2041 Sanctuary (Genesis) (51 page)

Trish nodded. ‘You could spend your entire life documenting the site and not even scratch the surface.’

‘
Could have
,’ Jason said. ‘There’s nothing left of it now.’

As the conversation continued, Sarah found herself listening with greater interest, the subject of archaeology pulling her in despite her desire to do otherwise.

‘We never did find out what it was all for,’ Jason said, ‘the device, the power it unleashed. What did it do? Where did it go?’

‘We’ve gone over this before,’ Trish said, ‘there’s no point going on about it again; we need to accept that we’ll never know.’

Sarah looked at the scars on the palms of her hands. ‘Sometimes I wonder if it ever happened.’

Trish looked at her in surprise, perhaps wondering why she’d decided to comment for the first time since they’d returned to the surface. Truth was, Sarah didn’t know either.

‘But it did happen, though, didn’t it?’ Jason said.

Trish waited for Sarah to continue, but when she didn’t she gave a shudder. ‘I still have nightmares about those creatures.’

‘You didn’t see it when it was right over you,’ Jason said. ‘I nearly crapped myself. Sometimes I wake up and think it’s in the room with me. I never really knew what it meant when people said they had night terrors. Now I do.’

‘I saw something,’ Sarah said, ‘when I was there.’

Trish lent forward when she failed to elaborate. ‘Something?’

Sarah stroked the top of her thigh, unconsciously comforting herself as she tried to tread between the fine lines of subjects she wished to avoid. ‘It was like a window into somewhere else.’ She looked up at them with haunted eyes. ‘Didn’t you see it?’

Trish shook her head.

‘Somewhere else?’ Jason said. ‘What, like a projection of the past?’

Sarah struggled to recall what she’d seen. A memory of fire made her wince and she squeezed her leg in anguish.

‘Perhaps we should talk about this another time,’ Trish said, concerned.

‘No, not a projection,’ Sarah said, feeling compelled to continue, ‘it was real; I could see it, beneath the spinning pentagram, like a—’ She stopped, knowing how it would sound if she said it.

Trish reached out to her. ‘Go on.’

‘It was like a portal … to another world.’

Jason looked doubtful. ‘I saw the pentagram, but I didn’t see anything like a portal.’ He turned to Trish. ‘What about you?’

‘No, but then we didn’t have that black slime all over us. Goodwin said it was hallucinogenic, or a neurotoxin, and the hospital said you had high toxicity levels, they thought you’d been poisoned.’

Jason snorted. ‘Which is why they didn’t trust us, they probably thought we did it.’

‘I did see things,’ Sarah said, recalling the horrific images and sounds she’d experienced as she’d worked her way towards the altar. She shut her eyes to dispel the fear that remained trapped inside. ‘But this was different,’ – she opened her eyes again – ‘more real.’

‘I did wonder where we’d end up after we transported,’ Jason said. ‘For all we knew we could have landed on another planet.’

Trish laughed.

‘What?’ Jason said, aggrieved. ‘We could have.’

‘You’ll be saying we’re in a parallel dimension next.’

Jason grumbled something that sounded like, ‘
We might be.
’

‘Whatever it was,’ Trish said, looking back at Sarah, ‘real or not, it doesn’t matter now.’

‘It does if she tries to go through any checkpoints,’ Jason said, trying to redeem himself.

Trish folded her arms. ‘How so?’

‘Metal detectors; with that thing in her chest they’ll go haywire.’ He looked at Sarah. ‘They’ll probably think you’re carrying a bomb or something.’

Sarah’s hand went to her chest.

‘Even if they did,’ Trish said, ‘there’s nothing we can do about that, either.’

‘What happened to the smaller pendant?’ Jason said. ‘Is that in there as well? The surgeon didn’t mention it.’

‘I guess so,’ Sarah said, not wanting to discuss it any further.

Trish gave him a look of reproach.

He touched Sarah’s arm. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to … you know.’

She gave him a tired smile and got up to retire to the living room of the two storey luxury cabin. As she sat in silence, the cat she’d befriended came up to sit on her lap while Trish and Jason continued to talk in low tones in the next room.

It was some time later, after Sarah had fallen asleep, that the sound of a TV broadcast woke her from a forgotten dream.

The cat no longer occupied her lap and Trish and Jason sat on the sofa to her right, watching the large display that had been built into the fabric of the wooden wall. She noticed her two friends held hands. Whether the action was romantic or out of an unconscious need for human contact, she didn’t know, but regardless of the intent, it was heartwarming to see.

Trish noticed she was awake and withdrew her hand from Jason’s as if embarrassed, or like she’d been caught committing a deadly sin.

Jason, feeling the movement, looked at Trish and then at Sarah. ‘Have you seen this?’ he said, gesturing to the screen. ‘This could work in our favour.’

Sarah focused on the image. It was the BBC’s worldwide news service, which was unusual as normally they only received local stations.

The news anchor was prattling on and it took a moment for Sarah to understand what she was saying. ‘Is this true?’ she said, looking at her friends.

‘Looks that way,’ Jason said. ‘They say he won it some months back in a landslide. An independent, can you imagine?’

Trish sat up straighter, excited. ‘The good news is, he wants to oust the GMRC, and not just their protocols, he wants to stop their operations in the whole of the United States, and not just there, he wants its allies to follow suit. Which means—’

‘The UK too,’ Sarah said.

Jason grinned. ‘Give it six months and we could be going home.’

Sarah stared at the newsfeed and the image of the next President of the United States. ‘John Harrison Henry,’ she murmured.
Could he be our ticket to a new life?
She wondered.
Will he live up to his claims?
Who knew, he was after all, still a politician and if the past forty years were anything to go by, the leaders of the world’s supposed greatest democracies said one thing and then did the total opposite.
No one wonder people become disaffected
,
she thought.
But perhaps this man is the start of a new beginning, someone to stand up to the banks, corporations and elites that serve themselves over the people.
Sarah shifted in her seat.
Or will he turn out like all the rest? Kept in line by the hidden powers that remain regardless of who enters office.
Her gut instinct favoured the latter, but like all things, only time would tell. It changed things though, that much she knew; it gave some semblance of hope in an otherwise bleak future, even if that hope wasn’t her own. She looked at her friends, who eyed her with wary optimism.

‘We’re going into town tomorrow to get supplies,’ Trish said. ‘Do you want to come?’

Sarah thought about it. With the road network in a state of disrepair, the nearest town worthy of the name was a long way away. ‘Isn’t the GMRC curfew still in effect?’

Trish nodded. ‘We’ll stay overnight and come back the following day.’

‘What time are you leaving?’

‘Early, ’bout six.’

Sarah made a face.

Trish laughed. ‘I didn’t think you would.’

‘Do you want us to get you anything?’ Jason said.

‘Chocolate bars, cakes, maybe.’ Sarah paused to think. ‘Anything sweet.’

He nodded and went back to watching the TV.

Sarah continued to listen for a while as the different reports from around the world came and went before she got up and moved to the balcony. The net curtains rustled in the light breeze as she parted them to walk out into the open air. She looked down at the steep drop over which the cabin had been built. The elevation ensured the tops of the nearest trees were just below her, offering a clear view of the wisps of cloud that hung suspended over the rejuvenated forest which spread out for as far as the eye could see. She breathed deeply, sucking in the fresh air and soaking up the rays of the sun, which already drifted towards the horizon and a distant mountain beyond.

Sarah stayed leaning on the balcony’s rail as the sun dipped lower in the sky, her mind drifting without direction.

A noise from behind made her glance round to see Jason and Trish coming to join her.

‘The days are drawing in,’ Trish said, as she came to stand next to her.

Jason moved to Sarah’s other side and leaned on the balcony rail in similar fashion. ‘At least we have days again. This time last year this would have been pitch-black.’

‘I still have trouble getting over how everything’s grown again,’ Trish said. ‘It’s amazing, don’t you think?’

Sarah nodded and Jason grunted his agreement as they each enjoyed the beautiful vision that surrounded them. More moments of silence passed. Day turned to dusk and the sun set over the majestic vista, sending beams of light cascading through the trees and casting fascinating shadows through the slow, spiralling mists. A single bird repeated its distant call while the sound of insects increased as nocturnal life replaced its diurnal kin.

‘We are going to have to make a decision soon,’ Trish said, breaking the spell, ‘about what we do next.’

Sarah could see her friends looking at her and knew they wanted to know if her convictions remained. And from their earnest expressions she knew she would have to say something sooner rather than later or her pain would spread to them, and that was something she couldn’t abide.
Why should they suffer because of me, after all I’ve put them through already?
She stood up straight.
At least the future isn’t the past
, she thought and expelled a deep breath. ‘I still want to find out,’ she said, ‘once and for all.’

‘About your mother?’ Jason said.

Sarah nodded. ‘I need to know … if it was my fault. I can’t move on with my life until I do.’

‘And that means finding out who set the fire,’ Trish said.

‘The military had my map in Sanctuary’s vaults,’ Sarah said, her voice quiet but determined, ‘which means it was taken before the fire was lit.’

‘If it was the U.S. government,’ Jason said, ‘then you may never find out.’

‘Then I’ll never find peace.’

‘If we couldn’t find out while we were in Sanctuary,’ Trish said, ‘what chance do we have now?’

Sarah didn’t want to think about it, but Trish was right, regardless. Her best chance of finding out the truth had disappeared as soon as she’d left the underground base.
It’s strange
, she thought,
things are so much clearer in the light of day
. The dark, she realised, much like secrecy, always had the ability to affect judgement.

‘What about Homo gigantis – the Anakim – and Sanctuary itself?’ Jason said. ‘Do you still want to expose it all?’

‘The world has a right to know.’ She looked at them. ‘Doesn’t it?’

Trish gave a nod.

‘I would say so,’ Jason said.

‘And there’s no way we could go back to the way we were before,’ Sarah said, ‘and pretend like nothing happened.’

Jason shook his head.

‘Not a chance,’ Trish said.

‘Then that means only one thing, we gather our evidence and when we have enough, we go public.’

Jason didn’t look convinced. ‘That could take years.’

‘Not necessarily. We have the parchments,’ – Sarah steeled herself and touched her chest – ‘and we still have the pendant; we just need to find some more bones.’

‘That’s a big
just
,’ Jason said.

‘Is it? We found them before and I know a place that is still ripe for potential burial sites.’

Trish’s expression turned confused. ‘You do?’

‘The Cradle of Humanity,’ Jason said, ‘of course!’

‘But the meteorite,’ Trish said, ‘South Africa was obliterated.’

‘The surface was,’ Jason said, looking to Sarah for confirmation, ‘not underground. There may have been quakes, but something will remain and we know exactly where to look.’

They all fell silent as they contemplated what they would need to do to bring about their goal.

‘It’s a big decision, though,’ Sarah said, ‘life changing, and considering what I’ve put you both through, I wouldn’t blame you if neither of you wanted anything to do with gigantis ever again. Perhaps the question should be – can you even trust me after everything I’ve put you through?’

‘Of course we can,’ Trish said, ‘don’t be silly. We knew what we were signing up to, and despite what you might think we do have minds of our own, you know.’

‘I know that, I just feel … responsible, that’s all.’

Jason gave her a nudge. ‘We know, but you don’t have to. I’m big enough and Trish is ugly enough that we can take care of ourselves.’ He looked past Sarah and waited for a reaction, and when none came he said, ‘Did you hear me?’

‘I did,’ Trish said, her expression smug, ‘but I’m choosing to ignore you.’

‘It’s a shame we can’t say the same for your smell.’ He sniggered and gave Sarah a wink. ‘The local kids call her
el hedor
, it means—’

‘
The stink
and it was you who taught them to sing it!’ Trish lent round Sarah and cuffed him round the head, which made him laugh and brought a brief smile to Sarah’s face.

‘I thought they were just pleased to see me first of all,’ Trish said to Sarah. ‘They were running all round me, dancing and whooping and singing this song and it wasn’t until I listened to it that I realised what they were saying. I got my own back though didn’t I, Jas?’

‘Pigs wee tea, I thought it tasted quite nice until I found out what it was.’

Trish giggled and Sarah’s face turned serious. She found it difficult to maintain a smile these days and keeping up a fake façade was nigh on impossible.

‘So, what do we do, then?’ Jason said. ‘How do we go about exposing the biggest cover up in history?’

‘We need money,’ Trish said. ‘It’s like we said before, fake paperwork and passes will be key.’