expecting the man to go ballistic, but instead Samson walked to the other side of the room, deep in concentration.

Facing the wall, the colonel put a hand to his mouth and flicked his head back as though taking a pill of some kind. ‘The size, what size is it?’ Samson asked, his voice strained.

‘Half that of AG5 itself. It will decimate the continental United States; the south eastern and central states will face annihilation.’

‘What of the others in 2042?’ Samson said, still with his back to Steiner.

Steiner looked at the door, but decided it would be futile to try and run. He looked back to see Samson had turned around, his blue eyes fixed once more on his hostage.

‘Another is a little larger and will hit in northern Africa,’ Steiner said. ‘The one making landfall near the Russian Mongolian border is twice the size of AG5 and the fourth, touching down in the Pacific Ocean, is five times as big.’

‘The other two. When and where?’

‘Both will impact in 2045. The first in the southern Atlantic, the next in the Pacific; each is much larger than AG5, and the final one may well be large enough to trigger an ignition event.’

‘Which means?’ Samson said.

‘That the detonation from the resulting strike may set in motion a chain reaction that would destroy the Earth’s atmosphere.’

‘So that’s why so many bases were made,’ Samson muttered to himself. ‘Not to protect us from AG5, but from what was to follow.’

‘Now do you see why we had to keep it a secret?’ Steiner said. ‘If people had known the truth, the construction projects would have been severely limited and delayed by mass hysteria. Dissemination of the information we had was not an option; the future of our entire race was at stake, of all life on Earth, for that matter.’

Samson didn’t appear to hear Steiner as he leaned one hand against a wall, the information apparently too much even for the hardened colonel to take in.

‘Colonel, this information must not get out. Please can you tell me if there are any copies of that recording?’

‘There are no copies,’ Samson told him, finally relenting, ‘but this one,’ he held up the small data device, ‘stays with me as collateral.’

Steiner turned as the office doors burst open and armed Darklight forces swarmed inside, the black-clad security contractors shouting at Samson to kneel down and put his hands on his head.

‘Are you okay, sir?’ one of the Darklight officers asked Steiner, as Samson held his ground, his own weapons drawn.

‘I’m fine, Captain, thank you. Tell your men to stand down.’

The Darklight man looked confused. ‘Sir?’

‘The colonel is no longer a threat, he’s free to go.’

The captain nodded and barked out orders for his team to shoulder their weapons. As they did, Samson did likewise.

Pushing his way past the similarly armoured Darklight operatives, Samson paused in front of Steiner. ‘Thank you for your cooperation, Professor,’ he said, his inflection condescending, a malicious glint in his eye. ‘I’ll look forward to working with you on the ascent to the surface.’

Steiner’s eyes narrowed in suspicion and anger at the colonel’s insincerity. Samson threw an insolent salute in the direction of the Darklight captain and walked away, passing Nathan who was making his way in.

Nathan’s expression was full of concern. ‘What’s been going on? Are you okay, Professor?’

‘Do you know how that famous saying goes regarding Houston?’

Nathan appeared uncertain. ‘The Apollo thirteen reference?’

‘Yes, that one.’

‘Why, do we have a problem?’

‘Oh yes,’ Steiner said, watching through the reception’s windows as Samson disappeared from view, ‘a big one.’

Chapter Twenty

Water cascaded over Professor Steiner’s hands, miniature rivulets tracing the lines in his cracked and weathered skin. Many of his early years had been spent working on various engineering projects, and the materials and chemicals used to perfect pioneering developments in the field had taken their toll, affecting the ability of the skin on his hands to maintain its moisture. Steiner shook the droplets free over the sink and then looked at himself in the mirror.

‘I hope you know what you’re doing,’ he said to himself; his reflection failed to supply a response.

Looking down he twisted a simple golden band around a finger on his left hand. Amelia, his wife, had died in a freak accident many years ago, back when he was still a fresh-faced lecturer at Stanford University. He still vividly remembered the day when a police officer had interrupted one of his classes. Steiner initially joked with his students, asking which of them had parked their car in the Dean’s space again. His laughter turned to confusion and then despair when he was given the news that his wife was being flown by a Lifelight helicopter to the ICU at the university’s own medical centre.

The words hadn’t made sense to him at the time, the information – illogical.

‘Amelia can’t be in Stanford,’ he assured the policeman, ‘she left the county this morning. She was driving down to Bakersfield for a conference.’ He looked at his watch. ‘She should almost be there by now.’

‘I’m sorry, sir,’ the officer replied, ‘as I said, there’s been an accident. Your wife stopped at a convenience store outside of town; a large vehicle lost control in the street and ended up smashing into the front of the building, causing the roof to collapse. Your wife was critically injured. It took some time to cut her free. She may not have long to live; she’s asking for you.’

Numb, he was led away, his trance-like state only allowing his senses to roar back to life when he caught sight of the woman he loved. Wires and machines surrounded the bed on which she lay. The emotive sound of the ventilator filled the sterile room as it helped Amelia to breathe, her chest rising and falling in time to the slow and insistent rhythmic compression of air. A heart rate monitor bleeping erratically in the background served as a relentless reminder of his wife’s tenuous hold on life. Sitting beside her, Steiner reached out and gently squeezed her hand with his own. Her face was pallid and a tube led into her nose. A large graze on one side of her face brought a tear to his eye, which he brushed away when a nurse walked in to check on her patient.