the joystick and followed his friends into the never-ending darkness of Sanctuary.
Chapter Seven
Sarah peered down the enormous rent in the Earth’s crust. She knew the bottom lurked far below but from her vantage point, even when using her visor’s magnification, a visual confirmation of its existence proved elusive. Hanging a hundred feet down from the lip of the small plateau above, Sarah held onto the rock wall as Trish and Jason edged down alongside her, their ropes dangling onto a ledge located a further fifty feet down. To her right, the black and yellow form of the Centipede hung suspended by its winch cable, which had been anchored into the rock face using its custom built automated deploy and retrieval system. Sarah had hoped to have left the Centipede behind at this point in their journey, but since the large aerial drone had met an early end, they’d have to make do with scaling future obstacles as best they could.
Negotiating Sanctuary’s crumbling landscape proved difficult enough, but with the bulky all terrain vehicle along for the ride it slowed their progress to a crawl. With supplies running low, Sarah knew they had to pick up the pace. The time for caution had passed. If they didn’t get to the five transportation devices in the Anakim temple in the next seven days, they might never reach them.
The fact that the devices represented their only chance of getting back to the surface wasn’t lost on Sarah. Nor was the fact that none of the five might lead to where they wanted to go. There was a chance they might not even work at all. But, when they’d devised this plan back in the safety of the USSB, it had seemed more than feasible; they had after all encountered such adversity before and if they ever wanted to see the surface again this had been their only option. Now that reality had sunk in, doubts had grown with each passing day. Have I made the right decision? Have I led my friends to an early grave? Why did I ever think this could work? Whenever these thoughts emerged, Sarah suppressed them. She knew she could do this. She had to do this. Trish and Jason wouldn’t have agreed had they not thought it viable. Would they? She knew she could be quite persuasive when she wanted to be. Have I deceived them, have I deceived myself?
NO! came the angry response. This is the only way, the way to freedom, the surface, justice for my mother and exposure of the Anakim and Sanctuary. There is no other option, it was this or nothing. It was all in; the gamble had been made. Now all I have to do is make sure the dice land in our favour.
Adjusting her harness, mental preoccupation resolved, Sarah continued her descent, the soft clinking of her assorted climbing gear echoed by that coming from her two friends nearby. Reaching the ledge, she disconnected herself and turned her attention to the Centipede. Using its control console, she manoeuvred it onto the same rocky outcrop before Trish and Jason landed alongside moments after.
‘You two okay?’
Jason puffed out his cheeks and nodded.
‘I’m not sure I can keep this up,’ Trish said, rubbing a shoulder.
‘Here.’ Jason turned her round and began massaging her.
‘Ow, not so hard.’
‘If it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t work.’
‘Who told you that, the Spanish inquisition?’ She let out a grunt of pain and Jason smirked as he moved to knead her back.
Sarah retrieved the Centipede’s anchor with the touch of a button, the wire rope going slack as the mechanism at its end detached from above. A high-pitched whine indicated the winch span round at speed, the cable retracting faster than gravity’s invisible pull. Repositioning the spider-like device, Sarah initiated its insertion into the rock. A whir of servos forced a spike deep into the substrate while smaller versions repeated the process on either side. Happy, she reversed the Centipede over the lip, each set of its small wheels leaving behind terra firma for another mid-air
Chapter Seven
Sarah peered down the enormous rent in the Earth’s crust. She knew the bottom lurked far below but from her vantage point, even when using her visor’s magnification, a visual confirmation of its existence proved elusive. Hanging a hundred feet down from the lip of the small plateau above, Sarah held onto the rock wall as Trish and Jason edged down alongside her, their ropes dangling onto a ledge located a further fifty feet down. To her right, the black and yellow form of the Centipede hung suspended by its winch cable, which had been anchored into the rock face using its custom built automated deploy and retrieval system. Sarah had hoped to have left the Centipede behind at this point in their journey, but since the large aerial drone had met an early end, they’d have to make do with scaling future obstacles as best they could.
Negotiating Sanctuary’s crumbling landscape proved difficult enough, but with the bulky all terrain vehicle along for the ride it slowed their progress to a crawl. With supplies running low, Sarah knew they had to pick up the pace. The time for caution had passed. If they didn’t get to the five transportation devices in the Anakim temple in the next seven days, they might never reach them.
The fact that the devices represented their only chance of getting back to the surface wasn’t lost on Sarah. Nor was the fact that none of the five might lead to where they wanted to go. There was a chance they might not even work at all. But, when they’d devised this plan back in the safety of the USSB, it had seemed more than feasible; they had after all encountered such adversity before and if they ever wanted to see the surface again this had been their only option. Now that reality had sunk in, doubts had grown with each passing day. Have I made the right decision? Have I led my friends to an early grave? Why did I ever think this could work? Whenever these thoughts emerged, Sarah suppressed them. She knew she could do this. She had to do this. Trish and Jason wouldn’t have agreed had they not thought it viable. Would they? She knew she could be quite persuasive when she wanted to be. Have I deceived them, have I deceived myself?
NO! came the angry response. This is the only way, the way to freedom, the surface, justice for my mother and exposure of the Anakim and Sanctuary. There is no other option, it was this or nothing. It was all in; the gamble had been made. Now all I have to do is make sure the dice land in our favour.
Adjusting her harness, mental preoccupation resolved, Sarah continued her descent, the soft clinking of her assorted climbing gear echoed by that coming from her two friends nearby. Reaching the ledge, she disconnected herself and turned her attention to the Centipede. Using its control console, she manoeuvred it onto the same rocky outcrop before Trish and Jason landed alongside moments after.
‘You two okay?’
Jason puffed out his cheeks and nodded.
‘I’m not sure I can keep this up,’ Trish said, rubbing a shoulder.
‘Here.’ Jason turned her round and began massaging her.
‘Ow, not so hard.’
‘If it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t work.’
‘Who told you that, the Spanish inquisition?’ She let out a grunt of pain and Jason smirked as he moved to knead her back.
Sarah retrieved the Centipede’s anchor with the touch of a button, the wire rope going slack as the mechanism at its end detached from above. A high-pitched whine indicated the winch span round at speed, the cable retracting faster than gravity’s invisible pull. Repositioning the spider-like device, Sarah initiated its insertion into the rock. A whir of servos forced a spike deep into the substrate while smaller versions repeated the process on either side. Happy, she reversed the Centipede over the lip, each set of its small wheels leaving behind terra firma for another mid-air
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