by Tom Hunter
“You can count on me,” said Robbie quietly and with great intent. It was as if he suddenly had a need to prove himself – to the team, his family, his wife, her parents Abby and Alfred Hogan, and without realizing it, himself. He would prove that he was more than a YouTuber.
“Alexia, you may find this of particular interest,” suggested Abby. “Don Cunningham has arranged for a qualified team of porters to move earth up the tunnels as we excavate. We’ll also have at our disposal 3D imaging mappers to map out the mines and tunnels as they’re discovered, and low frequency radios tuned for reception and transmission through hundreds of feet of rock.”
“Okay. Pediah, you ready for this?” Thomas asked.
“Are you?” Pediah returned. “Thom, I told you then, and I’ll tell you now. Whatever you decide, I’m with you, and I meant it. Yeah, it’s a little raw still, and I didn’t think we’d be back so soon, if at all. I’m a professional. Spelunking has been a lifelong passion and hobby, and adventuring is a bonus. I’m dying to know what’s behind those doors. Aren’t you?” A goofy smile played at the corners of his mouth, and his eyes sparkled.
Abby giggled, “I’ll be overseeing the lot of you. Making sure you’re fed, safe, rested, and have whatever you need. In other words, I am your professional ‘Mother Hen’, but understand this, no one will be coddled…” she trailed off, as Robbie leaned forward.
“I can help Abby oversee things,” Robbie volunteered.
Abby laughed and took his hands in hers. She flipped them palm side up, then palm side down, and explained, “Your fingernails are too clean. In this business, we get our hands dirty, and since you are ‘general labor’ that means, you’ll be rolling up your sleeves, and doing well…whatever needs doing. No questions asked. Got it? Oh, and off camera.”
He opened his mouth in mock horror, his hands slipped from her grip, held one to his mouth, and exclaimed, “These hands are not suited for extreme labor.”
Thomas reached across and grabbed Robbie’s wrist. He rubbed it roughly on the hover car’s railing and exclaimed gruffly, “There. Now you’ve got some grit in your whine.” Robbie chuckled.
The hover shuttle came to a silent stop. “We’re here!” chimed Abby brightly.
The doors opened and the nice chilled air inside suddenly evaporated into a baking hot oven. A middle-aged man, his balding head protected by his Oakland A’s baseball cap, the rest of him encased in khaki button down and cargo pants, looked up. He got up, dusted himself off, and made his way to Thomas Knight and his team. “Thomas? Thomas Knight?” enquired the man.
“Yes. That’s me. Oh, of course, you must be…? I’m sorry, my mind is a bit muddled with the abrupt change in temperature.” Thomas was already brushing his beard, his red face a river of water, dampening his beard which, to his consternation, made the dust worse and more difficult to brush out.
Busy with his comb, Thomas almost didn’t hear the man, explain, “Steven B. Matthews, sir. You can call me, Matthews. I am the supervisor in charge, until your arrival.”
Thomas stuck out his hand, “Pleased to meet ya, Steve, er Matthews.”
The man took his hand and continued, “Dr. Cunningham and Mrs. Hogan have supplied you with everything you might possibly need. However, should you require anything else, please let me know and I’ll see to it that you have it.”
“But, first, would you like a tour?” The man’s red face matched his baseball cap shade for shade, but he was no stranger to the desert. Thomas and his team nodded eagerly.
“First,” Matthews began, “I believe we’ve pinpointed the location where you entered the subterranean caverns. We’ve marked it just there.”
“Yes, that looks correct.” Thomas turned to Pediah and explained, “We couldn’t find the exact location because somebody didn’t think to mark it down on the plans properly.”
“Well, I wasn’t planning on coming back. Not after what happened…”
The site supervisor went on, “We’ve also learned, after some further investigation, the cave appears to be a solutional cave. The difference here, or rather the addition, seems to be that granite has been discovered which alludes to erosional caves,” he explained. “Also, the walls have signs of mineral deposits of copper and turquoise.”
Abby filled in, explaining to the group, “Erosional caves are just what they sound like. Formed by water or wind over time and carrying abrasive particles capable of carving rock. In other words, the elements have to find a weakness in the rock – a fracture or some such. But, it is possible for erosion to be an active process in caves originally formed by solutional caves and occurs generally after water and streams have been – absorbed, for lack of a better term, by the caves – giving you not only the stalagmites and stalactites of a cave, but also forms tall, canyon like passages.”
Thomas laughed, “I think you miss teaching, Mrs. Hogan.” The team laughed and the supervisor smiled.
“Couldn’t have said it better, Mr. Knight. Mrs. Hogan. From the grandest scale to the smallest, we’ve also confirmed what you found, Mr. Lapp. The other artifacts you found are, as originally thought, mining tools. Somebody, some time ago, was quite intent on investigating in there. But, my gut tells me they never got to finish. What we didn’t find, beyond the usual cave critters – bats, scorpions, and such – was signs of anything that ought not to be there. In other words, no sign of unexpected or unusual wildlife.”
As Matthews and Thomas Knight’s team parted, Thomas explained the next steps. “So, the plan is this. We’ll work at nightfall and keep out of the sun during the day as best we can. In the meantime, I suggest everyone find their respective tents, drink plenty of water, pack what you think you’ll need, and try to relax.”
“Great! Where’s the pool? Robbie asked looking around. I could use with a dip.” A smile played at the corner of his lips.
Alexia retorted almost without thinking. “There’s no pool, you dope.”
Robbie held his hand to his mouth in mock horror. “Okay, no pool. Got it. What about A/C?”
Abby glared at Robbie, “Really! You know better; or I thought you did. Don’t be foolish!”
Out of the corner of her eye, Abby caught movement. Someone was running toward them. Her stomach turned. Someone was coming to break bad news. She could feel it. Thomas put a hand on her arm and shook his head. Pediah touched her hand, and whispered, “It’s okay, Abby. I’m sure it’s nothing.” Abby looked from Thomas to Pediah, then across the space toward Robbie and Alexia. The others suddenly looked serious, as they caught her expression.
“Sir!” A young man wearing communications equipment on his head called to Thomas Knight.
“My apologies, Mr. Knight, Mrs. Hogan, everyone. Adam has news,” Thomas explained. He turned to the young comms attendant. “Go ahead, Adam. What is it?”
Adam whispered in his Thomas’ ear the trouble, looking out one eye toward the others. He didn’t want to be the one to tell them.
Thomas swallowed almost imperceptibly, but Alexia’s eagle eye caught it.
“Well, we have a problem,” Thomas said, as Adam nodded and departed. “A big one. It seems that one of our team, one of the surveyors setting up equipment to get seismic readings, well, he’s missing.”
Sixteen
A tense flurry of activity greeted Thomas, Steven Matthews, and Adam, as they stepped up to the tent and pulled back the flap. The crackle of radio equipment greeted them. A single person sat at the console. “Team 3, come in. Team 3, come in. Team 3…” the attendant looked up, as the newcomers entered, frustration and fear written plain on his face.
In a glance, Thomas took in everything in the tent, what they might make use of to find the missing man, as well as the extraordinary detail Dr. Cunningham had gone to in order to provide for every situation. Well, except this one, Thomas thought.
As hot as it was outside, the sheer amount of equipment necessitated cooling from large fans and cooling units. The operator busily turned knobs and dials,
looking for a new frequency, or something that might exact a reply.
From his place at the entrance, Thomas could see that, for the most part, the maps were marked up with seismic amplitude readings, crunched by computers into maps of the tunnel system down to a few hundred feet below ground. Thomas’ way of coping with a potential disaster was to distract himself with the academic. It was Pediah’s job was to bring him back, but Pediah wasn’t there.
“I must apologize most profusely, Mr. Knight…” the comms operator began, as he looked up at Thomas.
“It’s fine. You were doing your job, and quite admirably…” Thomas began. “I’m not the type of boss who needs to be saluted from fifty paces to feel better about myself. That’s not my style,” he said, gesturing with his beard comb. His eyes twinkling, he brushed his beard, in another attempt to calm his racing mind. “However,” Thomas went on, “we do have some serious business here. Tell me everything. Play back Team 3’s last message.” The seated man nodded, as Abby slipped in to listen.
Base, this is Team 3. We’re four men deep and gauge our distance – we’ll be going in about two miles. There’s some…treacherous…terrain here, makin’ things take a little longer than they should. We’re being cautious; heard about the underground rumblings from the first team, about a month ago.
But, the interesting thing, and wow, I never thought we’d see anything like this, so far below the earth. The interesting thing, is we found a stone door. Looks like it functions on a slide, like a pocket or Japanese screen door. Nothing like the pocket doors we had back home. No, this one is all stone. Too heavy to push and pull easily. However, we were able to move it a few inches and peer around it and inside.
We couldn’t see much, but on our side, here we found some strange artifacts. They might have been left behind by previous explorers. But it’s been collected, so testing can be done to determine age.
Back to that door, I mentioned. Sorry, I almost forgot. There’s more than one door. And they are hard to open, just one of ‘em took three of us, and it barely moved. Anyway, like I said, we were able to peek inside one of them. Behind it, there appears to be a large room, but the crack was just too narrow and we couldn’t get a good look. For the time being, we’ve flagged it and will come back to it, but for now, we press on.
Well, we’ve reached our two-mile mark, or as near to it as we can tell. We’ll soon be setting up our equip - What? Sorry base. Seems Johnson’s heard something.
Coming from where? Johnson, I’m sure it’s just some kind of cave creature or some such. But, we’ll check it out. Base, we got a mystery down here, or we’re all still loopy from the heat, but Johnson swears he heard something in one of the wa –.
“And there the message ends. Cut off,” explained the comms operator.
Thomas rubbed his chin. His beard was itching. He wondered for the millionth time if he should just shave the damn thing off. But, not now. “Do we know Team 3’s approximate route through the caves?” he asked.
“Yes, I think so. The man whose voice you heard, does the recordings because he’s so detailed about it. He had recorded and reported their journey through the caves when they reported in. In other words, sir, we’ve essentially got a verbal map, so we do have a good idea of where they went,” explained Adam. “Haven’t yet had a chance to plot it on the seismic maps, but it shouldn’t be too hard.”
“I’d like a copy of that information, please,” Thomas requested, as he held the walkie-talkie limply in one hand, and rubbed his forehead with the other, a grim expression clouding his features.
“What are you going to do, Thom?” Abby asked worriedly.
He squared his shoulders, his back to her, as held open the tent flap, “It depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether or not Team 3 establishes contact,” he said evenly, and left the tent.
Seventeen
The blinding hot sun faded into twilight, and the first stars of the desert sky appeared. The chill of the desert night was upon them. Back in the comms tent, small groups had gathered, conversing amongst themselves. The calls to Team 3 continued to be met by forlorn, horrible static.
Back and forth Thomas paced, having worn his own channel in the sand floor, his patience worn thin. Taking his beard comb in hand, he began his ritual once again. He spotted Pediah and Robbie deep in conversation. Their perplexed expressions beckoned to him, and he headed over to them. “When the comms attendant first came to get you, he said only one man was missing, but by the time we all got here…Well, now we can’t raise anyone on the team?” Robbie said. He knit his brows together, and cocked his head slightly, waiting for Thomas’s response.
“Don’t you find that odd? We did,” finished Pediah.
“I’m listening…” Thomas was eager to hear what they had to say. He’d been thinking much the same thing himself.
“Well,” Pediah began, “Teams 1 and 2 made it back. I got to talking with them. It seems they found similar signs of life, with similar stone-based homes, and sealed doors they couldn’t break through, but only peer around…”
Robbie picked up the thread. “The other teams reported loose dirt that opened up, creating sink holes. But, here’s the thing: the holes were never large enough to swallow one person, let alone four. Therefore, they probably weren’t swallowed up by the ground.”
When they’d finished their story, they looked eagerly at Thomas, who stood stone still. His mind raced at the implications, the possibilities, and the practicalities of all he’d been told. As he worked to make sense of it, Pediah spoke up once again.
“Thomas, as far as we know, there should be no one else in those caverns. But, there shouldn’t have been on our initial survey, either. You don’t suppose…you don’t think…” Pediah trailed off and paused, before he voiced his thought out loud. “Could Noah and his crew be back in the cave? He did get away with the journal, and probably the maps that were down there, too. Whatever he didn’t have, he could…”
“Get out of Team 3,” finished Thomas.
Pediah nodded.
The thought of Noah in the caves had crossed Thomas’s mind, but his gut told him something else was afoot. We haven’t even started digging yet, and we’ve already lost, er can’t account for, four men. Five, if I count Howard. “We’re going in on a search and rescue mission.”
“I guess I should ask first, so, can I come?” Robbie requested.
“I don’t know, Robbie. Abby would have my head,” Thomas began, as he tried to explain and protect him from the potential dangers. “Besides, these will be hard climbs and difficult terrain in those caves, and I’m not sure you’d be able to manage…”
“Bullshit. Not only am I younger than you, any of you, but I deal in extreme sports. Skydiving, rock climbing, mountain biking, etcetera, etcetera. In other words, I am a perfect fit for the job.” His eyes were wide, his passions clear, eager to prove his worth on this dig.
Thomas held a hand up to quiet him, and spoke softly, “Listen, I appreciate your passions, I do. But, this is no game. No publicity stunt.”
“I know that. But – “Robbie began, as Thomas held up his hand again.
“I’ve already lost a good man down there. A kid. He was about your age, full of vigor and vitality. He was trying to prove himself, too. To be a hero, and he was one. Don’t get me wrong. He saved my life. Our lives – mine and Pediah’s.” Thomas’s eyes never left Robbie’s, but he sensed Pediah stiffen, then relax, beside him. “But, I won’t have that on my conscience again. I can’t. Understand?”
“Thomas,” Robbie spoke in a low, clear, calm voice. Suddenly the adult Robbie, the man he knew he was, he explained. “I can help here. I’m on this team as general labor. To be used when and where needed. Let me help you. Now.”
Thomas stared at Robbie. What Robbie was this? Then, shaking his head Pediah stepped forward, between them, as if to break up a fight. “I’m confused. Wouldn’t it be better, Thom, to have more people on hand down
there? What’s that saying – ‘the more the merrier’?’” Pediah’s eyes twinkled, and he pulled at his suspenders, priding himself on his mediation skills.
“It’s not quite that simple. But… yeah,” Thomas sighed, conceding the point. “Let’s at least go in with some sort of protection. ‘No one dies on my watch’ remember, Pediah? Don’t. Say it,” He held his finger up, as Pediah opened his mouth, which he promptly closed, and let Thomas finish. “As it happens, I brought some protection along - just in case we have another run in with Ashbridge, or if we have a run in with something worse.”
“What do you mean, protection?” queried Pediah, slowly. He was afraid he already knew the answer.
Thomas looked furtively, then directly, at each member of his team, “I stowed away an extra pistol or two, in my supplies. Just in case…”
“I don’t like guns, Thomas. There is never a winner. Not really. I’m sorry, but I have to put my foot in it.” Thomas and Robbie looked at him, quizzically. “You know what I mean: put my foot down. I won’t be party to anything to do with guns. Sorry,” Pediah explained deadpan, thinking of Howard on the cave floor and Miss Welker’s smoking gun.
Robbie drew closer to Thomas and said in a low voice, “I’ll take one.” Then he looked at Pediah, “I know you have no reason to believe my seriousness, but in this, I am.”
Thomas nodded, “Okay, I’ll have a gun. Robbie will have a gun, because I believe in him. And we’ll take spare clips. Our business is dangerous, Pediah. You saw that six weeks ago. But, I promise, we will use our guns only in the most extreme circumstances.”
Pediah looked from Thomas to Robbie and back again. No twinkle in their eye, no smile tugged at their lips. He breathed a sigh of relief and conceded, “Okay. In that case, let me go tell the others where you’ll be entering, so we can come in after you,” suggested Pediah.
