by Donal Myrick
“What does it say?”
Connie began reading the note to Scott.
“Mr. Mueller, I hope this note finds you and your comrades still in good health. I apologize for my hasty departure. I was ordered to return immediately to Moscow, and I did not have an opportunity to speak with you before I left. I did not leave under favorable circumstances, the details of which I cannot divulge, but I feel that it is of utmost importance that I give you this warning. My replacement as the head of the Russian/Venezuelan Cooperative Mission is Dr. Alexeev Kuznetsov. He is a very powerful, evil, and dangerous person. You must be very careful in dealing with this man. He will care nothing about you, your expedition, your people, or your purpose for being there. He views your presence there as an impediment to his mission. As such, he will do whatever he deems necessary to force your departure, and that includes creating very unfavorable circumstances for your continued presence. Russia and Venezuela have developed some close economic ties, and that gives Dr. Kuznetsov some powerful leverage with the Venezuelan Government. I know you have a very close relationship with the Director of the Canaima Park, but when a conflict arises, and it will, Mr. Ruiz will not be able to protect you. I urge you to exercise utmost caution, limit your interaction with Dr. Kuznetsov, and it is very important that you keep all of your findings to yourselves. Do not share any information with him. I will try to keep you appraised as much as possible; however, opportunities and lines for communication are very limited and monitored. Any communication to you in the future from me will be in writing and will bear my personal seal. Any communication not bearing this seal will not be from me. Note the details of the seal carefully. I wish you and your comrades the best of luck and safe passage. Sergei Vassilov”
“Well, that confirms my feelings. I knew instantly that I didn’t like that Kuznetsov character, and we only partially trusted Sergei. However, I think I trust Sergei a whole lot more now than before.”
“Scott, you have got to let me know what is going on. I’m scared to death now.”
“Connie, there are some things I can’t talk about over the phone. But the situation here is this: I’ve got six of my friends on the bottom of a never before descended twenty-five hundred-foot deep pit with a torrential waterfall pouring into it. I, we, thought that we had the full cooperation and support of the Russians, or else Ted and Peggy would never have joined the team on the bottom. Now I’m the only one left here on the top with any caving experience, and my experience is limited. If anything should go south, we are in big trouble. That’s why I need some immediate experienced help. We have made some startling discoveries that we have partially shared with the Russians. There some things we have not shared, and Sergei’s warning note confirms our intuition not to share some details was the correct decision. What we have found is what I cannot talk about over the phone.”
“Oh, my God! What are you going to do now?”
“Well, first, I need some backup help. Secondly, I need to talk with Max, but he and the team are off exploring and will be out of communications for several more days, at least. Then we need to get them out of the pit, pack up our stuff and get the hell out of Dodge. Then we can figure out what to do next.”
“What do you want me to do now?”
“Take a picture of Sergei’s seals. Don’t use your phone. Phones can be hacked. Use one of the high-resolution cameras, and make sure you get several clear images. I think there may be more to his seals than meets the eye. Then store the camera’s memory disc and the envelope somewhere safe and secure but in separate places. Then, let’s contact Glen, and who else did you say you were able to contact?”
“Okay, but can I listen in?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, set it up as a conference call, then you will hear everything.”
“What are you going to tell them?”
“Everything I just told you except nothing about our discoveries.”
By early that evening, Scott had recruited Thomas Mitchel, Jennifer Stoneman, and Glen Neely to join the expedition. Glen had a good suggestion. He pointed out that there was an active speleological organization in Venezuela, and surely some of the members could come to Scott’s aid immediately. And certainly, a show of force in terms of bodies actively engaged in the expedition couldn’t hurt. Glen said that he would handle making some contacts and get some local support asap.
True to his word, Glen put out a call to solicit support from several Venezuelan caving clubs, and by the following evening, a dozen or more cavers of varying experience levels were headed to Canaima Park.
Scott put in a call to Carlos, “Hey Carlos, this is Scott Mueller.”
“Buenos noches, Mr. Scott. You are calling quite late in the evening. What’s happening? It must be important. How can I be of help?”
“You are right, Carlos, it is important, and I do need your help. Can you possibly spend tomorrow flying people from Canaima Camp up to here? I know this is really short notice, but things are moving fast.”
“I have a charter scheduled for tomorrow, but I can put them off for a day or two. What time do I need to be at Canaima?”
“As soon as you can get there, people are starting to arrive there this evening. I don’t know how many will be there, but I know it will require more than one trip. I’ll fill you in on the latest when I see you. I appreciate your help. I know this is really short notice, and an inconvenience to you.”
“For you guys, I’m glad that I can be of service. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Scott said to Miguel, “I like Glen Neely; he is a guy that can get things done. By the way, have you told Mr. Ruiz to expect visitors this evening?”
“No, I’m learning about them at the same time as you. I’ll alert him now. I’ve been talking with the Director several times a day, so he is very aware that things are unsettled here. He probably won’t be surprised, and I don’t want him to be surprised.”
“Tell him that Carlos will be flying in in the morning also.”
Carlos, despite his best efforts, was unable to make it to Canaima Park as early as he would have liked. He finally touched down just before eleven am, and already ten cavers had arrived at Canaima loaded with all their personal caving gear. By noon, the first five were in the air headed to the top of Auyán tepui. Soon thereafter, the trouble began.
Miguel headed over to the runway to meet the incoming flight. One of the new Russians who claimed that he was in charge of the runway and that he must approve all incoming traffic said to Miguel, “I haven’t been informed of any incoming flights for today, and Dr. Kuznetsov said that he must be informed ahead of time of any flights so they can be properly scheduled. You must inform your flight not to land until they have proper clearances!”
Miguel replied in his most official ‘I’m in charge here’ voice’, “There shouldn’t be any problems.” He continued, “As you just said, there aren’t any other flights expected today. So, my flight will be landing in a few minutes. And by the way, this is Park property, and I am the designated Park Representative responsible for this area. I don’t need your permission to authorize flights in and out of here. This is my runway, not yours. As far as scheduling flights, please be informed that I have scheduled several flights in and out of here today, and they all have proper clearances.”
That was obviously not what the Russian expected to hear, and he left in a huff to report to Dr. Kuznetsov. Shortly thereafter, Miguel could hear the engine rumble of Carlos’s Cessna 205 as they neared the runway. Carlos landed with an uncharacteristic heavy bounce and taxied up to where Miguel was waiting.
Miguel said jokingly to Carlos after he stopped, “That was a pretty good bounce for a beginner. Did you stay up late last night partying with the girls?”
Carlos was in no mood for humor. He replied, “You wouldn’t believe how much stuff these guys brought with them. I needed an extra five hundred feet to get airborne, and I thought I was going to clip off a couple of treetops just getting clear.”
“How many folks did you bring?”
“I’ve got five now, and at least five more back at the camp. I’ll probably need to make two more trips today to get them all up here.”
“You need to be aware, we are having a bit of a power struggle up here in regard to who is in charge of who gets to fly in and out of here. Up until today, everyone has come and gone as they pleased, but the Russians decided they should decide who comes and goes. I just disputed that, and told them that this was my runway and that I would schedule flights in and out as I needed.”
“Why would Sergei do that? I thought that you all had good relations with the Russians.”
“We did. Sergei is no longer here, and the new guy is a butthole.”
“When did all this take place?”
“Just a couple of days ago. It is going to take me a couple of trips to haul all these guys over to my camp. Can you hang around and watch what is left until I get back?”
“Sure,” replied Carlos.
Miguel loaded three of the newcomers and their gear and headed off. Thirty minutes later, when he returned, he was met by Dr. Kuznetsov himself. “Mr. Santos, I gather that we have a misunderstanding regarding the operation of this runway.”
Miguel replied, “I wasn’t aware that there was a problem. Everyone has been operating in and out of here using standard visual operating rules without incident for months. Then a short while ago, your man informed me that he was in charge of this runway and that he had to approve of all incoming flights. I informed him that that was not the case, that this was my runway, and that if anyone was going to start approving flights in and out of here, then that approval was going to come from me.”
“I apologize for my man’s abruptness and improper assumption of your authority, but surely you understand that we have the vast majority of air traffic using this runway. I am concerned with the safety of operations here, so I directed him to ensure that safe operating conditions are maintained. He is an experienced air traffic controller, so he assumed he had complete authority.”
Miguel sensed that this situation could be resolved amicably, but that ground rules for dual usage had better be resolved now, or else later things could become adversarial. Miguel said, “I completely agree that safe operating conditions must be maintained, and I have no problem requiring all users to cooperate and coordinate. What I do have a problem with is your man telling me that my flight cannot land here without his permission and that I must tell my incoming flight that they must turn around and not come back until they have proper clearances.”
“I understand, and that will be corrected.”
“Since you have personnel with air traffic control experience, I have no problem with them coordinating flights in and out, providing that they don’t abuse that authority.”
Miguel went on to explain that Carlos would be making several more flights in and out over the next few days and that between them, they could work out the appropriate and mutually agreeable procedures. Miguel was surprised at how amenable Dr. Kuznetsov was with this arrangement. His demeanor was disarming, and it made Miguel very suspicious.
Carlos made two more round trips bringing a total of eight cavers and their gear. When he left Canaima Camp on his last trip for the day, there were still seven more cavers awaiting their turn. Scott was gratified by the turn out, and his sense of imminent doom was slightly abated. That evening after the newcomers had settled in and had a bite to eat, Scott assembled them around a roaring campfire.
“I want to welcome all of you to Angel Falls. I appreciate your willingness to come and bolster our situation on such short notice. As you all have been told, we have six cavers on the bottom of a twenty-six hundred foot deep pit. The pit has the entirety of the Churún River flowing into it. Until recently, we had a mutual support agreement with our comrades, which many of you met back at the airstrip. However, they recently withdrew their support and are no longer cooperating with us. Without their support, we find ourselves completely unable to provide logistic or any other type of support to the team on the bottom. That’s why we put out a desperate plea to the caving community here in Venezuela for help.”
One of the group replied, “We are more than delighted to help. We all are excited about participating in an exploratory adventure of this magnitude. This is history-making for caving in our country.”
Scott thanked them again, and explained, “In order to best utilize your talents, I need to understand what kinds of caving skills each of you have. First of all, how many of you have experience exploring vertical caves?” Four cavers raised their hands. “Okay, how many of you have experience in technical rock climbing?” The same four raised their hands. “How many of you have done rappels of over two hundred feet?” This time only two hands went up. Scott asked those two to tell about their experience.
The first individual explained that he was a former Army Special Ops guy and that he had served a Joint Operations Tour in the U.S. with the U.S. Army in Huntsville. He said his name was Geraldo Ortega, and he indicated that he had extensive experience in rappelling, climbing and rigging ropes. He said that he had caved both in Venezuela and in the United States. It was in the U.S. where he had gained most of his vertical caving experience, and it was there that he had made his acquaintance with Glen Neely. Geraldo went on to point out that he was parachute qualified, and that he had loadmaster experience.
Scott said, “I am really happy to have you on our team. Your background is perfect.” Scott pointed to the other individual that said he had experience rappelling over two hundred feet. “How about you, what is your background?”
He replied, “Mi nombre es Félix y hablo poco inglés.”
Geraldo jumped in to say, “Felix doesn’t speak much English, but he understands pretty good. He has caved with me for a couple of years. I have trained him in vertical techniques, and he is competent. He and his two buddies are special ops types and are also parachute qualified, not that that qualification has any relevance here. Basically, what it does say is that they are all capable individuals and have skills that are widely applicable. Most of the others here don’t speak much English either, but they also can understand pretty well. There are four others that will come up tomorrow that are competent in vertical techniques but don’t have a lot of caving experience. They have some, but not a lot. They do have a good bit of mountaineering experience, though. They have climbed extensively in the Andes.”
Scott explained that everyone’s help would be appreciated and that by the time this adventure was over, they would be seasoned beyond their wildest dreams. Scott went on to brief them on the layout of the cave, the techniques that they had developed to quickly traverse back to the pit, how every step they made would be made on belay, that they would be spending a lot of time transporting stuff back to the pit and hanging suspended from an anchor above the pit from hell with a torrent of water pouring into it. Scott went on to explain how they would also be preparing provisions packages to be lowered to the bottom of the pit. These packages would be carefully wrapped in plastic and duct-taped thoroughly to ensure that they would be waterproof. They would then put the provisions in heavy-duty duffle bags, and then they would transport the bags back near to the pit area. There the bags would be stowed awaiting communications from the team that they were ready to receive them. That brought up the third task that they would be helping with, and that would be 24/7 monitoring of the communications line. Sam explained how that needed to be done. He explained that while the team was away from their base camp, they would be out of communications range. But since we had no idea as to when they would be returning to the base camp, we had to monitor the line constantly. As Geraldo translated what Scott and Sam were saying, you could see in their faces some apprehension, and perhaps some were wondering as what exactly they had gotten themselves into.
CHAPTER 15
Virgin Passage
When the arrival of the morning was announced by the alarm that Max had set on the La
ser Surveyor, everyone was already awake and stirring. There was an air of anticipation of discovery of big passage ahead, and everyone was eager to begin the push. Jim was the first one up, and as usual, he was hungry. He fired up the little camp stove and began to brew the morning’s batch of coffee. As the aroma began to fill the area, the pace of activity increased significantly.
“Okay, Jim, what’s for breakfast?” Peggy asked as though she actually expected Jim to know.
“I don’t know. I kinda expect every meal is going to be a surprise.”
Jim began digging through one of the ration bags and noticed, “Most of the stuff in here has ‘Freeze Dried’ on the label. Did anyone remember to bring lots of water? How about we have eggs and biscuits for breakfast?”
“Sounds good,” said Bufford, “Cook them up, I’m all for it.”
Unfortunately, on the little camp stove, only one thing at a time could be heated. So after the coffee finished brewing, Jim reconstituted a large batch of eggs and began heating them on the stove. Eggs, biscuits, jam, and coffee is how they started the day.
Max observed, “Jim, a moment ago, you asked a very important question.”
“I did? About what?” Jim asked.
“Water. We don’t have a lot of water. Everything we have done so far on this expedition has been close, actually uncomfortably close to water. Now, it’s like we are in a desert. Water is hours away from where we are, not in distance but in time. It is a critical resource that we have overlooked. We have on hand now what, three maybe four gallons. That won’t last us more than a day.”
Everyone sat for a moment in stunned silence, for indeed, they had overlooked their need for water. Everyone instantly had the same dreaded thought, “Someone is going to have to climb all the way back down to the bottom, collect three to four gallons of water, and climb all the way back up, and do it each day.”
Jim said aloud, “Crud, we’re screwed!”