by Rai Aren
At once, a strong, overpowering smell hit him. His eyes stung. It smelled of ammonia.
He glanced around. The rest of his group were a sorry looking bunch—shivering, soaking wet, looking exhausted and scared as hell, still trying to catch their breath, but everyone was accounted for. He was relieved. He stood up, feeling a little wobbly.
He looked at Javier, clearing his scratchy throat. “Thanks for saving our sorry butts.”
“De nada,” Javier replied, waving his hand.
He turned to Javier’s friends. “Well, I guess this is as good a time as any to introduce ourselves. Hi, I’m Rick.”
They introduced themselves as Juan and Carlos.
Sofia, Luis and Diego introduced themselves as well.
“Good to meet you all. Now what?” Rick asked, smoothing his wet hair away from his face.
“Now, we keep moving,” Javier answered. He fished out his flashlight and shined it down the dark passageway ahead of them and then up to the ceiling. “Bats.”
Rick’s skin crawled as he took in the sight. “Holy...”
The ceiling above them, and ahead, was covered in hundreds of small, brown, moving shapes.
Sofia and Luis gasped.
Diego cringed.
Rick recognized them as Salvin’s Big Eyed Bats. He could hear their wings scratching against the rock.
“It’s ok,” Javier said. “They shouldn’t bother us if we don’t disturb them, they’re herbivores. But the guano will make it hard to breathe and to see.” He pointed to the ground. “We must keep moving. Put your balaclavas on to help with the smell.”
They quickly donned them and then got their flashlights out.
Javier quietly spoke with his two friends. They all nodded.
“I’ll lead,” Javier said, “and Juan and Carlos will bring up the rear this time. We’re familiar with this passageway.”
Rick glanced down at the floor of the tunnel ahead of them as Javier shined his light on it. It was a thick, slimy mess. He groaned. He could see cave cockroaches around the edges, feeding on the nutrient-rich feast.
As Rick tried to keep his gag reflex under control, he asked a question, “Just how much farther are we going?”
Javier had hoped he wouldn’t ask. He knew how exhausted everyone was already.
“Javier?” Rick pressed him.
“It’s about another 400 feet or so,” he replied.
Rick silently cursed. This was a lot to deal with for an older and injured former prisoner.
Sofia whispered to Diego in Spanish, “Will you be ok, Papa?”
He nodded; his gaze fixed straight ahead.
She could tell he’d been traumatized by his experience, but they had no choice but to press on at this point.
“We’ve got you, Papa,” Luis said.
Diego managed a small smile, but swallowed hard.
“Watch your footing,” Javier said, “it’s very slippery.”
“We’ll keep a slow, but steady pace,” Juan added. “It’s not safe to try to move too fast through the guano. You will only fall.”
“Right-o,” Rick said.
The limestone and shale tunnel was damp and musty and the ammonia smell of the acidic guano was nearly overpowering. It was nearly six inches thick in the passageway, squishing over their hiking boots with every step.
Rick nearly gagged from the high concentration of sulphur in the thick, dark-brown compound. His eyes stung and tears streamed down his cheeks.
They all followed in single file after Javier, choking and coughing as they went.
Luis nearly slipped, but managed to catch himself by bracing his arms on either side of the passageway.
Overhead the bat colony was abuzz with movement, using echolocation to ping the intruders. A few bats swooped down, flying over their heads, the flapping of wings echoing loudly in the enclosed space.
They ducked on instinct, but the bats were still several feet above their heads.
“Not liking visitors, hey?” Rick muttered under his breath. “I don’t blame you.” He wanted, more than anything, to be free of their guano-laden path. The thick compound provided strong suction, making it hard to pull his boots up at times. He also braced himself with his hand on the nearest rocky wall. He didn’t want to fall into this muck. That would really ruin his day.
They all grunted as they slowly worked their way forward. Flashlight beams were spearing the wall at varying angles, and occasionally glancing off of the squirming mass of small, furry, winged bodies overhead.
The bedraggled group trudged along, feeling winded by the effort, winding around the occasional stalactites spearing down sharply from the ceiling.
A short way ahead, Javier put up his hand and called out to the group, “Beyond this point, the passageway narrows for a good thirty feet. It’s tight, but passable.”
Rick inwardly groaned. He’d been in these situations before and it wasn’t something he looked forward to.
They all turned sideways to fit through. They slid their rucksacks off, holding them in their hands as they squeezed through the narrow passageway, now less than three feet wide.
The ceiling height was quite high at this point. Rick couldn’t even tell how high it went, it had to have been over 100 feet, but it allowed a little extra air to breathe and helped the sense of claustrophobia that was pressing in on him.
At least there are no more bats beyond this point, he thought, noticing they’d cleared the colony. Much to his relief, the strong odor of guano began to dissipate.
He pressed his back against the rocky wall, keeping as much space in front of his face as possible.
This narrowed section of the tunnel was also rapidly accumulating water. It started only a couple of inches deep, but as they went on, the water level rose to above their knees. The water was cool and the passageway smelled musty and earthy.
Rick was also grateful that at least the water would wash the guano off their boots, but he tried not to think of what else might be in the muddy water. He planned on burning all of his clothes when they got out of this mess.
To his immense relief, a few minutes later, he felt the space widen.
“We’re almost there,” Javier called out.
Almost where, Rick wondered. But anywhere would be better than this.
The passageway continued to widen and they were all able to turn and walk forward, slushing through the still knee-high water.
“You can take your balaclavas off now,” Juan called out to the group.
With immense relief, they all did, stuffing them back into their rucksacks, and then carried on, following Javier.
Several minutes on, the water level steadily receded as the passage opened still wider.
Rick noticed the air smelled a little fresher in this section and he again felt a slight breeze. He couldn’t wait to exit the cramped, soggy tunnel. He was feeling a bit fatigued from the constant flood of adrenaline rushing through his system and he was sure they could all use a bit of rest, especially Diego.
Carlos noticed their pace was slowing. He called out from behind the group to give them some encouragement, “You’re all doing well. Keep going just a little farther.”
They did.
Finally, the passageway opened up into a large space composed of sandstone and carbonate layers, a good forty feet across and almost as high. Boulders of all sizes were strewn about.
“That’s better,” Rick said, immediately relieved to have more room to move around. The ground was wet, but at least they were no longer slogging through murky water.
Sofia and Luis put their arms around Diego’s waist to support him. They could tell the older man was tiring.
Sofia, speaking in Spanish, asked him if he could continue.
He nodded yes.
They were all still dripping wet. They took a moment to breathe.
Out of the corner of Rick’s eye, he spotted movement. Two huge brown tarantulas crawled between the rocks, only ten feet away. He
shuddered. He wasn’t going to admit it, but he’d always had arachnophobia, ever since he was a little kid. He had a healthy respect for arachnids, he just preferred them at a distance and out of sight. He looked around. He spotted several large three-inch long beetles crawling across the tops and down the sides of some of the boulders. In the far corner of the cavern, a brown and orange rainbow boa quickly slithered into a crevice and out of view.
Quite the ecosystem down here, he thought. He wondered what else creeped and crawled in the shadows.
Juan and Carlos walked up beside him.
“Let’s keep going,” Carlos said to the group.
“You mean this isn’t where we stop?” Luis asked, clearly disappointed and ready for a break.
“No,” he replied.
“Come,” Javier said. “Soon we will rest.”
They walked on, careful to avoid the creepy-crawlies that were appearing all over the cavern.
A few minutes later, Rick suddenly stopped. “Did you hear that?” he asked.
“Qué?” Sofia replied, frowning.
Javier turned around.
Rick stood still for a moment and placed a finger to his lips.
They all fell silent.
Javier looked to Juan and Carlos, who shook their heads.
The sound was gone.
“Maybe it was nothing,” Rick said, shrugging his shoulders.
He wasn’t sure what he’d heard. He looked up overhead to see if there were any more bats, but he didn’t see any. He figured it was probably some other unseen cave denizens he’d heard, scurrying away from the human intruders.
“Lead on,” he said.
Javier nodded and continued another fifteen minutes ahead, on a pathway sloping gently downwards and curving to the right.
They turned a corner, and then, one by one, they all stopped in their tracks.
Before them was a spectacular sight.
CHAPTER 14
“We’re here,” Javier said, holding his arms out.
“Whoa,” Rick said, taking it all in. He was completely stunned.
Sofia inhaled sharply. “Increíble.”
“Dios mío,” Diego whispered under his breath.
They all aimed their flashlights upwards.
The sight left them breathless. They walked forward into a massive cavern, soaring over 900 feet in height. It was a dome-shaped space, with the floor spanning over 400 feet across.
Rick shuddered. There was a distinct change in energy here. Something in the very air felt different to him.
“¿Qué es eso?” Luis asked.
“I think we’ve just stepped into the unknown,” Rick whispered reverently.
They all set their waterlogged rucksacks down.
Juan and Carlos huddled with Javier, whispering in Spanish.
The cavern resembled a cathedral. It was an extraordinary sight. The sheer size and scope of it made them all feel and look very small. No longer surrounded by damp earth and dripping wet rock, the soaring, smooth walls of the cavern glistened like polished white marble with strange, dark, broad, undulating veins of sparkling minerals running through them.
One of the most striking features of the subterranean chamber was the towering grouping of imposing stalagmites at the center of it, growing up from a large, naturally elevated section of the cavern floor. The stalagmites were composed almost entirely of the mysterious dark, sparkling minerals.
The air in this cavern felt warmer and drier. Across the cavern at opposite sides, were two triangular-shaped openings, both slightly smaller than the one they’d entered through. The edges of the cavern were littered with boulders of varying sizes, with the central part of the space mostly cleared of boulders, leaving only smaller rocks scattered about.
“Are those other passageways?” Rick asked.
“Si,” Javier answered, “but they branch off into different tunnels and series of chambers and spread out for miles. It’s very easy to get lost, so don’t go wandering off without a guide.”
Rick nodded. “Understood.”
He then stepped closer to one of the walls and shone his flashlight on it. The dark veins had a shimmering effect to them, reflecting the light. He touched one of the veins. To his surprise, it felt warm. He touched the light part of the wall. It was cooler and felt like sandstone. He figured the warmth in the cavern was coming from the dark veins, but he wondered what kind of minerals they might be composed of.
“This is part of the Tayos Caves system, isn’t it?” Rick asked. He knew the extensive subterranean tunnels and caverns were rumored to stretch out for over 100 miles, and were spread out in many directions. By far, most of it was unmapped, and as far as he knew, unexplored. This place sure wasn’t in any photographs he’d ever seen. His mind started racing over the possibilities of this bizarre, but breathtaking cavern.
Javier nodded. “Si.”
Rick let out a long admiring whistle. “Wow.” He walked around, shining his flashlight at various points along the soaring cavern walls. The dark mineral deposits were laced throughout the entire cavern.
He walked up to the dazzling grouping of dark-hued stalagmites, shining his flashlight on them. They shimmered in the light as well. It was a beautiful effect. There was a cluster of close to thirty of them, spanning fifty feet across the cavern, towering high up on a nearly eight-foot tall rocky protrusion. There was a long, smooth section of surface, with odd repeating rectangular patterns seemingly carved into its front. Then, a few feet in front of that was a roughly three-foot high sandstone outcropping, about two-feet in diameter. It also had thick, wavy striations of the darker mineral running through it.
The stalagmites varied in height, with the shortest being about five feet tall and two feet in diameter, while the largest stalagmite standing at the center of the grouping was an imposing twenty-five feet tall and at least six-feet in diameter.
“What on earth?” Rick said, as he gazed at the highly unusual mineral formations. He’d never seen anything like it. He felt something too, like a faint electrical charge in the air near the stalagmites.
He then noticed something else. In this space there were no signs of animal life. No bats. No tarantulas. No snakes. Nothing. Not even insects.
Strange, he thought. Very strange.
“We can rest here,” Javier said, drawing Rick’s attention back to the group. “We can discuss what to do next after we’ve had a break, ok?”
“Si,” Sofia said, grateful that her father could finally rest. The older man was getting a little unsteady on his feet.
Sofia motioned to Luis and together they walked off to the side to tend to Diego’s injuries and change the wet bandages on his forearm and lower leg. Using their flashlights, they found some boulders to sit down on at the edge of the cavern. They all took some water and Sofia gave Diego a granola bar and some trail mix. They huddled together, speaking softly in Spanish, hearing more details about Diego’s capture and time with his captors. They also filled their father in on what had happened to lead them here and told him all about Rick and how the three of them had met, starting with his chance encounter in the alley when Luis was being attacked.
A few minutes later, Rick came over to check on them and offer his assistance. He sat down next to Diego.
Diego grabbed him and gave him a big hug. “Gracias, gracias, Señor Rick,” he said, squeezing him, and patting his back. “They told me what you did for Luis, and for me. Familia is everything. Gracias.”
Rick was deeply touched and hugged the older man back. “De nada,” he replied, a soft smile on his face.
Then, Javier came over and knelt down in front of Diego. Speaking in Spanish, he apologized for not being able to rescue him, himself, when he had first come across him in the jungle. He told Diego about the events leading up to him finding him there.
Diego understood. He replied that Javier had been alone. He would’ve been no match for his captors and they would’ve both ended up as prisoners. He thanked Javier f
or helping to rescue him this time.
Just then, they heard the sound of footsteps. Startled, they all spun around.
“Javier?” a young woman asked, as she emerged from one of the other entrances to the cavern.
Javier let out a huge sigh of relief. “Mari!”
He ran over to her and the two of them hugged.
Juan and Carlos came rushing over to her as well and hugged her. Javier gave her some water and a couple of granola bars from his rucksack. Hungry and dehydrated, she wolfed them down and drank an entire bottle of water. Javier gave her more water and food.
“We were so worried,” Carlos said.
Javier looked at her. “I thought you’d been captured, or worse...”
“I managed to get away,” she replied, “but they had men crawling all over the nearby jungle.”
“Si,” Javier answered, “they’re looking for this place.”
Speaking rapidly in Spanish, Javier filled her in on the events leading up to their arrival and told her who his new friends were.
Mari explained that she’d heard men in the jungle when the four of them had left this cavern after hiding the artifacts, so she’d decided to take shelter in the cave system. She hadn’t dared leave, being that she was completely on her own. She’d hoped that they would come back to look for her once it was safe.
“We all need to remain here for now,” Javier said, “and wait until it’s safe to leave. After losing their prisoners, they’ll likely still have men scouting the area for some time.”
He motioned them to go join the others. They started walking back over.
Mari nodded. “I think that’s best. We can send a scout out in a day or two to figure out if it’s safe to leave.”
“Exactly what we were thinking.”
Rick stood up to speak to the four of them. He was glad that they’d found their missing teammate, but he had questions. He looked at Javier. “I hate to break up this nice family reunion, but what is this place? I’ve never seen anything like...” He stopped mid-sentence, hearing a commotion. He whirled around.