Jim's flashlight beam disappeared.
'Shit.'
'What's the matter?'
'Batteries must be dead.'
'Didn't you bring the hand pump one?'
'That thing sucks.'
'Well, it never goes out.'
'Hang on a second. Don't move it's rough footing. You'll break a leg if you aren't careful.'
'Where are you going?'
'Back to the opening.'
'I can follow.'
'Too risky. I've made the trip twice already.'
'I'm connected by the rope. I can stumble along.'
'Forget it. Just hang here a second and I'll be right back.'
'Jim, it's goddamn dark in here.'
'Jesus Alex, just chill out a second, okay. I'll be right back.'
Alex leaned back into the cave wall and sighed. 'Go already.'
'Five minutes. No more.'
Alex could hear the scraping of Jim's feet as he moved off down the cave away from him. From the sound of it, Jim wasn't as sure-footed as he claimed to be. Twice he heard him stumble and swear loudly.
Alex almost smiled.
The darkness around him seemed absolute. He looked back the way they'd come trying to see the light from the small opening with the flowers but he couldn't see a thing. He looked toward the opening of the fissure — where Jim had just gone.
He couldn't see anything ahead of him, either.
He could hear his breathing. Surprised at how fast and labored he sounded, he tried to calm himself down. He couldn't remember ever being really afraid of the dark. But then again, he'd never really been in absolute darkness before. Most times, he could see shapes and shadows from ambient light.
He couldn't see anything right now.
But he could hear things.
An odd scrape sounded somewhere ahead of him. Alex frowned.
'Jim?'
The sound stopped.
Alex felt his eyes squinting. As if that would help.
'Don't dick around with me, Jim. This is not the time or the place for this shit.'
The sudden scream sounded much further away than the scrape. Alex recognized Jim's wail.
'What th-?'
He started running toward the scream. But then it died as quickly as it had begun.
And once again, the silence loomed heavy over him.
Had Jim fallen? Alex felt his lungs heaving as he tripped and fell down the corridor. He bumped his head off the rock wall twice, smelling a sudden draw of coppery blood. It streamed down his face from the cut by the temple.
He might need stitches.
His shoes felt heavy. Alex could feel his balance going and he lurched forward, crashing into the floor of the cave.
'Goddamit!'
His gloved hands scraped the floor and he tried to push himself off the ground.
That's when he felt the sudden crushing weight drop on him.
A rock?
Breathing.
He heard breathing.
His own?
Alex's lungs heaved. The weight felt like it was squeezing him to death. He tried to turn over, tried to dislodge the weight.
A draft tickled his ear.
Warm.
Humid.
And the stench of fetid…Alex gagged.
He scrambled to get onto his back and finally felt enough room to do so.
In the darkness, ensconced in the humid draw of breath, he saw the two glowing orbs above him, maybe ten feet away.
And then saw them rushing in at him.
Felt the crashing weight.
Heard his own choked screech.
And then the blackness swallowed him whole.
1
'Charlie 1–5 calling Howard Base. Come in, over.'
Julia Devereaux looked at the C-130 pilot for the third time in as many minutes. 'Still nothing?'
'No response. No, ma'am.'
Julia felt her back slump, a dull ache from hunching over the seat. She couldn't wait to get out of this damned plane. 'Any chance their beacon's out?'
'Could be. We can't tell from up here, of course.'
'Weather?'
'Supposed to be smooth sailing the entire way in. We're in a window right now. Weather station out of Tierra del Fuego says a big storm's coming in the next twenty-four hours. We get you down and take off again. You guys are on your own down there.'
Julia smiled. 'You guys just going to drop the back ramp and shove us off?'
'We might slow down.'
'Thanks for the effort. Keep trying the station. I'd like to have some sort of welcome wagon waiting for us when we get there.'
'Will do. We're about thirty minutes out.'
Julia ducked back into the cabin. She'd never get used to riding in military transports. The C-130 Hercules was as stripped down as they came. A hollow and noisy interior that consisted of a few cots strung up and a curtained off pseudo-lavatory that she'd tried to avoid using on the way down.
Over Argentina, she'd had to finally give in. She still thought she smelled the harsh chemical residue clinging to her extreme cold weather parka. But she couldn't let it bother her. Not now. Not here.
She'd waited too long for this.
And she'd worked too damned hard.
Thirty-seven years old and the leader of an exploration team heading down to examine the geological make- up of the Baker Mountain range. Not bad for a gal from Duluth.
But even if she was the official head of the team that consisted of seven other men, she knew there was some strong resentment already rampant in their ranks.
Most of it came from Kendall.
Julia frowned at the thought of his smug self-righteous smile creasing his thin lips and oily skin. At forty he was deep in the throes of a mid-life crisis. The last thing he wants is to take orders from a girl, thought Julia.
