“I expect the entire dromos has been completely filled in,” Griffin said glumly. “No hope of escaping that way. But cheer up,” he added optimistically. “At least we won’t have to worry about running out of air.”
Erik was rummaging around in his backpack again. He withdrew an army knife. Looking up at his companions, he asked, “Either of you have something sharp we can use to scrape away the loose mortar?”
Cassie reached into a pocket and produced a metal nail file. “Will this work?”
The security coordinator nodded approvingly. “It can’t hurt. How about you, Griffin?”
After thoroughly checking his pockets, Griffin reluctantly held forth a gold ball point pen. “This is all I have with me.”
“Good enough,” Erik said.
“It’s my favorite pen,” Griffin commented sadly.
Since the rock pile was only wide enough to support one person, they took turns climbing up to gouge and dig at the mortar. After what seemed like hours, they loosened one of the stones enough to dislodge it.
“Stand back,” Erik cautioned. “The earthquake could have destabilized the entire dome. I don’t know how many others will fall.”
His companions moved to the opposite wall of the chamber. They nervously shone their flashlights on the fracture in the ceiling as he carefully worked the rock free.
The second he pulled it from the curve of the dome, three other stones surrounding it fell out of place and dropped to the rock pile at his feet. He waited tensely to see if any more would tumble loose. “So far, so good,” he murmured.
With the delicacy of a brain surgeon, Erik freed two more corbelled stones without disturbing the rest of the dome. Eventually, he had opened up a space wide enough to allow one of them to squeeze through.
“You did it!” Cassie exclaimed in surprise.
“We did it!” Griffin corrected in an elated tone.
Erik gave a half smile. “You guys ready to go topside?”
“Yes, please,” the scrivener requested politely.
Cassie nodded in a flood of mute relief. They weren’t going to die after all. At least not today. With a shock, she noticed a grayish light coming from the gap in the ceiling.
“Is that…” she paused.
“Daybreak,” Erik completed the sentence.
“How long were we down here?” she asked in wonder.
“Too long,” he replied concisely. “Better let me go first.”
“What a gentleman.” Cassie’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
Erik gave her an exasperated look. “In case our friends are still hanging around outside.”
He reached into his backpack for the thousandth time and pulled out a hand gun.
“What the…” Cassie trailed off in shock. “You had a gun all this time, and you didn’t try to use it?”
“In case you forgot, the cowboy had you in a stranglehold with a pistol to your head. If I’d made a move, he would have splattered your brains all over the countryside.”
“Lovely image,” interjected Griffin.
“Besides, we had our hands in the air. If I’d dived into my backpack to reach for a weapon, same result. Your brains splattered all over the countryside.”
“But why weren’t you carrying it someplace more useful?” Cassie challenged. “Like a holster or something.”
“Too obvious,” Erik countered.
“It’s comforting to know that if you actually need a gun, it’s going to be conveniently out of reach.”
Erik climbed down off the rock pile and glowered at Cassie. “You can make this about me all you want, but you’re just covering up for the fact that you’re the weak link in this operation!”
“What?” Cassie gasped.
“That’s right,” Erik persisted. “You’ve got no business being part of this world. You’ve never been trained for it. And because you don’t know what you’re doing, I end up risking my neck to keep you safe!”
Cassie was speechless. How could he blame her for this mess? It was clearly his fault for being caught off guard.
“You know what?” she challenged. “I am fed up with your attitude. You need to get over the inexperience of me because it’s seriously messing up your job performance. This whole trip you’ve been pouting that you had to babysit the greenhorns. You were so busy feeling sorry for yourself that you got sloppy and let your guard down.”
Erik sent Cassie a murderous look.
Before he could follow it with a killing retort, Griffin rushed to smooth things over. “Really, I think we should continue this lively and interesting discussion once we’re well away from this place. Our principal concern at the moment ought to be escape.”
Erik and Cassie glared ferociously at one another for several more seconds before the security coordinator broke eye contact. “I’ll go first,” he repeated. “Hand me my pack once I’m outside.”
Chapter 40 – Site Unseen
Erik climbed to the top of the rock pile. Holding his pistol, he poked his head through the gap in the dome. Apparently feeling that it was safe, he squeezed himself past the narrow opening and disappeared.
“All clear,” he called down. “Send Cassie up next with my pack.”
The pythia didn’t argue. She wanted to get out of the tomb without further delay. She reached for Erik’s pack but sank under the weight of it. It was unexpectedly heavy. She wondered to herself if he might have packed a rocket launcher that he forgot to tell them about. Griffin helped her to hoist it up ahead of her.
She had no trouble squeezing herself through the gap since she was the smallest of the three. When the cool dawn air hit her face, she almost sobbed with relief. Realizing that Erik was standing nearby, she blinked back the tears. This wasn’t something she wanted him to see. Especially not after what he had just said. She wasn’t going to give him any more reason to believe that she was the weak link.
Griffin followed a few minutes later. “That was a bracing experience, wasn’t it?” he joked.
Neither of his companions laughed.
Cassie noticed the sky turning a lighter shade of grey. Twilight and dawn looked oddly the same. At least
