30th Century: Escape (30th Century Trilogy Book 1)

by Mark Kingston Levin

  Jean-Yves said he had a quarter mile of line he wanted to lay today so the workers on Monday could extend the electrical wiring for the lighting. The amount of water flowing seemed to increase as they climbed forward, laying out the thin line along the right side of the wall. The line was held to the wall using some miniature pitons.

  Jean-Yves said, “The amount of water in the lava tube depends on the amount of rain in the mountains.”

  “That makes sense,” said Jennifer. She let her mind wander as they affixed the rope. She imagined the lava that coursed throughout the tube three hundred thousand years ago when Tahiti Iti was formed. She touched the cold wall and imagined it hot to the touch.

  “We’re almost out of rope,” said Shinji.

  Jean-Yves eyeballed the length of the rope left. “We have about a hundred meters left.”

  He looked at Jennifer and Kyoko. “Do you ladies want to complete the rest?”

  “Yes, I’m not even tired,” Kyoko said. Jennifer echoed her. She wasn’t ready to leave this strange place.

  The lava tube took a slight but wide turn toward the west as they used the rest of the rope.

  “Great job!” Shinji said.

  Jean-Yves said, “Let’s head back and look carefully as we go for possible objects or places to dig.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Shinji said.

  Shinji and Jean-Yves began to walk back, with Jennifer a distance behind.

  “Wait, Jennifer!” Kyoko called out. She was kneeling, looking intensely at the ground.

  “Yes, Kyoko?” She walked back and knelt next to the teen. “What is it?”

  “Look,” Kyoko said. “More spi—”

  A loud rumble shook the air—followed by violent shaking of the earth. A crack struck apart the skin of the ceiling before it came crashing down, separating Kyoko and Jennifer from Jean-Yves and Shinji.

  * * *

  Echoes of the fallen rock died away, all sound seemingly swallowed by their closed-off section. Jennifer assessed her body quickly for pain, and shined her light over Kyoko to be sure the girl was unhurt. Kyoko curled up on the cave floor shaking and crying in terror. Jennifer stood still, but her own shaking would not stop as her heart continued to pound within her chest. Suddenly her training returned, demanding action. She moved to comfort Kyoko. She ignored her own fear and instinct to look for an exit upstream. She had to think of others before herself.

  She crouched next to Kyoko, holding her. “Everything will be all right.” She lifted Kyoko off the wet and muddy cave bottom.

  “Jennifer here. Hello! Come in, over,” Jennifer repeated several times into the helmet radio.

  “No answer?” Kyoko screamed in a panic. Her eyes were very large and she wrapped her arms around herself. Jennifer held the girl despite continuing to shake, too.

  “Is my daughter okay? Over,” Shinji asked.

  Jennifer pushed primal fears into a corner for now. “We are both fine but the passage has collapsed. Are you both there, over?”

  Shinji replied, “Hai! We are both fine and I am so happy and thankful to hear you are not hurt. Please ask Kyoko to call me.”

  Kyoko spoke to her father in Japanese for quite some time. Then Shinji spoke in English to Jennifer. “Jennifer, Jean-Yves is calling in emergency responders from the French Military. We must sacrifice secrecy in order to bring in heavy equipment; however, we can start drilling a small hole to provide supplies and air.

  “I’ll contact Kyoko’s mother and authorities in Japan to report the accident and earthquake. We’ll be back to you in about thirty minutes. Just stay calm to conserve air and stay where you are. Do not move around, over.”

  “Roger that, over,” said Jennifer.

  “Can you both breathe okay?” he asked.

  “Yes, for the moment we are fine,” Jennifer replied. “Over.”

  “Out,” Shinji said.

  Jennifer turned out her light. “We only need one light for now,” she told Kyoko, “if we are stationary. Your father asked us to stay put, but I am curious and would like to look for another exit. However, I will use up air if I search when there are no holes for air to come in.”

  “I understand,” said Kyoko. “My father explained to me in Japanese to try to keep me calm.”

  “You are surprisingly calm.”

  “Jennifer, do not leave me alone. I am scared.”

  “What did your father tell you?”

  “He told me how much he loves me and that he is so sorry. He will call Mom when he has a chance but first he must focus on the task to drill air holes. He said to stay calm and try to conserve air. They need to spend full-time on drilling an air hole.”

  “He’s a smart man.”

  “I’m not calm at all,” Kyoko said. Her voice shook and her face paled.

  “Oh!”

  Kyoko slid down to the floor, into the cool flowing water, and hugged her knees. “I’m scared to death.”

  Jennifer didn’t know what to say. She was familiar with fear, intimate with it in a deathly kind of way. But before the earthquake, she hadn’t felt it in—well, since Zexton was killed. She didn’t know what to tell Kyoko. She sat down next to her.

  “What was it you were trying to show me?”

  “Another spider,” Kyoko whispered.

  “Show me,” Jennifer said. She wanted something to distract them both from fear.

  Kyoko sat unmoving for a minute. Jennifer didn’t poke or prod the girl. She wanted Kyoko to decide for herself.

  Eventually, Kyoko stood up. She used the light on her helmet to move around in the darkness. “It was over here earlier…”

  She walked toward the right side of the tube, swiveling her head back and forth. Jennifer followed closely behind. Kyoko tripped over an uneven mound sticking out of the ground. She yelped and fell.

  Jennifer raced forward to help Kyoko up. “Kyoko, are you all right?”

  “Yes…I just tripped on that.” Kyoko and Jennifer’s lights shined on the mound. A sliver of something smooth and yellowing glinted under their lights, embedded in the mound.

  “Wait…” Jennifer said. She kneeled and squinted hard and long at it, before picking around the mud, rocks and dirt with her hands. She eventually willed her Symbiotes to help strengthen her grip as she tore away rock and dirt from the mound. Kyoko watched silently, curious and confused.

  Eventually, after enough of the mound was cleared away, the round curvature of a skull was exposed. Jennifer looked back at Kyoko; both had wild grins on their faces.

  “We’d better leave the rest of these bones here until archaeologists can excavate them properly without damage,” Jennifer said. “I can’t wait to show them what we found!” She was filled with disbelief and awe. She tapped the top of one of the skulls—she had imagined it would feel much firmer. “We should bring something to show them but leave the rest here. To preserve the bones. They can always come back to retrieve the remains later. We need to conserve air and body heat.” Jennifer started speaking faster and faster. “History will say how the earthquake gave us a real opportunity.”

  “I can’t wait to tell Ricky about this.”

  “Ricky? Oh, the first mate.”

  Kyoko blushed. Jennifer caught on. “Wait…do you—”

  Kyoko hid her face inside her shirt. At first, Jennifer didn’t know what to say—suddenly, she did. She rubbed the back of Kyoko’s neck.

  “Time is short,” Jennifer said. She pulled her hand back. “One day, something may happen. To change everything. And you want to do…everything before that might happen. With the people you want to do everything with. Tell him how you feel. Do not play games.” Jennifer had just parroted what her mother had told her about Zexton.

  “…Like an earthquake.”

  Jennifer laughed. “Yeah. Like an earthquake.”

  “Since we are supposed to stay put, let’s hold off telling them about our find,” Kyoko suggested.

  “Yes, I agree. It may distract them. We may need air
soon.”

  “Jennifer? Kyoko?” Their helmets buzzed back to life. “Shinji here. How are you? Are you calm and resting?”

  “Yes, we are now resting on a mound we found above the waterline,” Jennifer replied.

  “I love you! Daddy, I am scared—the water is rising,” said Kyoko.

  Shinji said, “I will call about every thirty minutes to check on you and brief you on our progress. If anything changes, call me immediately. I love you, Kyoko. Over and out.”

  “This area could fill up with water,” cried Kyoko.

  “If it does we can move farther up the tube,” said Jennifer.

  * * *

  Sure enough Kyoko’s fears were realized and the two climbed further up the tube toward the northwest about one hundred meters. Kyoko reported the move to her father. He reported the activity outside. French military helicopters had brought in equipment and personnel for the rescue effort. They were using ground radar to locate the passage for drilling air channels and should begin that soon.

  The two women waited in the dark to conserve batteries. Her whole life Jennifer had always found a way to run from her fears but now there was no place to go. She was trapped, and that was terrifying. Yet she could not show her fear as it might panic Kyoko. For the first time since Zexton’s assassination she cared for someone else more than herself.

  Shinji contacted Kyoko, “Come in, Kyoko,” he spoke in Japanese. He switched to English to explain the procedure above. The plan was to make a small hole that would allow air, power, food, and water to be supplied to Kyoko and Jennifer until they could make a larger hole by drilling out using a circle of small holes about half a meter in diameter. This could take days, so getting air below was the priority.

  Jennifer waited until Shinji asked, “How are you, Jennifer?”

  “We are fine but we were forced to move upstream about one hundred meters, over.”

  “Yes, Kyoko told me. We plan to start drilling about nine hundred meters farther northwest than you are now because there is a depression, and radar shows this is the fastest place to drill to get you air. Any questions?”

  “No, we are fine,” Jennifer said, “and we will move upstream about nine hundred meters. Over.”

  “Good plan, ladies, over and out.”

  Jennifer spoke to Jean-Yves in French explaining the direction they were going and that they would have to move again in about three hours. Jennifer estimated the accumulation of water and projected the future rate of about twenty-five meters per hour. She also told him they had found bones, almost a complete skeleton. “I believe this skeleton is from a young female about thirty years old…” Jennifer continued to describe the bones and where they were located.

  Drilling from above eventually opened a passage, shored up with a narrow pipe. The radio squawked and Shinji explained what was going on. He passed food, water, clothes, lanterns and air pillows through the six-inch hole.

  Sixteen more hours passed.

  From time to time, Kyoko spoke Japanese to her father over the radio.

  Ricky’s voice cut in during a pause. “Hang in there, Kyoko, we’re working to free you and drain the water.”

  “Thank you, Ricky. I did not know you were still here.” Kyoko turned amazed eyes toward Jennifer.

  “Thank you very much, Ricky,” Jennifer added.

  For Jennifer, the night and day passed slowly as she tried to keep Kyoko’s spirits up. She noticed Kyoko’s spirit took a big step forward after she spoke with Ricky. Suddenly she realized that she envied Kyoko. She had never let herself look at another man after Zexton, although she had several suitors who asked her out. In mourning for Zexton, she had been unwilling to try any other man.

  Until she met Marty. The impetuous flutter of infatuation, long dormant, reminded her of the joy of living, and of being young and in love. Her young companion was just beginning her journey into the realm of dating relationships. Bringing that up would be a helpful distraction while they waited here in the dark.

  “Kyoko, I think Ricky really likes you!” Jennifer said.

  “I like Ricky. How can I show it?” Kyoko asked.

  “I think you should ask your father to let you talk to Ricky through his radio,” suggested Jennifer. “Life can be very short, so you should tell Ricky how you feel about him. Also you might ask Shinji to let you speak directly with your mother to ease her fears and assure her you are in good health even though you are temporarily confined in this archeological site. Can you also ask Shinji to contact Jules and Eeva to let them know I am doing fine?”

  “I will contact him now,” said Kyoko.

  “We now have plenty of light, water, and food thanks to Lieutenant Tapoa and your father, so thank him for his extraordinary efforts. Shinji is probably very upset with himself for bringing you here. He might blame himself but he did not cause this earthquake. You should let him know that you do not blame him for the forces of nature that we cannot yet predict.”

  “I will.” Kyoko looked worried.

  “What time is in Japan?”

  Kyoko looked at her watch. “It is four a.m. in Japan now.”

  “Wait three hours and then ask Shinji to call your mother at that time so you can speak with her directly,” suggested Jennifer. “She will worry much less if she knows what is happening and can hear your calm and upbeat happy voice.”

  Jennifer knew if she could take Kyoko’s mind off herself and onto others she would feel much better. She needed to distract Kyoko and herself from their confinement.

  “We wanted more time to discover this site and now we have a wonderful opportunity,” Jennifer said. “Let us ask for some small tools so we can do a proper job. After we dig, we will photograph and categorize this segment of the lava tube. We can take notes on my iPad.”

  “That sounds like a good use of our time,” said Kyoko.

  The girl called to her father over the radio. When Shenji responded, she asked, “Papa, can we use the time to examine what we find and take notes? Please send us down some tools so we do not waste our time.”

  Jennifer noticed a change in Shinji’s tone now that his daughter was no longer frightened. “Yes, I will do it immediately. Ganbatte! Please do your best!”

  While Shinji gathered the tools, Jennifer and Kyoko finished their breakfast. Prepared by the French army chef, it included coffee with milk, egg and cheese omelet, fruit cup, French bread, and several delicious cheeses. They were both excited about the prospect of being the first humans in perhaps more than a thousand years to explore this area of this lava tube.

  “History will say how the earthquake gave us a real opportunity,” said Jennifer.

  The girls laid out their discoveries on a sheet of plastic sent through the six-inch tube. This included ornamental items, tools and weapons, and bones. They now had three different skeletons. There could be many more in the mud, so they explored the mud and found many figurines, stone knives and adzes, carved whale bones, and necklaces made from various stones and seashells.

  The girls ate lunch as the drilling continued. They stopped for only about ten minutes and got right back to work, finding so many items they could not lay them all out at once.

  By now the water had receded so they moved toward the blockage. After twenty-three hours of the water draining, Kyoko could reach the eight metal pipes set into holes to prevent further collapses. Kyoko tapped on a pipe with a rock. Someone tapped back.

  A tremendous crashing in the area of the drilling sounded like another earthquake. For a few brief seconds Jennifer’s heart stopped. It was like time stood still. On a practical level, they had to wait for dust to clear.

  Once they could see, the pair moved toward the drilling. Then Jennifer hugged Kyoko, who started crying. “We have a big hole to climb out!” Jennifer exclaimed. “They have rescued us in less than forty-eight hours. Truly astounding.”

  Next a rope was sent down with a loop in the end.

  “Kyoko, put your foot in the loop in the rope and t
hey will pull you up,” explained Jennifer. “We have artifacts that need to be removed so I suggest you send your father down to document where we found them before I leave.” She helped the girl with the safety harness and rope loop and watched as she was lifted away. In a few minutes the rope came down again, with Shinji aboard. Soon Shinji was on the floor with his video camera system. He photographed and Jennifer explained in English and French, describing on video where they found each artifact. “Along with three skeletons, we managed to find six figurines, five stone tools, and three necklaces made from various stones, whalebones, and seashells.”

  After a time, Shinji wiped his forehead and looked around. “You and Kyoko have found as much in a few hours as we found in months.”

  “We were very lucky during the earthquake,” Jennifer said.

  “This is a burial area for the top chief and his family,” Shinji explained. “I will wrap these artifacts and place them in sealed bags. A rope ladder will be completed in about thirty minutes. I need Jean-Yves to classify everything, as that is team protocol. Now you are a team member and this will go down as a very remarkable day. Why don’t you go up now?” Shinji asked.

  “I want Jean-Yves to come down first,” Jennifer said. “I want to explain to him what we were able to find. I want to film him here, then I will go up and leave it to you two experts. I need to prepare for my entrance exams at University of Hawaii. I leave for Hawaii August fifteenth.”

  “It is now the ninth,” Shinji said. “So you have time to work with us on a quick paper for the Journal of Archeology Online. Now that we have drawn such a large amount of attention to the site we need to publish online before you leave.”

  “I would be honored to work with you but I do not need to be an author on the paper.” Jennifer cringed at the further attention that could fall on her. Being under an assumed name was easier out of the limelight.

  “Yes, you should be!” Shinji replied. “I will discuss it with Jean-Yves when he wakes up. You should go up and rest too. In the meantime, I need to go up and get sealed plastic containers and labels. I will not remove anything until Jean-Yves sees it first.”