Chapter 12
“Camp two is another four hours away,” Sam’s voice rang out in the comms, “lunch in the chapel?”
“Sounds perfect to me!” Mark Jr barked out.
“The chapel?” Kira asked.
“It is the most beautiful place I have ever seen.” Sophia squeeled as she moved toward the edge of the darkness. “Above or below ground!”
She leapt off the ledge and disappeared into the inky black of the underground world.
“WOOHOO!!!” Came her shouts of joy from somewhere deep below them.
“What the…” Garrets arm instinctively shot out to where Sophia had been only a second before.
“Don’t worry,” Mark Jr reassured them, “this is her favorite part of the whole system. We call it the slide, drops about three hundred fifty feet over two hundred yards of lava tubes that hardened into smooth glass. It’s completely safe so long as you stick the landing.”
“Landing?” Gideon was trying to envision it.
“Yeah,” Sam cut in, “you come out facing the ground.”
“What?” Julian asked. “How?”
“Right at the end,” Mark explained, “the slide takes a wicked left turn and bends down. The result is a complete flip, if you’re not expecting it you find your backside on the ceiling just in time to face plant. You have to crouch into what I call the super hero landing position, knees and waste bent to absorb the impact and hands down to steady yourself against the floor.” He paused as he shrugged out of his backpack and tossed it over the ledge, followed by Sophia’s pack and two extra bags.
“Gear incoming.” He announced into the comms.
“Ten-four.” Sophia’s reply was clipped as she readied herself to catch the bags.
One by one the rest of the team wriggled out of their packs and tossed them into the void before lining up to jump into its yawning mouth.
“Slide…” Mark Sr said softly. “Any other way down, that landing sounds like it could get painful.”
“There is Mr H.” Sam started, “But it’s too dangerous.”
“The cave system is like swiss cheese here,” Mark Jr explained, “only the edges are razor sharp. The first time we tried our rappelling ropes kept shredding and dropping us, I wound up needing more than twenty stitches by the time I made it to the bottom.”
“Slide it is then.” Gideon grimaced as he got ready to jump.
“Since this is your first time, I recommend not following Sophia’s example.” Sam instructed as she toed a spot on ledge. “The slide starts here and goes to the right, sit down and get to know the path or you’ll end up in a world of hurt.”
Gideon froze for a moment before sitting down and easing himself onto the slide.
He vanished.
Blackness swallowed his form as the team watched, shining their headlamps down as they tried to see his path. The air rushed past Gideons face, the cold dampness stinging his eyes as tears were whipped out onto his cheeks. It was impossibly dark, even his headlamp seemed ineffective, it’s light being swallowed by the obsidian glass that lined the lava tube. Left, then right, then the floor dropped out from under his bottom and he found himself momentarily airborne before regaining contact and rocketing even faster through the unknown. He felt the jarring leftward bend as the bottom dropped out from under him again and suddenly he was in a brightly lit cavern watching the floor rush up at his face. He crouched, bending his knees just in time for his toes to hit as he skidded to a stop with his left hand firmly on the ground.
“Well,” Gideon sighed, “that wasn’t so bad now.”
“He stuck the landing on his first try!” Sophia shouted with a laugh.
“Wasn’t that expected?” Rachel asked into the coms.
“Very unusual.” Sam laughed. “Ready?”
Vixen slid over the edge and rocketed down, followed one by one as the rest of the team took the plunge, leaving Mark Sr and Mark Jr last.
“If you need to you can slow your descent with your feet,” Mark Jr looked at his father as he spoke, “but if you hit the end at the wrong speed you wont get enough momentum to turn you and you’ll land wrong.”
“We’ll catch you Mr H.” Sophia announced.
Mark Sr eased himself over the edge and disappeared, his progress marked only by the occasional grunt as he was wrenched from side to side. As he was ejected from the bottom of the slide the cavern twisted into a macabre scene, blurring his vision in the sudden change from complete darkness to the brightly lit colors that streaked the ceiling and walls in the new space.
Gideon and Devon were ready.
Before Mark Sr could react he felt four hands latch onto him and guide his body into an upright position, easing him onto his feet. Less than a minute later Mark Jr emerged, feet down and ready to land. The cavern ceiling was streaked with bright colors that flouresced in the light creating intricate works of art as water seeping through the ground ran over the surface dragging various minerals through with it. Purple and red colored stalactites hung down from the natural arch that held up the enormous weight of the earth above them as perfectly as a highly engineered church steeple, the water that formed them still dripping from their tips. In the center of the cavern the stalactites had formed so completely that they reached the floor where the resulting stalagmite had stretched upward until the two met, creating a massive central pillar that was streaked with shades of red and brown with visible seems of gold running through them.
“I see why you call it the chapel.” Tessa breathed. “Beautiful doesn’t begin to cover it.”
“This is the kind of place that could make me go back to preaching!” Garret breathed as awe gripped his throat.
“Preaching?” Sam asked with a puzzled expression. “You don’t call yourself Bishop because of chess?”
“Haha!” Garret laughed, “Rook is the only chess player on this team. Hell, I’ve seen Elena clear an entire chess board with nothing but two rooks!”
“It’s true!” Caleb busted out laughing, “That was against ME!”
“I used to be a preacher.” Bishop said as the laughter died down. “I actually joined the Army as a chaplain. Served on a few bases that serviced special forces and took a liking to the men and women and after a few years of watching them, I decided that I could save more people with a rifle than I can with a bible.” He paused as he looked up toward the ceiling. “But if you were to open this up for a Sunday service I could be tempted to preach it!”
“How deep are we?” Mark Senior said.
“Currently,” Sophia responded, “We are one hundred twenty feet below the surface.”
“And your equipment can tell you soil compilation data?” His mind was already running full speed as he began calculating the cost of bringing an elevator this far underground and comparing it against how long it would take to recoup by charging admission fees.
“Of course!” Sophia quipped sarcastically then as though reading his mind she added, “You’re trying to figure out how to get tourists down here, aren’t you?”
“Of course he is!” Mark Jr shouted from the other side of the room before adding with a laugh, “He can’t help it, it’s in his DNA!”
“Perhaps a character flaw,” Mark Sr said thoughtfully, “but it makes a sharper CEO!”
The whole cavern erupted in laughter as he shrugged his shoulders with a half grin.
“Perhaps we need to make sure this machine that has Victor prisoner is a bit more safe before we invite unsuspecting tourists down here.” Sam said as the laughter died down.
The group finished eating lunch and moved back into the dark passagway connecting the chapel cave to forward operations camp. The silence here was complete, even more so than the previous caves they had been through. It was as though the darkness was sucking the sound itself out of the air before it had the chance to connect to a listening ear, leaving the feeling of being in a vacuum in its place. As they traveled through the dimly lit cave the surface of the rock walls began to change, streams of minerals concentrating unnaturally in sparkling ribbons that threaded through walls, ceiling and floor alike. The further they journeyed the more unnatural the cave looked until it began to look as though the rocks themselves had been melted, stirred then reconstituted, preserving the massive swirling flows in stone that looked like it was still flowing.
“About a half hour to go.” Sam announced, though had they not been wearing the communication system built into their goggles not even Sophia who was right next to her would have heard.
“We are already into the changed portion of the cave system, so keep sharp. No need to fall into a hole or anything.” Sophia said with a laugh.
“This is creepy!” Mark Jr exclaimed as he shone his headlamp on the wall where the swirling minerals made the visage of a ghoulish face peering out from the rock. “I don’t remember seeing anything like this the last time we were down here.”
“You want to some real good with that money Mr. H., we could use an elevator shaft right into the next camp!” Sophia laughed.
“We get things secure enough down here and you might get a few!” Mark Sr. laughed. “Wouldn’t mind opening up more than a couple of the places I’ve seen the last few days to the public, not to mention how much Eleanor would love to see this!” He paused then proudly added, “She’s where Marcus gets his love of Geology from you know?”
“He may have mentioned it once or twice.” Sam laughed.
The cave opened up into a massive chamber seemingly carved straight into the stone of the earth, its ceiling making a natural arch that was only interrupted by the few massive pillars supporting it. The surfaces were streaked with mineral stains matching those in the chapel, coloring the the entire cavern in bright splashes of brilliant blues, reds and greens. The floor of the cavern was strewn with computer laden tables, electronic equipment and large totes of supplies all stacked neatly awaiting use. Along the remaining wall was neat row of cots, each supplied with a down sleeping bag and pillow ready to provide a much needed rest to the weary traveler.
“Welcome to Camp three,” Mark Jr announce, “otherwise known as forward ops. Make yourselves at home, dinner is MRE’s again in those storage boxes.” He pointed to a stack of crates against one of the walls. “We’re all beat and tomorrow starts the unexplored caves, so get some rest.”
Morning came early and unbidden, tearing each of them from the relative comfort of their sleeping bags as the aroma of fresh coffee filled the cavern. Sam was already wide awake and clicking through her computer deciphering the data that had been streaming onto it through the night. As Mark Jr stood from his bed she paused and poured a cup of coffee, offering it up to him.
“Liquid courage?” Sam said with a laugh.
“Please.” Mark rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “You sleep at all?”
“I got a couple hours,” she replied easily, “this cave system has had my mind spinning all night.”
“Still trying to figure out how it rearranged itself?” He chuckled as he took another sip of his coffee.
“I think I figured it out actually.” She announced proudly. “I was thinking about the rock surfaces and how they look all twisted, almost stirred and it hit me that none of us noticed the change in that first scan we ran after Soph and I got back.”
“Come to think of it,” Mark set his cup down and turned a computer screen to face him as he started clicking on the mouse. “I don’t recall seeing anything that struck us as out of the ordinary.”
Mark opened a copy of that scan from the file tree on his computer and started tracing the lines on the screen.
“Just how I remembered it from the last time we were down here.” He commented thoughtfully.
“Exactly!” She said. “But if you look at the scans from the day we started this trip…”
“Different!” Mark interrupted as a grin of realization stretched over his face.
“Different.” Sam said resolutely.
“What are you two talking about?” Sophia asked as she lowered her feet to the cavern floor.
“The scans your Subterranean Positioning System took.” Sam looked up from her computer before continuing. “The cave system didn’t change until the scan after we found Victor.”
“After we saw the faces of the people who took him.” Mark added.
“So you think someone, somehow did this without any of our sensors picking up the seismic activity?” Sophia sounded incredulous. “And what tech would it take to treat solid rock like a liquid that can be stirred without shattering it?”
“I’ve never heard of anything like that,” Gideon joined the conversation, “not even the CIA has tech like that.”
“It’s the strangest thing I have ever seen.” Sam said softly.
“Can you make any sense of it?” Elena asked. “Was it a one time thing, or is the system still moving?”
“I don’t think it’s still shifting,” Sam’s voice was barely audible as she focused on the on screen data. “Need more time to figure it out.” She paused and turned to the rest of the team before continuing. “We need to spend a few days here, explore the cave system and make sure it’s safe before we get further in and it changes again. Don’t want to get trapped this far underground. Anyone who leaves this cave needs to go with a buddy, and no one goes anywhere without your goggles so we can stay in touch.”
“And nobody goes anywhere without a pouch of trail marker.” Sophia produced one of her trail marker pogs and demonstrated how to use it. “Place one every time you turn a corner, if you can’t see the light from your last pog, plant a new one. That way if anything does happen we will know exactly where you are. Got it?”
There was a chorus of agreement from the team as she finished her instructions. There were six different caves leading out from the forward ops cavern, each running in a different direction and all seemingly blocked by the now twisted rock that made up the earth around the cave system. Sam sat with her laptop tediously marking each path and noting the obstructions that they would face, following each cave to it’s end.
“It looks like we’re going to have to make a new tunnel to get where we need to go.” She said finally as she pointed to one of the caves. “That one runs the closest to the target, but it looks like we will have about twenty feet of rock to push through. The next best option is number four,” she pointed at another tunnel entrance, “see it opens up into the cavern where the machine is, I think it might even be the original tunnel but it has two separate blockages.”
“Most of it’s just dirt though.” Sophia offered. “You can see it in the data, lots of small rock and minerals but nothing bigger than a shovel can handle.”
“Shall we then?” Mark Jr asked as he reached for his gear.
“Don’t mind if we do.” Sam announced. “Gideon, I would like one or two of your team to join us if you can please. I don’t know what to expect, but if these people do somehow have the tech to stir the earth like this I think it would be foolish not to have your particular skills beside us.”
“Siren, Reef, mount up!” Gideon barked the commands without hesitation as he crossed to where his gear was sitting. “I’m coming to.”
The three warriors didn’t need much time to get ready, each one selecting both weapons and gear with the ease of someone whom had seen too many deployments. Sam, Mark Jr and Sophia didn’t need any longer to ready themselves having spent last night anticipating this adventure they had packed for every imaginable possibility during the night.
“Let’s start with tunnel four,” Mark Jr suggested, “I think I’d rather dig through dirt twice than blast through rock once.”
The cave snaked its way through the twisted rock, sometimes leaving barely enough room for a human body to fit through. Gaps that had previously been full size passages were now reduced to an oddly shaped sliver requiring the team to shed their gear, pulling harnesses, packs and weapons along behind them. After more than three hours they finally reached the first blockage.
Loose dirt.
“Pass me a muck bucket.” Sam had been leading the group, now she was assembling her collapsible shovel and getting ready to start the real work of cave exploration.
“Forgive me for asking,” Gideon said hesitantly, “but what are we supposed to do with all the loose dirt? We can’t exactly move it out of the cave.”
“Pile it along the wall of the passage,” Mark Jr explained, “it might be some extra work but we can’t let the dirt pile up enough to cramp our exit.”
“Ten-four.” Jaxson “Reef” Vance announced cheerfully.
“Why do they call you reef?” Sophia asked as she handed him a full bucket of debris. “You study oceanography?
“Not really.” Jaxson laughed audibly.
“Short for Reefer! When we found him he was a massive pothead!” Kira joined the laughter.
“Give him credit,” Gideon cut in, “Reef’s last mission with the SEAL’s left some pretty severe damage.”
“Self medicating?” Sophia asked with a grin. “I tried that when I thought Victor had died, Sam took me to a hospital instead.”
“As it turns out that was what worked for me too.” Jaxson agreed. “I just needed Gideon’s job offer to make me want to sober up enough to get help.”
Digging out the blockage took nearly two hours but they managed to clear a big enough hole to slip through and move further into the cave. The rocks here were the worst, looking like they had been stretched and folded in on themselves more than anything natural, somehow restructuring the stone itself into something it wasn’t meant to be. The dark was complete and were it not for the tech woven into the goggles they wouldn’t have been able to move at all without risking injury or death in one of the pits or stalactites hanging from the roof.
“Second blockage.” Sam announced. “Sophia this one looks like solid rock.”
“Rock?” Sophia was puzzled. “The scans make it look like dirt, the composition readings are identical to the last one. Let me have a look.”
Sophia moved to the front of the column as she ran her hand over the surface, picking at protruding bits with her fingertips.
“Look at the grain through filter b-five.” She said softly. “This is dirt, but it’s been restructured into a solid.” She tapped at the wall with a rock-pick a few times to find a completely solid, rock-like wall in front of her before adding with a tone of defeat. “Solid.”
“I have a hammer drill, but only the bit for setting climbing anchors.” Mark Jr frowned.
“Looks like we have no choice but to back to forward ops and come back with the right tools.” Sam’s tone matched Sophia’s as she contemplated the plan. “I don’t want to blast in here, even if we use a set of small charges the concussion in here would force us back to far and might destabilize the cave too much.”
“We have the core drill.” Mark Jr suggested. “I’ve seen videos of folks using a six inch core drill to hollow out entire rooms inside of solid rock.”
“Sounds like a chore.” Gideon noted.
“Scans show this one at about five feet thick,” Sam was in full planning mode as she vocalized her thoughts, “if we get two or three drills working at the same time it should take us about nine hours per foot of movement.”
“Forty-five hours.” Mark’s voice was laced with discouragement.
“Forty-five.” Sam said resolutely. “Unless anyone else has a faster suggestion?”
“Rachel?” Sam radioed back to camp.
“Go for Vixen.” Her reply was near instant.
“There’s two large plastic cases in the corner near the food,” Sam explained, “grab the drills and as many battery packs as you can find, leave the cases they wont fit through the cave. There is a small power bank generator near them and you will find a bag of eight inch rock hole saws on the shelf next to them, we’re going to need some spares. Can you grab them and head our direction, and bring some extra muscle this is going to be a huge task.”
“On it ma’am!” Vixen seemed excited to get moving and her enthusiasm showed in her voice.