2041 Sanctuary (Dark Descent) (75 page)

The companions set off once more leaving the bemused guards behind them.

‘Nice blag,’ Sarah said to Jason once they were out of earshot.

Jason grinned. ‘I thought we were bolloxed when he took Riley’s card, silly old sod is blind as a bat.’

‘Luckily for us,’ Trish said as they worked their way down to the lower floors.

Reaching the first security door without further incident, the three friends changed into their Deep Reach coveralls and matching jackets, Trish’s and Jason’s having been obtained by Sarah two days before during her supply run at the SED. Ready to continue, Sarah swiped her card through the security mechanism. A buzzer beeped negatively and a red light appeared on the card reader. Sarah swiped it again, with the same result. She swore and tried it a third time; the buzzer sounded again accompanied by the red light.

‘Perhaps I can be of assistance.’ Jason flourished Riley’s card. ‘Abracadabra!’ He swiped the card through the slot. The door beeped and a green light appeared. ‘After you little lady,’ he said in a deep voice.

Sarah gave him a droll smile. ‘Thanks.’

Moving along they had to pass through another three card readers on their way to the lift, each one only accessible using Riley’s card; an item that had turned out to be more critical to proceedings than they’d predicted. Knowing these new security measures must have been installed as a result of her and Riley’s recent late night run-in with General Stevens’ men, real doubt crept into Sarah’s mind about their chances of success. Despite such thoughts tormenting her, Sarah continued to lead the way and, after taking a couple of wrong turns, the three friends arrived at their intended destination.

Much like the new high-clearance level locking mechanisms they’d already encountered, security surrounding the final obstacle into the SED’s little used auxiliary entrance had been substantially increased. On Sarah’s first impromptu foray into the Exploration Division the safeguards were virtually non-existent, but now another card reader and a glass door prevented access to the platform inside and, beyond this, a biometric scanner had been added, prohibiting access to the lift’s controls.

Trish eyed the obstructions. ‘I take it this lot isn’t normally here?’

Sarah’s face was grim. ‘No, they’re new.’

‘Looks like you really pissed them off this time,’ Jason said.

‘They ain’t seen nothin’ yet.’ Sarah motioned for him to use Riley’s card once more.

Jason swiped and the lock bleeped, the transparent barrier swishing aside with a pneumatic hiss. Moving inside, Sarah sent a silent prayer heavenward before placing her forehead against the retinal scanner. A green laser shone across her eye. A palm reader then flipped down. She placed her hand on it and a blue grid lit up beneath. Two perpendicular bright blue lines moved in from the edges, bisecting one another in the centre to form a grid which spiralled out to fill the translucent panel.

‘Thank you,’ a computer generated voice said. ‘Please speak your name and clearance level into the microphone.’

Sarah looked at Jason and Trish before leaning forwards. ‘Sarah Morgan, clearance level, seven delta.’

‘Thank you, Sarah Morgan. Biometrics identified. Your log-in has been confirmed and recorded. SED access – granted.’

‘Sweet,’ Jason said, as Sarah breathed a sigh of relief.

The controls to the platform now unlocked, Sarah sent them downwards with the press of a button. The lift rapidly descended and they soon reached the bottom, stepping out into the old brick tunnel. The strip lighting running along the passageway’s ceiling disappeared around a shallow bend some distance ahead. Sarah pressed on until they reached the same old rusty, iron door she’d encountered on her first incursion beneath Sanctuary’s museum. Inching it open, she peered through. Nothing stirred. The Exploration Division’s hallways and rooms, visible from her position, were devoid of any activity.

‘Right,’ Sarah said, ‘we walk like we belong, but we move quickly, okay?’

Trish and Jason nodded, their expressions tense.

Opening the door wide, Sarah moved through into the giant circular atrium that encompassed the massive steel and glass building. Striding forwards, Trish and Jason at her side, a movement off to the right alerted her to the presence of a couple of armed soldiers. She watched out of the corner of her eye as the two men wandered off in the opposite direction. They hadn’t been seen. Stepping into the SED. Sarah reminded herself to breathe again now that the danger had passed. Their luck was holding,
but for how long?
she wondered.

Striding along the darkened halls, in the small hours of the morning, Sarah decided to show Trish and Jason the shuttle bay first.

‘Wow.’ Jason peered down into the two hundred foot wide, oval shaft; the dark pit, like the gaping maw of a titanic slumbering beast, seeming to consume the eight air-shuttle tracks that descended into it. ‘How far down does it go?’

‘A long way,’ she said, before showing them the air-shuttle garages positioned further back around the edge, one of which housed the vehicle they planned to take.

‘There’s a track connecting all of them together.’ Trish pointed out the shiny rails running around the ceiling of the bottom level of the shuttle bay. ‘The manual indicates that any shuttle can be moved around this and mounted onto one of the eight outgoing rail-sets.’

‘I’ll take your word for it,’ Sarah said and then led them back up the stairs and through a series of corridors, bringing them to the Deep Reach Alpha Six kit room. Knowing speed was of the essence, Sarah selected the climbing equipment they would need and flung it, piece by piece, onto a growing pile in the centre of the room.

Jason massaged a shoulder. ‘That’s a lot of gear.’

‘We can sort it all out later.’ Sarah checked the time on the phone attached to her wrist. ‘Just stuff it in those backpacks, we need to hurry we’re behind schedule.’

‘And whose fault is that?’ Trish said, as they each rammed the kit into the three bags.

‘Sarah’s.’ Jason nudged into her.

‘Yes, mine.’ Sarah shoved him back.

Jason grinned at her, the look easing her anxiety levels a little.

After they’d finished that task Sarah helped each of them into their multipurpose harness. Putting on her own, Trish and Jason helping to do up the rear clasps, Sarah then led them to the so-called
departure lounge
to collect their helmets. Most of the racks were full, intimating that only a few teams still roamed outside of the USSB.

Sarah collected her own helmet, hanging it on her backpack while Trish and Jason started selecting helmets at random to test their fit. After a few minutes they’d both acquired suitable headwear and Sarah took them to the Command Centre which overlooked the shuttle bay.

‘We need to keep really quiet now,’ she said, before entering the tiered Control Station within the Command Centre, ‘don’t forget there’s a nightshift sleeping in the back room.’

Jason looked horrified. ‘What?! You never mentioned that before.’

‘She did,’ Trish said, ‘you just weren’t listening, as usual.’

‘What if an emergency shuttle comes in?’ Jason asked.

Trish jabbed him in the arm. ‘We leg it, you Muppet.’

Jason made a face at her and Sarah opened the door and went inside. Putting her bulging backpack down, she motioned for Trish and Jason to stay where they were. Sarah approached the door at the back of the room, locking it as she’d seen the soldiers do only two nights previously. Returning to her friends she noticed Trish looking at the control console with apprehension, the bewildering array of dials, screens and switches enough to daunt anyone.

Trish shot her a look of deep scepticism. ‘This looks more complicated than I thought it would.’

‘You’ll be able to figure it out though, yeah?’ Sarah asked, keeping her voice low.

‘Sure she will,’ Jason said, ‘she’s the cleverest one here, she’ll sort it.’

‘You can do this,’ Sarah told her, ‘I know you can.’

Trish nodded uncertainly. ‘I’ll give it my best shot.’

‘She’ll do fine,’ Jason said.

Sarah glanced through the window at the oval metal floor below, the giant retractable cover currently sheltering the equally large shaft beneath. ‘Will we need to open the shuttle bay floor? If we do you’ll need to disable the sirens and flashing lights or we’ll have the whole damn army down on us in a matter of minutes.’

‘According to the manual,’ Trish said, ‘and from what I saw downstairs, it seems the shuttles can be launched from the top or bottom floor, as the tracks can be moved as required. I’m not sure why they need both options, but when it comes to launching a shuttle from the lower floor, where you said you were launched from on your Deep Reach mission, retracting the metal floor is still essential otherwise the shuttles are unable to clear it as they rotate on the track prior to the drop.’

‘Shouldn’t you know this?’ Jason asked Sarah.

‘You’d think, but I only rode it once. Anyway, just make sure you keep the sirens off, okay?’

Trish gave a thumbs up. ‘Will do.’

‘When you’ve chosen the air-shuttle, you’ll need to stow our bags in the rear compartment,’ Sarah told them, ‘but keep your helmets up here. When I get back from the vaults we need to be ready to go.’

‘I can’t believe we’re going through with this,’ Trish said.

‘Just stick to what we planned and we’ll be fine.’ Sarah slid her own Deep Reach helmet over her head.

‘How long do you think you’ll be?’ Jason asked as she adjusted the headgear.

‘Hard to tell, hopefully, no longer than a couple of hours.’

‘It can’t be much longer than that,’ he said, ‘otherwise we’ll have the early starters coming into work.’

Sarah nodded.

‘Good luck.’ Trish gave her a hug.

‘You too.’ She embraced Jason in turn, before moving away.

‘Wait!’ Jason said in a hushed voice.

Sarah looked back to see him holding out Riley’s card. She smiled in self-mockery and accepted the card from him. ‘Be safe,’ she whispered and with a farewell wave she was gone.

Chapter Fifty Three

With the urgency of their situation driving her on, Sarah ran back through the SED, slowing as she neared the atrium. Keeping the noise of her passage to a minimum, she surveyed the area looking for signs of any military patrols. All was quiet. Quelling an inner voice that screamed at her to run, Sarah strode across the empty expanse towards the old iron door and the brick tunnel beyond. Expecting a soldier to call out to her at any moment, Sarah felt the pressure of paranoia release as she left the atrium behind, the threat of vigilant eyes temporarily averted.

Running once more she soon reached the lift, which she activated to return to the lower levels of the Smithsonian above. After a single wrong turn, Sarah found herself back in the public area of the museum. She looked at her phone; fourteen minutes had already passed since she’d left Trish and Jason. She needed to move more quickly. Recalling the route Riley had led her along the previous night, she located the entrance and went through. Utilising Riley’s multifunction card, Sarah unlocked door after door, struggling with the cumbersome hatch-like wheel mechanisms as she passed through; making sure to leave the ponderous obstacles ajar in anticipation of a quick return. She just hoped Riley’s ex-girlfriend, perfect Petra, who looked after the vaults, wasn’t pulling a late shift. Even the thought of the woman made Sarah’s blood boil.

Building up a sweat, Sarah arrived at the chamber containing the vaults, her progress so far going unnoticed; at least that’s what she hoped, anyway. Unlike her previous visit the whole area stood shrouded in darkness, the only source of illumination coming from a limited number of small lights periodically positioned along the surrounding walkways. Thankful she’d decided to wear her Deep Reach helmet, she lowered the visor with a push of a button. The digital head-up-display powered up, casting a faint glow over her face. Switching to a spectral field suitable for the conditions, her surroundings became crystal clear.

The bridge spanning the gap to the Smithsonian’s vaults remained in its horizontal position. Relieved to see it so, Sarah padded across it before descending the staircase at the end. She was now faced with the imposing round grey vaults, their doors presenting a united front in silent tribute. As she moved towards vault number eleven lights blinked on, making her freeze in place. Raising her visor, eyes wide, she looked around.
It’s just a light triggered by movement
, she told herself,
get a grip!

After swiping Riley’s card over the security pad, Sarah dialled in the code she’d committed to memory, paused, and then hit the Enter button. A series of mechanical noises, sounding much louder than she’d remembered, echoed out into the chamber, the massive vault door opening on command. As before, Sarah submitted herself to the decontamination procedure and then entered the interior of the vault. Once inside, Sarah felt a rush of excitement at being alone in such a secure and restricted place. Suppressing the unsolicited feeling she moved to the room immediately to her right and pulled, and then pushed, at the door. It was locked. She switched her attention to the control device attached to the room’s frosted panel exterior. Struggling with the system she turned the glass transparent by mistake, and the Ageless King of the Anakim appeared on his throne. Partially distracted by the mummy’s splendour, she stumbled upon the menu sequence to override the door’s locking mechanism.

Grasping the chrome handle, she pushed the door open, a resulting expulsion of air and a suction induced hiss indicating she’d broken some kind of gaseous seal. Stepping inside, an overpowering smell of chemicals swamped her senses. Coughing and covering her mouth and nose with a hand, Sarah retreated. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, she pressed a few buttons on the side of her helmet and deployed her visor and breathing apparatus, the two coming together to seal her face inside, her Deep Reach headwear once again serving her well.

She went back in and walked past the form of the giant king. His scale made her feel small – inconsequential – and the dark cavities where his eyes had been seemed to watch her from beyond the veil.