“The ledge twists around the side of the cliff to the west, then north. That water most likely breaks through to the outside somewhere we didn’t see around the corner of the ledge. That is after it travels through that other smaller cave.” She continued as they checked around their new base. It was dry and safe...it was a start!
One by one the survivors arrived at the top and joined the rest inside the huge antechamber of the cave. It was huge, the roof had to have been nearly fifty feet high in most areas, toward the rear, it was scattered with a multi-layered floor. Marti explained it was created by tens of thousands of years of water flowing creating the various shaped and multi-leveled areas.
A cave-in from a millennia past had sealed all but a small rivulet of water that ran along the western side of the cave that could provide enough water to drink. The water ran into another opening in the rock and as it turned out, another chamber to the west side of the antechamber. Holes higher up provided some light and would make great smoke vents.
The second cave was much smaller and ran along what Marti surmised as the western outer wall and the water had created a foot deep channel in the granite, and then went under the west wall to continue its journey. Checking closer they found the water had light glowing in it on the far side of a small pool next to the cave wall. This light had to come from somewhere outside near the ledge as it curved around along the mountains face. This was quickly confirmed as a few followed the ledge they had discovered that the ledge in front of the cave was straight for only ten yards. It then slowly curved around the mountain face in a northwesterly direction as it narrowed slightly. It sloped slowly downward a few feet as it curved. Just under the ledge there was a small stream of water and it did come from the cave, just as Marti had guessed. It had cut a foot wide gap in the ledge and fell the hundred plus feet to the shallow creek below.
The best news was after following the ledge a bit more, there was a beautiful waterfall. It tumbled from somewhere far above the ledge that was obscured by the clouds that were almost eight hundred feet above. As it fell on the ledge it hid the cliff on the other side as it continued on to the west.
The spray felt wonderful in the one hundred plus heat of this strange valley. Will had called for Jim and Marti and they now appeared along with a few others. Will cautioned the newcomers of the slippery ledge, but Marti slipped around him. She extended her hand into the side of the rushing waterfall and splashed her face with the much cooler water.
“This water is cooler than the water in the cave. It must come from the peaks above us and to the north. Something must have sealed it off from the river in the cave hundreds of thousands of years ago and now it comes out here. This water has warmed some, that means it has been traveling within the heat of this valley, or some other higher one for a while.” She sighed, “...this is not a way out fellas.”
Will grinned at the two. “To be honest guys, I was thinking more along the lines of; if we make this cave our home for a while, we can use the gas powered hammer drill and bust through this wall. Christ guys, it can’t be that thick, maybe a few feet of granite. We can then shove a few lengths of that four inch pipe through the hole we make, brace it somehow and...” Will grinned, “Running water. Hell we have all the junk we’ll need for comfort.” He looked at Jim with a smile, “You see Jim... Our purpose was to take all the stuff we shipped below in your plane’s cargo bay, to a new mine. Some of us were to finish building the living quarters, while some of us started mining through the cliff face...others were to start drilling for water.”
Jim shrugged, “Uhh, well good for you, I guess.”
Marti and Will both laughed as Will continued.
“Don’t you see man...we have toilets and large plastic reservoir tanks to fill with well water. We have plastic tanks to store water in for water pressure and drinking. We have corrugated metal panels for roofing, or to make walls from. Hell Jim, we can create a base up here, within a week or so once we get everything from the cargo bay up here. We can even make showers...cold showers, but showers... We have all the plumbing we need!”
There was a soft giggle and the three turned to see Marcy standing there. She walked over and took a hand full of water and splashed it on herself.
“A shower would be much nicer than hanging over a hundred plus foot ledge.” She laughed as she carefully reached out and splashed herself again.
“I agree with you all. It’s too dangerous for us to keep coming out here on this slippery ledge.” Jim nodded toward the waterfall hitting the rocks over one hundred feet below. “Let’s head back... Will how about you take on the plumbing idea?”
Will smiled and nodded as the small group headed back to the cave. There was a lot of work to be done if they were to survive. And they had to do it before the T-rex came back. Jim had guessed that perhaps old Rex was making rounds and depending upon the size of his territory, he most likely would return.
The rest of the day was spent getting the larger bulldozer in and out of the cargo bay and finding a much larger section of broken wing to use as a sled for the tons of steel piping, panels and other pallets of supplies stowed below.
As the sun slowly began to sink off to the west on the first day, the survivors had moved all three hoists to the ledge. What supplies they had moved were stowed along the ledge or inside of the cave to the much straighter wall to the right of the entrance. The three vehicles were parked as close together as they could, next to a enormous boulder for safety.
The hot steamy fog like mist that hung in the air kept the survivors from seeing more than a few miles usually. Occasionally a cooler breeze would blow and lift the haze to reveal the closer mountains and Marti figured they were in what was once a giant caldera. Most likely from what they had seen the valley was as large as Yellowstone, maybe bigger. The valley seemed to branch off in two directions, one to the west and another past the jungle to the south.
The high mountains closed in to the west to a point where a choke point was formed, about two miles apart. Beyond there was a quick glimpse of more mountains perhaps ten miles further.
To the east, the direction they had come and merely a mile or so away was the flat divide they had crashed through and the shallow creek vanished over it. They knew the valley ended there and if they were to get out...that was the way they had to go. That is if Rex didn’t get to them first.
They also knew that their guess had to be correct; this wide rocky area they had crashed upon was indeed a floodplain. That meant if they were to survive, they had to empty the aircraft’s bay and strip anything else they might want out before the next flood...and they could hear thunder in the distance.
Several of the survivors stood on the ledge as the sun slipped behind the mountains in the west. Jim looked at the crippled aircraft and shook his head.
“Well, if it rains, I hope there isn’t a flash flood. We sure as hell didn’t get a lot up here today and that waterfall is flowing at the same rate it was earlier...” he hesitated, “...but I’m sure Marti will tell you, that doesn’t mean a flood couldn’t be on its way.”
Marcy stood to his left and turned slightly and smiled. “But we are safe and dry if it does come.”
“She’s right senor.” Jesus added, “This is a good place to stay. Tomorrow we can do a lot more. Now Armondo’s cranes are up here we can bring up more tomorrow.”
Bill walked out with Marti. “Hey boss, listen to what the lady has to say.”
All eyes turned to the lady engineer who was grinning from ear to ear.
“Guys, I was thinking. It’s a long way up here... What if the miners took some of that four inch steel pipe and screwed a few of the thirty-foot sections together, we must have a thousand feet or more in the bay. We then raise a section using the big crane, and then dangling from the smaller hand cranes the miners can bolt them to the cliff face using the pipe brackets....we have boxes of them. Then build another just like it, five feet apart. Eventually we could build to sections right up to the
ledge.”
Jim had a lost look on his face and Bill and Will laughed.
“Don’t you see Jim, while the pipes are being built up the face, we can use the welding equipment stored in the bay to build a small cage to ride the two pipe rails up and down... An elevator!” Bill grinned.
Will patted Jim on the arm and laughed. “While Bill and his crew do that I’ll make a kind of platform to bring up the larger stuff. It can ride the pipe rails as well. Marti came up with the idea. While it will take a coordinated effort and using all three cranes, we should be able to pull the little ‘dozer up here. Once we do that, we have that to raise the heavy shit up here. Hell boss, even that small powered crane has its limits, but that ‘dozer...”
Marti smiled and added, “The large crane is far too slow to pull things up if that T-rex comes back. Once we have the rails built, I’ll make a frame to hold the cage when it’s up here on the ledge. I’ll have Spider weld a large pulley on the top and we can use the small dozer to hoist us up and down, using its rear winch and in a pinch it can drive through the cave entrance toward the rear and pull us up in a hurry. Whatcha think boss?”
Jim looked at his friends. “Hey what’s with this ‘boss’ crap? I’m Captain when flying...can’t fly anymore. You all need to have a pow-wow and elect someone to lead your sorry asses.”
Marcy added, “We did just a few minutes ago, inside the cave, while you were here, outside.”
Marti giggled, “You were elected.”
“Suppose I don’t want to...” Jim tried to protest, but was cut short by the many voices of the rest of the survivors that had filed out and joined them.
“Obviously you don’t have a choice.” Marti pointed out. There were many laughs and most went inside as dinner was being prepared.
Six people still stood out on the ledge as shadows crept along the valley floor. Jim looked at Bill.
“Well if I’m honcho, then tomorrow you do your cage and lift thing. Will, can start on the plumbing. The rest of us will get Marti’s rails attached to the cliff face. Marti can it be done in a day?”
Marti chuckled, “With this crew? Easily...then we can get that little bulldozer up here to haul the heavy crap up. Of course some of it will have to be disassembled, then reassembled, like we did with the cranes. By this time day after tomorrow, we’ll have half the bay up here...” her tone got soft as she laid her hand on Jim’s arm.
“Seriously Jim, this is one of the most efficient crews I’ve ever worked with...” she smiled sweetly, “...it’ll get done. Realistically... two days.”
Jim chuckled and patted her hand. “Ok then its final... Marti’s the construction boss from now on!”
“Now just a damned second there mister...” Marti protested as laughs from inside could be heard.
Jim looked Marti in her lovely blue eyes and smiled. “Orders from the boss, you are elected!” he turned and walked toward the cave to thunderous laughing from the miners.
Marcy elbowed the pretty engineer playfully, and then in a quiet voice teased.
“Just remember YOU nominated Jim to be leader. YOU said what a good leader he was.” She winked at the engineer, “And I’ve noticed the way you look at him when you think no one is looking.”
Marti swallowed hard. “Oh God I... I mean, I.... I know you two...”
Marcy giggled at Marti’s awkward search for words. “Oh don’t be silly. I work with Jim, not fuck him.” she laughed softly, “At one point years ago I’d toyed with the idea...after all he is quite a hunk. But damn it, it would be like trying to seduce my older brother.” Marcy stuck her finger in her partially open mouth and played like she was gagging. She smiled at the pretty blonde as the shadows fell across the ledge.
“He’s all yours if you want him...” she winked, “...he is quite a catch if you can tame his wild ways.” She walked back into the cave and stopped, and then she laughed. Past memories of drinking and bar fights flooded her mind. Granted Jim had mellowed a lot, but the idea of that lightweight female holding her own with Jim... She giggled again.
The sky now dark the two women strolled toward the cave entrance arm in arm. They giggled as Jim’s co-pilot told stories that made Marti laugh. Marcy looked over to her new friend and started to say something...
She grabbed the blonde and as she enclosed her in her arms, they both fell to the ledge in a puff of dust. A muffled sound of air whiffed overhead. Marti looked up to ask what Marcy’s problem was, but saw a dark shape flashed by barely a few feet from their backs.
The brief screams brought most of the men running... Torches and flashlights in hand, they arrived on the ledge just in time to wave another huge bat the size of a bald eagle away from the women. A third and fourth dove and left without any prey. Finally, everyone scurried into the large cave. Panting and exhausted from waving things at the huge prehistoric bats.
“My God what if this is their home?” one of the miners muttered.
Marti caught her breath and smiled to ease tensions. “Caves too shallow guys...and small. Those things were huge and most likely have some cavern somewhere to stay in during the day.” She sighed and gave a half-hearted grin.
“But let’s all remember not to wander around in the dark. I don’t think they’ll come in here...but I won’t guarantee it...” she glanced back out at the now black sky, “..., but then again...”
Jim looked at the entrance and the blackness beyond their burning fires of fuel they had brought up. “Look guys, what say we grab some of those poles and tarps and cargo nets we brought up her and cover up the entrance for tonight. It won’t keep anything out, but should make enough noise if anything tries coming in.”
Without a word there was the din of heavy steel poles and rustling of tarps as all nineteen of the survivors grabbed something to plug up the moderately sized cave entrance. Barely five minutes passed and it was well covered. Jim motioned for everyone to gather around.
“Ok gang... Look I’m setting a watch. Three stand guard, five hours on, and then get three more up. We don’t move until full light and keep all eyes on the sky. There might not be any pterodactyls flying around this place, but as we saw, they have some big ass bats. I for one do not care to find out if they were just curious...or see us as dinner”
Everyone nodded in agreement and eventually settled down for the night. With guards posted and the entrance covered, the exhausted survivors slept like logs all night long.
The women made their beds in a small alcove that had been formed by water between the antechamber and the smaller ‘bathroom’ cave. They put a large tarp up over the entrance and created a fine sleeping, changing area and called it home.
As they folded the flap over the entrance, already loud snores could be heard echoing throughout the larger cave as the girls smiled at one another.
In the morning Armondo had prepared a civilized breakfast, considering the circumstances.
Eventually they broke off into the various work groups.
Marti and one group began setting up to install the pipe tracks for their lift and to hoist the small bulldozer up to the ledge. Another party went to the aircraft and posted two guards on top and began to load the larger ‘dozer with more of the things that were stowed in the cargo bay.
Once things got moving and toward the afternoon, Jim, Bill and two others headed east to the gap in the mountains in which they had flown through the night they had crashed. If Jim had been completely without lightning flashes, he knew most likely they would have been plastered on the side of one of mountains. He really didn’t care whether it was the hand of God, fate, or just dumb luck, that got them through. They had crashed where they had and done so without loss of life. All Jim cared about is the fact they had indeed survived, and now he felt it was his responsibility to get them out... After all it was he, that got them there.
The small shallow stream ran through the rocky bed and barely covered some of the medium rocks. In places the rocky floodplain was nearly a quarter of a mile wid
e and the floodplain went all the way to the valley’s edge. There it was mostly solid granite as the rocks closer to the edge had been washed over. Here and there were small pools of water, with one large, shallow pool about twenty yards from the small waterfall into the abyss of clouds below.
The small group of four men picked their way to the ledge where the water fell off the mountain. Now and then a sharp breeze would blow up the mountain from below and part the cloudy veil to reveal many lower mountain peaks, all covered with snow...and even lower lying clouds.
The men stood there gawking at the frozen peaks that were visible through the lower clouds when one of the miners shouted and pointed. There, off in the distance, through a small opening in the lower clouds...was a patch of nothing but faint green.
“Jim, is that the Amazon jungle down there?” Bill asked hopefully.
“Most likely Bill, but damned if I have a clue as to where. That’s one huge jungle out there and we have no idea where we were blown to. I’d guess we’re right around the 10,000 to 11,000 foot level...give or take. Once out of this steamy environment, there is a good chance we might have a difficult time breathing. Out there it wouldn’t be long before our thinking processes would begin to deteriorate. That is if we didn’t freeze first; remember none of us has any cold weather gear.”
One of the miners walked directly to the edge, dropped to his hands and knees and slowly crept to the very edge and peered over.
“Holy shit!” he muttered and crawled back. He looked up at the other three, “Guys...it has to be a thousand feet straight down. The waterfall the creek makes just vanishes into nothing... I saw it when the clouds parted for a few seconds.”
The second miner, who was the youngest of the four, crawled to the edge, turned and smiled.
“No way that we have enough rope to lower one person down to reach the lower mountains.” He ran his fingers through his bright red hair. “Guys... I have done some rock climbing in Mexico during my vacations. Other than that little ledge about eight feet below the lip, it’s a sheer drop.”
Valley of Lost Time. Page 4
