Authors: Robert Storey
2040 Revelations
2040: REVELATIONS
(Book One of Ancient Origins)
Robert Storey
By Robert Storey
2040: Revelations
(Book One of
Ancient Origins
)
2041: Sanctuary
Part 1: Dark Descent
(Book Two, Part One of
Ancient Origins
)
2041: Sanctuary
Part 2: Let There Be Light
(Book Two, Part Two of
Ancient Origins
)
2041: Sanctuary
Part 3: Genesis
(Book Two, Part Three of
Ancient Origins
)
—————
Forthcoming titles
by Robert Storey
2042: Apocalypse
(Book Three of
Ancient Origins
)
First published in Great Britain in 2013
by SANCTURIAN PUBLISHING
Copyright © Robert Storey 2016
Robert Storey has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
3
rd
Edition
All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
eBook design by Robert Storey
Cover design by Robert Storey
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Sancturian Publishing
CHRONOLOGICAL MEMORANDUM
The Ancient Origins series of books run sequentially in time, year on year. Within each volume, however, a multitude of characters, located in various parts of the world, may experience events simultaneously despite their narrative being separated by a significant number of chapters. In certain instances, some character timelines may be interrupted in order for other characters’ tales to be told, for them only to resume at a later stage in the book despite minimal time passing in their life. If the reader is prepared for such deferrals in narrative it will serve to let the book’s structure and chapters flow as intended.
Dedication
2040: Revelations is dedicated with love to my parents Maureen and Terry, without whom this book would not have been written.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to my parents for proof reading my work and for editing and suggesting as they went; without them I wouldn’t have been able to see the woods for the trees.
And to my copy editor, Julie Lewthwaite, thank you for your outstanding work and words of encouragement.
Table of Contents
Adversity is a fact of life.
It can’t be controlled.
What we can control is how we react to it.
– Unknown
FACT
:
On the 8
th
January 2011 an asteroid with the potential to impact Earth in 2040 was discovered by the Mount Lemmon Survey. This near-Earth object was given the designation 2011 AG5.
The majority of locations and organisations referenced in this book are real.
Many of the world’s most powerful governments build and operate large clandestine subterranean facilities
Prologue
November 13
th
, 2017
Professor Steiner buzzed with suppressed excitement. This didn’t happen often as his job was mundane, to him anyway. As head of a highly classified government subterranean research project, his job was an important one. He managed thousands of staff, allocated budgets and ensured the facility ran smoothly year in and year out, regardless of the many difficulties that arose. People’s lives depended upon the decisions he made. Most other people would find the job extremely challenging, even stressful; he did not, however. Graduating top of his class from Harvard in engineering, physics and computer science, with PHDs in all three subjects, he had lectured all around the world including CIT, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge and Tokyo. At the forefront of various research projects, he’d also authored numerous acclaimed scientific papers.
So why had this emotional transformation occurred? He’d been called to the White House on a matter of national security. The national security part was old hat to Steiner, of course; it was part of his daily work. The White House, on the other hand, certainly was not. Like many people he’d only seen inside it on TV and most of the time that was probably a mock up on a movie set or in a TV studio; this, however, was the real deal.
‘Professor Steiner.’
Snapping out of his reverie he looked up from his seat as a woman dressed in a smart suit approached him.
‘Would you like to come this way, please?’
Standing up he smoothed down his trousers, making himself presentable, and followed her through a door and into a large hallway. As they walked he took in the sumptuous surroundings of the residency of the most powerful man in the modern world.
Apparently the Oval Office was under renovation, otherwise he’d have asked for a quick peek inside. This hadn’t dampened his mood, though, and neither did the fact that he wasn’t meeting the President, who was off on important business at the 2017 G13 summit meeting in Shanghai. Just being in the White House was enough for him.
The woman opened a door and waved him through. ‘Take a seat, Professor; they will be with you shortly.’
Thanking her, he settled down again to wait.
As Steiner sat there, his gaze was drawn to a magnificent oil painting that hung on the wall opposite. Captivating in its depth and energy, the picture depicted the Greek god Hephaestus wielding stonemasons’ and blacksmiths’ tools against the Earth. Great fire and gasses spewed forth at the sites of impact while gaping rents in the planet’s crust branched out across its spherical mass, revealing the molten core beneath; the detail astounded him. He wondered how long it would take someone to paint such a masterpiece. Hundreds of hours, he presumed, preceded by a lifetime of mastering the discipline’s finer points. Steiner’s eyes soaked up the exquisite brush strokes, his thoughts becoming entranced by the scene’s dynamic power. Sometime later, as he continued to study the great work framed within its ornate border of plaster and gold leaf, a young man appeared in a doorway off to his right.
‘Professor, good to see you again. Sorry to keep you waiting. Come in, come in.’
Steiner couldn’t remember the man’s name. Not one of his strongest points, names and faces. Give him a mathematical proof to remember any day of the week. Entering the room, he saw that four people sat waiting informally on sofas and chairs, papers, files and laptops arranged haphazardly around them.
‘Madam Vice President,’ Steiner heard himself say.
The VP stood and shook his hand, the greeting as genuine as the warmth in her eyes.
Her entourage included one of the Joint Chiefs, a couple of suits and the man who’d let him in.
‘Professor,’ the Vice President said, ‘thank you for coming on such short notice. I hope we haven’t inconvenienced you too much by interrupting your important work. This is General Redshaw; I think you may have met previously?’
Steiner nodded giving the general a small smile as he was reintroduced. The fact was he didn’t remember the man at all, but not wanting to appear incompetent he refrained from disclosing this fact.
‘My Chief of Staff, David Broad,’ the VP continued.
A sallow faced man moved forwards and shook Steiner’s hand firmly. ‘Professor, it’s nice to meet you at last.’
Steiner gave another nod of his head as he returned the handshake.
‘Malcolm Joiner, Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence,’ said the VP, indicating a tall, wiry man with jet black hair, who remained sitting, merely lifting a couple of fingers from his knee in recognition. The VP then put one hand on the young man’s shoulder. ‘And of course, my personal aide, Nathan Bryant, who you already know.’
Ah, that’s his name
, Steiner recalled belatedly.
‘We have a lot to discuss, Professor,’ she told him, gesturing with a measured hand for him to take a seat, ‘so let’s get straight down to business.’
Steiner sat down at the end of one of the sofas and Nathan handed him a cup of tea. For many days Steiner had been wondering why he had been called to this meeting, the prestigious surroundings and company meant it must be important; just how important he was about to find out.
Malcolm Joiner cleared his throat. ‘Professor, in January, 2011 an observatory in Tucson, Arizona sighted an asteroid that had the potential to impact earth in 2040.’ He handed him a grainy printout of the object in question.
‘As you are probably aware, there are many potential objects in space that are likely to collide with the Earth at some point in the future. Unfortunately we have since verified that this rock, some four miles in length and half that in diameter, will almost certainly collide with us in 2040.
‘To give you an idea of the scale of this threat scientists originally estimated the infamous meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs was about nine miles across; however, new estimates have the dino killer at a mere three to four miles in length. If this new data is true – and we believe it is – then we can expect—’
‘An initial impact devastation zone,’ Steiner said, cutting in, ‘earthquakes and possibly volcanic activity. Tsunamis and destruction of the ozone layer, if the impact is in an ocean or sea, followed by acid rain and intense localised fires. The resulting dust cloud kicked up on impact will encase the planet for a number of years, killing off crops and plant life globally, not to mention the impact on human and animal life.’ As Steiner finished his sentence it dawned on him the immense implications of what he’d just described.