Chapter 2

Andy Petrick was having a bad day. A very bad day. He sat on the damp rock in the far corner of the living room-sized cavern, elbows on his knees; head supported by his hands, fingers snaked through his dark hair wallowing in resentment.

Maybe he should have listened to his girlfriend when she said she didn't want to go caving with him because after that everything went downhill. Tiffany first complained of bad weather but Andy reminded her it doesn't rain inside caves. Then she whined she was claustrophobic. "It's a big cave," he had retorted. When she said her wrist was bothering her, his temper got the best of him and he threatened to break up with her if she didn't go. Once in the cave, he felt like he was leading a stubborn mule getting Tiffany and her friends to explore the parts he wanted to check out. What a bunch of wimps.

Later, when he sat down to retie his boot, he placed his favorite flashlight beside him. Poised on the steep angled surface it toppled over, rolling into a bottomless crevice. The clinking from bouncing off the rock walls could be heard long after the illumination was eaten by the darkness. Andy had bought the expensive, batteryless light from one of those fancy, hi-tech gadget stores.

Without lifting his head, he tilted it towards the exit. Only twenty feet up through a naturally chiseled tunnel, water flowed in at a steady rate, leaving the upward climb too slippery. He tilted his head a bit more, his attention drawn to the five other cavers. One of them held up his cell phone and cried out joyously, "I got them! The police are contacting that rescue group. They should be here any minute now."

Andy was so preoccupied with getting the people to go spelunking, he overlooked the emergency anchor ropes at the entrance. He knew the others were blaming him for forgetting, even if they didn't say anything. Deep down he knew he made a bad mistake in front of them adding fuel to his inner fire.

"I told you, give me a couple of minutes, I'd find a way out of here," he growled. "I know what I'm doing."

"We don't know if we have a couple of minutes," one of the guys braved.

"What? You think this cave is going to flood? Didn't you see how deep it went? Nothing's gonna happen, the water will stop flowing in and we can get out without help from any rescue group."

Andy stared them all down and they looked away. He listened to his heart pounding a rhythm in his ears as he tried to think of a way to regain control and save face.

Standing downhill of the cave, Virgil swiped the rain off his face. He yelled into his headset to his boss back at base, "Walt, I'm not sure if you'll see anything through this downpour." The micro camera set on the rescuer's helmet sent video of the area back to headquarters.

He gave a verbal dictation of the scene as he panned over the rescue site, "We found the cave where six spelunkers are trapped. The entrance is partially blocked by a small mudslide, causing a stream to divert into the cave instead of around it. I have Jack and Nancy digging out the entrance. Sonny and Terry are rerouting the stream. The others are bringing up the equipment."

Walt could barely make out what Virgil, one of his best Search and Rescue men, was saying above the cacophony of the California rainstorm. "Virg, get me a closer look at the entrance."

Eyeing the distance up to the cave, Virgil slogged up the slick terrain. Halfway up, his foot was held fast as fingers of mud reached out and grabbed it. No one heard the splat as he took a header into the muck. "I love my job, I love my job," he mumbled as he spat out a wad of the mire. After a well earned string of curses, he said to his boss, "Walt, remind me when I get back why I love my job."

Walt muted his end of the audio to keep Virgil from hearing him chuckle. His lead man could take something like that, grumble now then laugh about it later. He was good natured that way. While waiting for Virgil to clear the video camera and get up to the cave entrance, Walt swiveled in his chair and looked out the window behind him. Amazing what a difference a little over an hour's helicopter ride can make in the weather. The hot Arizona sun baked the soil to well-done outside the office while one of his rescue crews was getting saturated to the bone on a California hillside.

He turned back towards the computer monitor when he heard Virgil. "It looks like a boulder has wedged into the opening. I don't think we need to move it if we can get rid of enough dirt from the side."

"What about the water?"

"Looks like Sonny and Terry are getting a handle on shifting the stream. A couple more minutes and we should have the water diverted"

A woman's voice came over the communications, "Virg, I think I can fit now."

The camera followed Virgil's focus to one of the two people working on enlarging the cave entrance.

"Nancy, you sure?" he asked.

She fiddled with her headset a moment. "Yeah, I won't have any problems. However if anyone down there's built like you," eyeing the well built 6'6" team leader, "they won't be able to fit. I'll let you know when I get inside."

Looking at the sharp angle of the long tube-like entrance, she mumbled to herself, "I sure hope we don't have to basket anyone out of there."

"I hope not, too," came a reply. She started slightly not expecting Jack to answer her, forgetting her microphone was on.

He continued, "I'll keep on digging while you get your harness on."

Nodding to her partner, she traversed over the slippery terrain as he resumed the backbreaking job of shoveling the water-logged mud.

Returning as she was adjusting her harness, Jack gave her good news, "The other two have almost stopped the water from pouring in." She stuck her head in the entrance and looked down into the cave. Her view was limited but she did see brightness about 20 feet down. Popping her head back out, she spoke into her headset, "Looks like a short waterslide. I can see a bottom and a little bit of illumination."

Virgil stated bluntly, "No heroics."

"Don't worry, boss."

When she heard him give the final okay, she gave a tug of her rope and called, "On belay?" When the confirmation came, "On belay, climb when ready," she carefully ducked into then disappeared down the hole.

The five cavers sat on a wide ledge off to the side of the exit. The inflowing water had chosen a path away from them so they kept relatively dry. They had not heard anything more since the first contact with the police and Tiffany looked pale as she bit her fingernails. Her voice started muffled. "This cave is too small. We're stuck in here, water's pouring in and there's no way out." As her panic rose, so did the volume. She screamed, "I want out!" and pounded on her boyfriend Andy. "How did I let you push me into doing this? I never liked spelunking. I told you that." She punctuated each sentence with another punch. She had feared breaking off her relationship with him before today, but nothing could be as bad as this. She shrieked, "If we ever get out, I never want to see you again!"

Already highly volatile, Andy grabbed her wrists as she belted him. He gave them a twist and threw her to the ground. "Knock it off," he growled "I will get us out of here. I used to be a Ranger, remember? I know what I'm doing. We're not in any danger. Besides, look, there isn't that much water coming in now anyway."

"You APPLIED to be a Ranger. They turned you down because you're nuts."

Josh's cell phone interrupted the fight. He looked up at the others with a wide grin. "Hey, the rescue group is right outside. They diverted the stream away from the cave. That's why the water isn't pouring in as fast as it was."

In two strides, Andy was upon him and knocked the phone out of his hand. "I said I would get everyone out."

Josh scrambled after the phone before it slid beyond his reach. "Hey, whadya do that for? That's our only means of communication. Look at the way out." Josh raised his voice and pointed to the exit. "Andy, we didn't anchor any ropes. There's no way we can get out. Even if the water stops, it will take hours if not days for the surface to dry off enough for us to climb out."

Andy glared at Josh, then turning on his crying girlfriend, shouted at her to shut up. His head snapped around when he heard a different voice announce, "Anyone call for a cab?" His mouth dropped in shock as a petite woman in a dark muddy jumpsuit appeared. His fists clenched as he watched Tiffany jump up and give this stranger a hug.

"Is anybody hurt?" Nancy asked.

Tiffany answered abruptly, "No, just scared."

Nancy scanned the area. "Are there only the six of you?"

Tiffany nodded.

The rescuer spoke into her headset, "Virgil, we have all six spelunkers, in good shape. No one needs the basket. They are more frightened than anything.

Turning back to the victims in front of her, she asked, "Who wants to be first?"

"ME!" Tiffany shouted. "I don't want to stay in this coffin any longer than I have to."

Seeing everyone already had a climbing harness on, Nancy made a loop in the middle of the long rope she was lowered down on leaving about 40 feet on either side. She slipped the loop over Tiffany's carabineer, escorted her to the bottom of the slide and said, "Hold on. It's a smooth ride. Relax and let the guys pull you up."

"Okay, Virg. The first one's ready."

Tiffany mouthed a soft, "thank you" to Nancy followed by a loud, "Wooooo!" as she was hoisted up rather quickly.

Nancy watched the wide-eyed girl rocket up the tunnel and adjusted her headset as she spoke. "Uh, guys, take it a little easy on the heave-ho. You just about brought the rest of us up with that updraft you created."

Jack returned the comment, "Sorry about that, we didn't realize how slick that tunnel was. She's okay, though and we're ready for the next one."

Nancy pulled the rope back down to expose the loop. Turning around to face the crowd, she held up the rope, "Next."

Virgil, blanket in hand, waited for the first victim to surface. He was about to tell the three men to ease up on the force when he heard Nancy beat him to it. He laughed quietly when he looked at a surprised face pop out of the cave entrance.

"Whoa, that was fun. It's the only cool thing I've done today" The slight quiver laced through Tiffany's voice was the only evidence of her recent terror. She crawled the last few feet out on her own. Two people on either side of her helped her up, and she read the name tag on one of the suits as Jack Commens. The other person's name was covered in mud, but she still recognized that it was a man.