2041 Sanctuary (Dark Descent) (54 page)

The lieutenant returned with the commander’s armour. Hilt inspected the black hardened panels before, piece by piece, clipping them to his body with clinical precision.

‘Major,’ Hilt said, attaching his formidable chest-plate.

‘Sir?’

‘I want every available man and woman with a torch assembled in this camp a-sap. Recall all the reconnaissance teams from the tunnels. I want this girl found and I want her found now.’

‘Yes, sir.’ The Major scurried from the enclosure, his superior’s words motivating him like no other.

The Darklight leader secured the final section of his armour, completing the process of encasing himself in the impenetrable black shell, the white Darklight insignia and his name and rank on the chest and shoulders. He then placed the substantial helmet down on the central table, ready to be worn at a moment’s notice. Next to this he laid his large assault rifle. Finally, the knife he’d been using as a paperweight was returned to its home; a sheath built into the armour on one side of his chest-plate.

‘Sir,’ Hilt said to Goodwin, ‘when everyone is ready I’ll need you to coordinate our civilian response with my men. No one goes out alone and no one goes without an armed escort.’

Goodwin nodded, his thoughts racing, the turn of events taking on a life of their own. ‘Commander,’ Goodwin said, bringing Hilt’s attention back to him. ‘If you think the sensors going down aren’t a coincidence, what about the light on the tower? The two events coincided just as closely, don’t you think?’

The Darklight leader gestured for Goodwin to follow him out of the tent and they stopped once they were out of earshot. ‘The thought had crossed my mind.’ Hilt’s brows furrowed in an uncommon display of emotion.

‘There’s something else, isn’t there?’ Goodwin said, perceiving the Commander’s continued unease.

Hilt nodded, moving yet further away from the command tent. ‘This –
incident
– has also occurred in close proximity to the light at the lake and the relocation of my patrols from around this camp. If that hadn’t happened, there would have been no way anything could have taken Susan the way it, or they, did.’

Goodwin didn’t like the implications of what Hilt was saying and it must have shown as Hilt’s expression grew graver still.

‘You think the U.S. Army footprints were simulated somehow?’ Goodwin said.

‘We can’t rule out anything at this point. As crazy as it sounds, we could be dealing with something beyond our comprehension. From what I’ve gleaned from Alvarez and his men, they class Sanctuary Proper – as they call it – as a highly dangerous environment, full of ancient technology and materials that can prove extremely hazardous to human health.’

‘I thought Alvarez wasn’t so forthcoming with his information?’ Goodwin said.

‘No, you’re right. He only released his knowledge sparingly, but when he did it was with a care that seemed rehearsed. That’s why I had his tent bugged as soon as they were released from custody.’

Goodwin whistled in appreciation. ‘The sergeant would’ve gone berserk if he’d known.’

‘He was paranoid enough to keep talk within the camp to a minimum,’ Hilt said. ‘On the odd occasion he, or one of his men, slipped up, we were listening. We never got much, just titbits here and there.’

‘If the footprints were a diversion—’ Goodwin left his sentence hanging.

‘Then,’ Hilt continued, ‘it would mean whatever we’re dealing with is capable of differentiating between two military units to the finest detail. It also knows exactly how to manipulate us into an appropriate response. Which is unsettling, to say the least.’

Goodwin thought for a moment. ‘Another possibility is that the light at the lake is an untimely, unconnected event. Alvarez is still out there somewhere; he might have had a hand to play with the light on the tower and even the footprints at the lake.’

‘Whatever is the case, our hand has been forced.’ Hilt paused before continuing. ‘I’m sorry, sir, it appears I’ve failed you. It won’t happen again.’

‘Nonsense, Commander. You’ve failed no one. Under the circumstances you’ve been exemplary in every department. If anyone is to blame, it’s me.’

‘Thank you, sir, but on this, we’ll have to agree to disagree.’

A soldier ducked his head outside the tent. ‘Sir, you’re needed.’

‘Go to work, Commander,’ Goodwin said. ‘Find her, find Susan.’

Hilt nodded once, his expression set as hard as stone. His director had commanded and he obeyed.

Chapter Thirty Two

Forty-eight hours had passed since the mentally handicapped woman, Susan, had gone missing. Neither Hilt nor Goodwin had slept much during that time, tirelessly working round the clock to make use of their resources as best they could. The twenty-five thousand strong civilian contingent had been separated into five hundred groups, each fifty people strong. These civilian teams were each assigned five Darklight soldiers, and even now they combed the vast area around the camp and beyond, searching for any sign of Susan. Floodlights near the centre of camp were moved further out into the darkness, acting as points of reference for the team leaders as they guided their people to the zones allotted by those back at base.

Further afield, the remaining available Darklight reconnaissance units delved deeper into the city and surrounding areas, scouring every inch of land, their specialised equipment making steady work of what would otherwise be a near impossible task.

‘This is pointless!’ Goodwin threw a map to the ground and stalked away to the entrance of the command tent. Standing there, staring out into the dark, his thoughts as ever dwelling on Susan, Goodwin felt a small hand slip around his waist.

‘We’ll find her.’ Kara moved in front of him to take his chin in her other hand. ‘We just have to keep going, keep searching.’

‘This place is too big,’ Goodwin said, her words, while appreciated, not helping to relieve his growing despair at their lack of progress. ‘We’ve been here for months on end, every day we’ve found new structures, new tunnels, new cave systems. How can we expect to find one small woman in a place this big, this dark? It’s a damn labyrinth!’

Kara didn’t reply, perhaps fearing – as he did – that the longer Susan was missing the more likely it was, if they did find her, they would be recovering a body. 

Goodwin sighed; he unhooked himself from Kara’s embrace and returned to pick up the discarded map, dusting it off before replacing it back on the table. Smoothing it out with both hands, he looked up at the three lieutenants tasked with helping him coordinate the search. ‘So Hilt’s team has already covered this quadrant?’ Goodwin pointed at an area within the city.

‘Yes, sir, but—’

The soldier was cut off as the main radio crackled to life, announcing an incoming communication from one of the search teams.

‘Civilian team, Lambda Eight, reporting,’ the voice said, sounding excited, ‘we’ve found something; we think it’s part of a bracelet!’

Goodwin, his hopes lifting, snatched up the handset. ‘What does it look like?’

‘It’s broken.’ The reply came back after a short pause, testing Goodwin’s patience to the limit. ‘But it has a few stones and shells left on it, the stones glow bright blue in the dark.’

‘That’s it!’ Goodwin smacked the table. ‘That’s Susan’s bracelet!’

‘Where are Lambda Eight on the map?’ Kara asked one of the soldiers.

‘There ma’am.’ The woman placed her finger in a sector to the south-west of the city.

Goodwin’s attention homed in on the area in question. ‘We don’t want to pull everyone into the area.’ He rubbed the back of his neck, deep in concentration. ‘She may no longer be there, or it could be a trick of some kind.’

Kara gave him a look. ‘A trick, you think whatever took her is that intelligent?’

Goodwin scanned the map, deliberating as to which teams to move. ‘Yes,’ he said absently, ‘possibly.’

Just then another incoming transmission interrupted his thought process. ‘This is Hil—’ a voice said, before breaking up.

One of the soldiers adjusted the system’s frequency and Goodwin picked up the radio. ‘Say again, is that you, Commander?’

‘This is Hilt.’ The message was repeated, much clearer this time. ‘Do you copy?’

‘Five by five, Commander,’ Goodwin said. ‘Go ahead.’

‘I heard the previous transmission. I’m repositioning to their location.’

‘Copy that, Commander, keep me updated.’

‘Will do, sir. Hilt, out.’

♦

Another day of searching came and went and the Darklight leader returned to camp, bringing with him the remains of Susan’s bracelet but no further news. Goodwin glanced over at the piece of handmade jewellery on the side of the desk at which he worked and couldn’t help but remember the sweet, vulnerable and unassuming woman that had made it. The other in the matching pair, even now, encircled his wrist, a constant reminder of the loss and guilt that he felt over her disturbing abduction.

Despite the initial breakthrough there seemed to be no accompanying trail which they could follow. A large proportion of the search parties had been reassigned to the area surrounding where the bracelet had been found but, as yet, nothing even resembling a lead had surfaced.

It was mid-afternoon when an unexpected visitor, Corporal Walker from the decontamination team, was escorted to the command tent, requesting an audience with Hilt and Goodwin.

‘You wanted to speak to us, Corporal?’ Hilt said.

‘Yes, Commander.’ Walker looked from Hilt to Goodwin and back. ‘It’s a matter of some importance.’

Walker, Sergeant Alvarez’s second in command, was now in temporary charge of the small unit of U.S. Army troops still held under guard in the camp. The corporal was slim and of average height, with cropped dark hair and a goatee beard. He wore the baggy green uniform worn by U.S. soldiers the world over and had developed a slight facial tic since Goodwin had last seen him; he wondered if it was perhaps precipitated by the stress of detainment.

‘Well, Corporal?’ Goodwin said, when Walker failed to speak.

Walker eyed the other people in the room; a few civilians, but mostly Darklight troops, populated the desk where the search for Susan was being co-ordinated. ‘May we talk in private?’

‘Negative,’ Hilt said, in no mood for having his time wasted, a stance Goodwin himself held to.

‘Out with it, man,’ Goodwin said, as Walker continued to procrastinate.

‘Right.’ Walker’s cheek and eye twitched in tandem. ‘Since Sergeant Alvarez left—’

‘Absconded,’ Goodwin corrected him, noticing as he did so that Major Offiah watched Walker from across the room.

‘Yes,’ Walker continued, ‘since the sergeant
absconded
and the disabled woman went missing, I feel it’s time to come clean on a few things.’

Goodwin gestured to him. ‘Go on.’

‘Alvarez – the sergeant,’ Walker said, ‘he’d always been on the decontamination teams in Sanctuary, as have the rest of the unit you have under guard. I’ve been at the USSB longer than everyone else, though – three years longer, to be precise – and I wasn’t on a decon team during that time, but a different regiment that worked in and around the military laboratories along with a civilian outfit called the SED.’

‘SED?’ Hilt repeated, unimpressed by what he’d heard so far.

‘Sanctuary Exploration Division,’ Walker told him. ‘They go out into Sanctuary Proper, where we are now, and photograph and dig up ancient sites built by the Anakim. It’s a highly secretive outfit as they get to go where others don’t, far outside the USSB.’

‘And you keep this information to yourself?’ Goodwin wasn’t sure where this was leading.

‘It’s more than my job’s worth to blab about it,’ Walker said. ‘But the fact is when I worked there, while I never got to see anything very interesting, I did hear things.’

Goodwin frowned. ‘Such as?’

‘Such as, years back, the elite Deep Reach survey teams from the SED used to explore to the east of the USSB; that was, until a whole unit, along with Terra Force support, went missing and the eastern programme was shelved – permanently.’

‘We’re east of the USSB, aren’t we?’ Goodwin said.

Walker gave a solemn nod.

‘What happened to this
Deep Reach
team?’ Hilt asked him.

‘Officially? They were deemed the victims of an earthquake, and the whole region was declared unsafe for human habitation or exploration.’

‘Unofficially?’ Goodwin said.

‘Word has it they encountered something, something that left more of a trace than the official documents let on.’

Realisation suddenly dawned on Goodwin. ‘Something, you mean the light, don’t you? You knew and you didn’t tell us?’ Goodwin was enraged by the man’s deceit. ‘Do you know what you’ve done?!’

Hilt held him back as Walker quailed at his fury.

‘How many men were in this Deep Reach team?’ Hilt said, his tone urgent.

Walker stared at Goodwin, who still seethed with anger.

‘I said!’ Hilt roared, grabbing Walker around the throat, lifting him off his feet and slamming him into the rock wall, ‘how many men?!’

‘For—’ Walker gasped, unable to speak as Hilt’s giant hand throttled him.

‘Sir!’ Major Offiah tried to pull Hilt away from a rapidly reddening Walker.

‘How many, Corporal?’ Hilt repeated, shooting a look at his Major that made Goodwin fear for the man’s life.

Offiah held his hands up and backed away, Hilt’s wrath seemingly indiscriminate. 

‘Forty,’ Walker croaked, as he tried in vain to free Hilt’s mighty grip.

Hilt released his hand sending the corporal falling to the floor. ‘Call back all civilian search teams,’ Hilt said to one of the coms operators, who looked as frightened of Hilt as Corporal Walker did. ‘NOW!’

The soldier got onto the radio, his training kicking into gear.

Walker looked to Goodwin as he stood back up. ‘I swear we didn’t create those boot prints at the lake. I’ve never heard of any USSB units going through water-filled tunnels, either.’

Goodwin’s contempt for the man vied with the anger he felt towards him. ‘You admit you don’t know everything, though.’