Roman Ice

by Dave Bartell

  93

  Carn Eige

  Emelio had caught nothing but a floating log by the time the sun dropped behind the peaks. Chill air gathered as the valley cooled. He and Carmen started the Range Rover for warmth while Olivier hiked up the mountain to get the latest news.

  “Sorry,” said Olivier when he rejoined them about forty minutes later. “I had to wait for James to come out of the tunnel to talk. He says they’ve moved a couple yards of rock, but it is very slow going and the side tunnel is filling up. They’re taking a break now and will go back to work in a few hours.”

  “What do we do?” asked Carmen.

  “Go back to the Inn. There is nothing we can do here and sleeping on the rocks again is not my preference. James has the satellite phone and will call when they find anything,” said Olivier.

  “What does he think? Can they get through?” asked Emelio rubbing his arms for circulation.

  “I asked him. He doesn’t want to speculate,” he said. “They’re tired and unsure what they are looking for, but they’re not stopping. Let’s get dinner and some sleep and come back in the morning.”

  The gray dawn brought a driving rain that pelted their window. Olivier grabbed the satellite phone. No messages. He showered, and the rain had faded to a drizzle by the time they went downstairs for breakfast.

  Emelio concentrated on a crude map spread out next to his coffee mug. Lines connected blobs labelled Iceland and Scotland in opposite corners. A smaller wrinkled paper contained a numbered list that matched tick marks and numbers on the map.

  “What’s this?” asked Carmen. Olivier ordered two coffees and full breakfasts from the young man who had walked over.

  “Something I’ve been working out. We know from Agrippa’s scroll that the Romans entered the tube somewhere in northern Britannia, near the Caledonian border. A few days later they followed a cave up a ‘waterfall’ and emerged in mountains. They had a look about and continued. Eighteen days later they emerged in their land of fire and ice, or Iceland as we know it.

  “When Darwin called a few days before they started, he talked me through his plan and said they would make for this ‘waterfall’ if there was trouble. He said they would take longer to get through the tube than Agrippa because they had more supplies and would stop for research. So we don’t have an exact day count.”

  “What’s your best guess?” asked Olivier, turning the papers toward himself.

  “Agrippa wasn’t precise, or I should say they had only the technologies of his day. Which were good considering the size of the Roman Empire. After all, they had to move armies, feed them, collect taxes…”

  “Papa!” interrupted Olivier.

  “Sorry,” said Emelio. “We figured about fifteen days to the diamond room. They would spend two days researching and documenting. Then four days to the Scotland waterfall tunnel. He planned one to two extra days for research time.”

  “Which means they would be here anytime from the day before yesterday,” said Carmen. “What if they’re stuck on the other side of that rock pile?”

  94

  The Lava Tube

  Darwin woke to the crunch of rocks. Zac and Ian had come back into the room. Stevie and Eyrún still sat with Pétur. Zac reached for a bag and shoved a protein bar his mouth. Ian rummaged around his pack and placed it back in his corner. Zac devoured a second bar, sloshed it down with water and wiped off his chin. “We followed Eyrún’s suggestion and moved a lot more rock. It’s not any better. Solid top to bottom,” he said.

  “Are you sure?” asked Stevie.

  “This isn’t my first cave rodeo. Those rocks will not move without some force.”

  “But did you dig to the bottom?” Eyrún pressed.

  “Eyrún?” Pétur called. She turned to him. Tears ran from the corners of his eyes.

  “Yes?”

  “I can’t feel my other foot and my hands are tingling. I think we need to go,” he coughed.

  “Pétur,” she leaned over and cradled his face. “We’ll get you out. I promise. I promised Assa. We’ll get you out.”

  The others were silent. Ian steepled his fingers and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Eyrún sat up and turned to them. She sniffed and wiped her face. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

  “Stevie?” asked Darwin. She nodded yes.

  95

  Carn Eige

  Olivier turned off-road and up the valley below Carn Eige. The late summer foliage on the trees hung heavy from the rain and stiff gusts splattered their windshield more than a few times. Their group rolled up to the boy’s cars about half past seven o’clock and started up the slope. The remaining storm clouds drifted toward Inverness as the early sun raised steam clouds from the ground and tinged the air with sweet grass.

  When they reached the cave, two of the guys were sleeping. The place was a mess and smelled like a men’s’ locker room. Olivier sent an aluminum pot clattering on the rocks and woke up them up.

  “Oh, hi, Mr. Lacroix,” said one of the young men. “What time is it?”

  “About seven twenty,” he said. “Sorry to wake you boys. How is it going?”

  “Slow. We went back in a few hours after you left yesterday, and James relieved us about five.”

  “How far did you get?” Carmen asked, setting the pot to boil on the small camp stove. “Coffee?”

  “Love some. Thanks. Ah, do you mind?” he smiled and got out of his sleeping bag.

  “Oh,” she turned toward the stove as he emerged and pulled on his pants.

  “We hit large rocks at the end of my shift. James and the other guys were uncovering them. I don’t know how far they got.”

  “Carmen,” called Olivier who stood with Emelio at the back of the cave. “They’re coming up.” They watched a light swirl around as a head and body rounded the turn into the opening.

  “We’re royally fucked!” said James.

  96

  The Lava Tube

  Ian and Zac estimated it would take an hour or two to set the explosives. They would come back and detonate from the lower cave. To pass the time, Darwin, Eyrún and Stevie sat with Pétur and told stories about silly graduate projects. Pétur asked Stevie to describe the wonders of the Chauvet cave again.

  Ian and Zac returned and set up the wireless detonator. They all pressed against the side of the cave with Pétur. Eyrún said she would hunch over Pétur’s face in case any rockfall came down. The rest of them sat upright.

  “I’ll hold the detonator in front of the opening and press this trigger. I’ll count backwards: three, two, one. I’ll press the trigger on ONE. Got it?” asked Ian.

  They all nodded.

  “There won’t be much noise, but you will feel the concussive wave. Not large, but when I count open, your mouths. As I say ONE, pop your ears. Ready?”

  “Ready,” they responded.

  “Pétur, you good?” Ian asked.

  “Let’s get out of here,” said Pétur.

  “Okay then,” he said swinging his left hand out into the opening.

  “Three. Two. ONE!”

  A “whump” slapped their ears like two cupped hands and the cave shuddered like someone hitting concrete with a massive sledge hammer. Silence followed.

  97

  Carn Eige

  James explained the tunnel was hard blocked by large rocks. Nothing they had with them would budge them, and his team was a spent force. Olivier asked about blasting the rocks out. James said it was possible, but they had no explosives and not likely to get any. He explained that you cannot just buy stuff like that without proper licensing.

  Carmen was on him like a mother bear. “But this is an emergency!”

  “Is it?” asked James. “We don’t know for sure that anyone is in there.” He poured himself a coffee and sat down against the wall.

  “They must be. They can’t be anywhere else. We need to get back in. They’re stuck on the other side,” said Carmen walking in so close that James held his mug out to keep her from hitt
ing it.

  “We can’t. I’m due back on duty and the guys have day jobs. We’ve already gone past what the volunteer services allow without documentation,” said James.

  “We’re not giving up James. Who do I need to call to keep you on this? Who can approve the explosives?”

  “It’s not that simple,” he said.

  “Why—”

  A thud reverberated in the cave followed by the sharp sounds of ricocheting rock.

  “Stop! Get away!” yelled James, tossing the mug and pulling Olivier away from the opening. Moments later a dust cloud poured into the cave. “Everybody out. Now!” James yelled again. Carmen and Ryan grasped Emelio’s arms and quickly stepped him out. James and Olivier were last out as dust vented from the cave and wafted up the mountain.

  “What the fuck was that?” gasped Evan.

  “Explosion,” said James. “That was nothing natural.”

  “It’s them!” exclaimed Carmen. “We’ve got to get in there.”

  “Hold on.” James grabbed her arm. She shrugged him off and moved to the opening. Olivier blocked the way. She tried to push around him, and he bear-hugged her.

  “Stop it, Ollie! Stop it!” she yelled.

  “Mrs. Lacroix,” said the young man she woke up earlier, “we have to wait a few minutes. We’ll get them, but right now we can’t even see.” She slumped in Olivier’s arms.

  98

  The Lava Tube

  “Is that it?” asked Stevie, getting up.

  “Wait,” said Zac grabbing her arm. She frowned at him. “Watch,” he tipped his head toward the opening. A dust cloud poured into the room and surrounded them. Eyrún apologized to Pétur and lay a cloth over his face. They covered their faces, but still sputtered with coughing fits as the dry particles settled everywhere.

  Stevie pointed at the opening. While dust still swirled in the room, a clear stream of dust was now being sucked back up the passage.

  “Is that…,” said Eyrún. “Pétur, look.” She pulled the cloth off his face and he turned to see.

  “I think the ladies should go up first,” said Ian. “We’ve caused them enough pain.” Eyrún and Stevie were up the cave before he finished. Zac and Ian followed at a slower pace.

  Darwin sat down with Pétur and took his hand. “I’m so sorry about all of this, Pétur. I never intended for any of us to get hurt. We’re getting you out of here,” Darwin said.

  “It’s okay, Darwin. I know it’s not your fault. Go on. I can wait,” said Pétur.

  “No, I’ll wait.”

  Stevie slipped on leather gloves and crawled back up the pile toward a hole the size of a basketball. Grit covered everything, and she tightened her bandana and pulled on goggles. The dust was clearing and streamed into the opening. It’s a baby black hole. She had never seen a more beautiful sight.

  Eyrún climbed up the mound next to her and they pulled rocks from the top of the pile to enlarge the hole, laughing like kids working on a sand castle. “What’s that?” said Eyrún. A light flashed ahead. It happened again. Two lights now seemed to be weaving back and forth on the other side of the widening hole. Then they heard a voice: “It’s open! Somebody blew it from the other side,” the voice yelled.

  Stevie squeezed through the hole and almost ran into a man coming down the up-slope side of the cave. “Who are you?” he said.

  “Stevie Leroy. I’m so happy to see you.” She stuck out her hand. The man grasped it. “James Brodie. Welcome to Scotland.”

  “We’re in Scotland? Oh my god! We’re in Scotland!” she squealed.

  “Aye,” said James.

  “How far to the outside?” asked Stevie. “We’ve got a guy with a serious back injury and need to get him through.”

  “Not far. About three hundred yards, meters, whichever you do,” said James.

  “Metres,” said Stevie. “I’m French. You got any beer out there?”

  “Beer?”

  “My dad’s Australian.”

  James snorted. “Yeah, I’ll have them helicopter it in. Let’s get these rocks moving. How much room you got down there? It’s tight up here.”

  “We’ll manage,” said Stevie as she slid back and hurled rocks with Eyrún. “Ian. Zac. Get your asses up here and help,” she yelled.

  99

  Carn Eige

  “They’re through!” yelled Ryan as he burst into the room. “Couple women named Stevie and Eyrún. Evan, call in a medevac. Someone’s hurt.”

  “Who’s hurt? Darwin? Did they say?” said Olivier.

  “Ah, no. They didn’t.”

  “I’ll go in,” said Olivier.

  “Olivier. No. Let these men do their work,” said Carmen, calm and focused. “Ryan, please hurry.” As he went back in, Carmen and Olivier set to cleaning up the cave and clear a path for the injured person.

  100

  The Lava Tube

  Darwin rocked back and forth as if willing them out. It felt like an hour had passed since they had run up the tunnel.

  “Darwin!” came Eyrún’s voice. The sounds of rocks being kicked grew louder as she stumbled into the cave. “Darwin, it’s open and there are people on the other side calling your name. We’re through. We made it,” she said, almost hurling herself into him. They fell over and cried and laughed at the same time. “I can’t believe it,” she kept saying.

  “Who is it?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. When we got there, lights were shining in and these guys asked if I was with you. I said yes, and they said, ‘Bring him up.’” She turned to Pétur. “We’re going home!”

  Darwin opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. The sobs hit him like a body blow.

  101

  Carn Eige

  Emelio was stationed outside to signal the helicopter. He was worried sick about Darwin, but another feeling grew and a smile crept across his face. Darwin made it. The lava tubes were real. A distant whopping sound rose as an aircraft emerged out of the east. The sun glinted off its canopy. Emelio pulled the cord and held the flare aloft. “You did it, Darwin. You did it!” he yelled at the sky.

  102

  Olivier looked at his watch again. Everything’s taking forever. He and Carmen sat outside in the sunshine with Emelio as the activity took place around them. The helicopter had landed in the small valley over an hour ago and the paramedic team was still inside the cave. Ryan had brought out news earlier that Darwin was safe and the injured man’s name was Pétur but, admitted they confused him about who was who and when they would come out. He confirmed that none of them would leave the cave until Pétur was out.

  Noises from the cave stirred them as James’s team and the paramedics emerged with the stretcher and set it on the ground. A woman with a dark ponytail knelt beside Pétur and held his hand. One paramedic radioed the helicopter pilot to pick them off the mountain while the other paramedic shouted into a satellite phone to the hospital. The helicopter’s engine roared to life, and the rotors began to turn.

  A man a little taller than Darwin and a woman with curly auburn hair emerged and, after holding their faces up to the sun a few moments, grabbed each other and jumped up and down. The pony-tailed woman by the stretcher stood up and moved toward them. “I’m Eyrún,” she said, holding out her hand.

  “Carmen and Olivier. We’re pleased to meet you. Where is he?” Carmen asked.

  “He should be right behind us. He wanted to be the last out. Captain of the ship sort of thing,” said Eyrún. They thanked her and hustled into the cave.

  “Darwin has told me about you,” said a voice behind Eyrún.

  “Emelio?”

  He held out his arms. She stepped in and he closed around her. She cried as the gentle man patted her shoulder. “You’re safe now, Eyrún,” he soothed. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”

  The helicopter beat the air above them and another paramedic motioned them to the side as they hooked up Pétur’s rescue basket.

  103

  The Lava Tube

>   Darwin stopped at the gap, behind James. Part of him did not want to go through. Will anyone believe us? He rolled on to his side and opened a small bag inside his pack. About thirty rough diamonds, a few as large as his big toe, rattled in the bag. What is it about these lumps of carbon that drive people to violence? He thought of Jón and teared up.

  He closed the bag and pushed through the gap. Once through, he thought of the tube they had not followed. Merde. How am I going to get back in there? That tube on the other side of the waterfall goes to London. It must.

  Following James up the tunnel, he plotted ways to return when he realized that James was talking. He could see a strong light coming from behind James.

  “Huh?” said Darwin.

  “I said, are you ready? Because I think you’re about to blow people’s minds with what you guys did.”

  104

  The Loch Inn, Fort Augustus, Scotland

  “Darwin, honey, it’s the prime minister,” pleaded his mother, holding out the phone. “You have to take this one.”

  “Good morning,” said Darwin, rolling his eyes and motioning for the triple-shot cappuccino that Olivier had brought. In the three days since getting out of the lava tube, he had ordered so many that the local barista had scribbled “Caledonian Volcano” on the chalk board in honor of Darwin’s discovery. Fort Augustus had more media trucks than a Nessie sighting, and the worst of the headlines speculated that the famous monster hid in the discovered lava tube.