2041 Sanctuary (Dark Descent) (45 page)

‘We are kindred spirits, you and I,’ Norroso told Steiner. ‘If I can help you, I will. Come, follow me.’

The Apache turned, his long braided hair, separated into twin tassels on either side of his head, swaying across his proud chest as he moved.

‘Stop!’ Samson’s gun surged up as the man reached out to open the doors which had swung closed.

Norroso looked back, shaking his head he moved Kuruk out of harm’s way. ‘If you mean to shoot me,
man of mist
,’ he said, holding out his arms to provide Samson with a perfect target, ‘shoot now and return me to our creator.’

‘Put your weapon down, man,’ Steiner said, his tone hushed. ‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.’

Samson lowered the rifle again, but only when Steiner moved between it and the Apache, bisecting his line of sight.

Norroso and Kuruk took this as their cue to move back outside.

‘Are you coming?’ Steiner asked the colonel.

Samson strode forward to pick up Norroso’s discarded firearm. ‘Are you buying this cryptic bullshit?’

‘We need this man’s help,’ Steiner said, keeping his voice low, ‘and if he wants to help us, I don’t particularly care what he says. Now let’s go before he changes his mind.’

Samson didn’t reply, but his silence spoke volumes as he followed Steiner out of the ramshackle building. With Norroso in the lead, the group of four moved with haste through a selection of trails that criss-crossed the hidden landscape. In less than a quarter of an hour they approached a small huddle of buildings, the windows of one brimming with a warm yellow light which flooded out onto the damp veranda that surrounded it.

Norroso mounted the steps that led up to his house.

‘Stop!’ Samson said.

‘You wanted a means to travel, did you not?’ The big Apache pointed to a row of stables across from the house. ‘I need to unlock the outbuilding over yonder, and to do that I need keys.’

‘You wait here, with me,’ the Colonel said to Norroso. ‘You,’ he gestured to Steiner, ‘go in with the boy.’

Steiner took Kuruk’s hand in his own after Norroso nodded to the lad to indicate he should go with Steiner.

‘Be quick about it,’ Samson said, before Steiner and the boy disappeared inside. ‘They’ll be here soon.’

The door closed behind the professor, Samson’s warning that the reinforcements from Fort Bliss were on their way at the forefront of his mind, the need for urgency essential.

Steiner had little time to take in the warm surroundings of Kuruk’s home as the young boy rushed to the other side of the room, picked up a set of keys and returned to Steiner to deposit them in his hand.

‘You won’t let the demon hurt my father will you, George?’ Kuruk’s eyes searched Steiner’s face for reassurance.

The question and Kuruk’s fearful expression made Steiner feel awful. ‘You have my word,’ Steiner said, while praying he could keep a rein on Samson’s actions.

Kuruk, only nine or ten years old, seemed to accept Steiner’s words and opened the door so the team of two could return outside. Steiner handed the keys to Norroso, who then led them to the end section of the building he’d previously mentioned. Putting his shoulder against the edge of the door, Norroso pushed it to one side, the thick timber panel sliding on a set of metal rails with a great screeching groan. The air that had been trapped inside wafted out, the smell of fresh manure and hay unmistakable.

Norroso, now using his son’s torch, shone a light over a thick mud splattered white sheet, which covered a bulky shape in the gloom. With a quick tug, Norroso pulled the cover free to reveal a glossy, deep red, thirty year old pick-up truck. Steiner gaped at the huge alloy wheels that sparkled in the shadows, their thick knobbly off-road tyres setting off the imposing front grille and bull bars of the AEV Dodge Ram expedition vehicle.

‘Wow,’ Steiner said in awe.

Norroso mustered a chuckle at Steiner’s surprise. ‘What did you expect, a horse?’

‘I always wanted one of these.’ Steiner stroked the pristine metal panelling with a gentle caress.

‘Does it have fuel?’ Samson asked, bypassing Steiner, opening a door and climbing into the driver’s seat.

‘It’s a hybrid. I had it converted. The rear tray acts like a tip-up truck, too, a special mechanism I added myself, and it does have gas in, yes.’

Steiner opened the passenger door and pulled himself up into the mechanical beast. Norroso put his foot onto the door sill and leaned inside to flick down the vanity mirror, dropping a set of keys into Steiner’s lap. Samson snatched them up, inserted the key into the ignition and turned her over. The engine roared into life.

‘Norroso, I don’t know how to thank you.’ Steiner closed the door and wound down the electric window.  ‘People may come and ask questions; it would be a good idea if you weren’t here when they do.’

‘May is not will,’ Norroso said, ‘but if they come we know less than nothing, only that someone stole our truck. Isn’t that so, Kuruk?’

Kuruk nodded at his father’s behest.

Samson selected first gear from the manual gearbox and instantly stalled it, giving Steiner the opportunity to get back out of the vehicle.

‘What are you doing?!’ Samson restarted the truck.

Steiner took Norroso’s hand in both his own. ‘You have trusted me so far, God only knows why. I must return the favour. In eight months’ time this whole area will be destroyed. I can’t tell you why or how, but you must take your family far away from here, the eastern states if you can. Do you understand? This place is no longer safe for you.’

Norroso looked at Steiner with sad eyes. ‘We can leave our home as much as our home can leave us.’

Steiner didn’t think the man would just up and leave his ancestors’ land on his say so; why would he? they’d only just met, after all. It hadn’t stopped him trying, though, which at least gave him some small comfort. Able to stay no longer, Steiner ruffled Kuruk’s bushy black hair and then, with a final despairing look at Norroso, got back into the pick-up. Samson gunned the accelerator and the vehicle lurched forwards, its wide tyres thrusting them out into the open air.

The main headlights ablaze, the truck soon breached the outer fence of the smallholding but rather than continue Samson hit the brakes, sending them into a four wheel skid. Stopped, Samson made to get out, but Steiner caught his arm.

‘Where are you going?’

‘They’ve seen us,’ Samson said by way of explanation.

‘So?’

‘You think Joiner won’t have his agents scour this whole area in case anyone escaped?’

‘So help me, God, Colonel, if you kill those people, I will turn you in at my first opportunity.’

Samson hesitated, Steiner’s conviction compelling him to reconsider.

Steiner’s eyes blazed with an unquenchable fire. ‘Do not doubt me, Colonel.’

Samson closed the door and pressed a button on the side of his helmet to retract the visor and face plate, his own gaze no less potent. ‘Very well, but remember this moment; you owe me now.’

With that Samson re-engaged his visor and floored the accelerator. The tail of the truck swung out as it slid from the gravel and bounced up onto a tarmac road. Now thundering along, they quickly reached an intersection. Samson slowed down as they approached and Steiner squinted out of the windscreen at the road signs ahead.

‘We need to head east to the Darklight compound,’ Steiner told him. ‘We might be able to pick up more equipment there and get some support from any soldiers manning it.’

Samson turned left onto the highway.

‘Where are you going?’ Steiner said. ‘We needed to take a right; you’re going the wrong way!’

‘Change of plan.’ Samson drove at high speed down Route 64 in the wrong direction.

‘What? What do you mean, change of plan?! There is only one plan!!’

‘There’s something else we need to do before we help the people in Steadfast.’

‘There is nothing more important than that.’ Steiner swivelled around in his seat as if he could see their intended destination retreating before his eyes through the rear window.

‘There is for me,’ Samson said, ‘and you’re going to help me do it.’

‘Like hell I will!’

‘If you don’t, the people in Steadfast are already dead. Help me and I guarantee, afterwards, I will do everything possible to get those left behind in Steadfast to safety. Besides, you owe me, unless I should go back and deal with that loose end?’ Samson slowed their travel with the brake pedal.

Steiner cursed Samson to the four winds, struggling to get his intense anger and frustration back under control. ‘What do you need me to do?’ he said at last, aware that Samson held all the cards.

Samson increased their speed again and the heavy-duty four-by-four barrelled on into the night. ‘That’s for me to know and you to find out.’

Chapter Twenty Six

‘Where are we going, Colonel?’ Steiner asked the SFSD commander in weary resignation. Samson had been driving for hours, intentionally avoiding the interstate network, citing their passage would be less conspicuous on the smaller roads.

‘Are you heading for the western coast? If you want my help, you need to tell me something.’

Samson stayed silent, as he had ever since they’d begun their impromptu journey. Reaching down to his waist, without taking his eyes off the road, the colonel popped open a pouch on his belt and withdrew something small and red, placing it in his mouth.

Steiner gritted his teeth, the Colonel’s obstinacy getting to him.
What is this madman up to?

‘Colonel, I will need your help to rescue those in Steadfast. On my own, the chances of success are greatly reduced. Whatever it is you need to accomplish, it is clearly important to you. If you tell me what your plans are I might be able to help you achieve them more quickly, which will, in turn, let us return our attention to our main mission.’

Samson glanced in Steiner’s direction, a reaction that told him the man was at least listening to what he said.

‘Give me something, damn it, man!’ Steiner raged at him, unable to keep his emotions in check any longer.

Samson looked over at Steiner again, appraising him. ‘There’s an army outpost in the city of St. George,’ he said, breaking his silence.

‘And what is it you want in St. George?’

‘Supplies.’

Steiner’s hopes rose. ‘To replace the communication systems we lost?’

‘Perhaps.’

A lorry whooshed past them in the opposite direction, its cab lit up like a Christmas tree on crack.

Steiner’s mind raced, seeking a way to phrase his questions that would elicit more than monosyllabic responses. ‘You need me to help you, don’t you? I’m a key part of whatever you’re planning to do. Don’t you think your chances of success will go up if you let me in on the details? You might as well make use of me now that you have me.’

Samson snorted in derision.

Steiner frowned. ‘What, you don’t think I can improve your chances, or I’m not necessary to achieve your goal?’

‘Pick one.’

Steiner gave up; he knew Samson wasn’t about to let him in on his little secret anytime soon.
I’ll just have to play along until I find a way not to
, he thought. At least they’d evaded the army’s forces in and around Dulce and those deployed from Fort Bliss; they were well away from that threat now. Would Joiner’s forces discover two people had escaped Steadfast and the fight on the surface? Hopefully not; he just prayed Norroso had the good sense to reconsider his warnings and leave town, or better yet, the state.

Steiner was well aware this major diversion in his plan, instigated by Samson, would severely delay his efforts in rescuing Nathan and everyone else left behind in Steadfast; but he also knew it was eight months until the next meteorite hit, time aplenty to get things back on track. The problem was, the more time he dedicated to Samson’s agenda, the greater the chances of being apprehended by Joiner’s agents, or the army acting under his control. As various scenarios unfolded in Steiner’s head the roadside scenery sped past, briefly illuminated at the extremities of the pick-up’s main beams.

Another hour faded from reality, the conversation continuing its previous incarnation of non-existence. Steiner, exhausted by recent events, felt himself dosing off, his head heavy and his eyelids drooping.

♦

Professor Steiner awoke with a start, his concept of time foggy and skewed. Rather than the brightly lit road ahead, only blackness remained. The non-existent engine noise belied the sensation that the car still moved at high speed, felt by Steiner through the seat and floorpan. Looking to his left, the faint glow from the instrument panel barely registering, the outline of the armour-clad figure of Samson still sat at the wheel. Steiner, his faculties returning, deduced the colonel had switched to the vehicle’s electrical power train and was using his helmet’s night vision capabilities to continue driving in the dark.

Steiner sat up straighter in his seat. ‘Are you expecting trouble?’

‘Checkpoints,’ Samson said.

Steiner assumed they must be approaching the city limits. As if on cue a signpost drifted by, a single light suspended over the lettering, which read:
Welcome to the City of St. George, Utah
.

‘Won’t it look suspicious if we cruise up with no lights on?’ Steiner asked.

‘I want to get the lay of the land before we enter,’ Samson said.

Wow, a whole sentence, it must be my birthday
, Steiner thought to himself, a bitter smile creeping onto his face.

In the distance a large barrier had been erected, floodlights all around, as the road they were on merged with the larger interstate converging from the right. Samson pulled the Dodge Ram over to the side of the road and onto the sparsely vegetated dry earth of the Mojave Desert, the wide off-road tyres crunching to a quiet halt. To Steiner, all was dark except for the faint light from the dashboard. In the deep shadows he could make out Samson putting his hand to his helmet, pressing a combination of buttons on its side.

A minute passed before the colonel opened the car door and got out, the vehicle’s interior light switching on and a cold breeze gusting inside as he did so. ‘Get out,’ Samson told him.