by H. L. Wegley
Abdul’s gaze explored every part of the easternmost shoulder of the huge monolith. While he looked high up on the rock towards the pinnacle of the spire he saw something in the periphery of his vision. He turned his head in response. The bright red LED on the VAD blinked out a most welcome message.
“Maram, be very still.”
Maram froze in her sitting position on the rock. When she stiffened the sound gun slid from her lap. She grabbed it just before it toppled to the rocks below.
“You fool!” He exclaimed. He took a deep breath and sought a kinder tone of voice. “Maram, please place the sound gun in your lap exactly as it was before it fell.”
Maram carefully positioned the gun pointing it to the shoulder of the rock nearly fifty feet above her.
He sighted along the sound gun until he focused on a slight depression in the rock near the top of the cliff face where the morning sun now lit the upper portion of the spire. He scanned the lower portion of the cliff. They could not climb to the suspicious location without rock-climbing gear.
Above the depression a little to his left, Abdul noticed a discolored area on the limestone. He walked to the base of the rock and looked closely at it. Moss was scraped off the rock above the depression. At his feet Abdul saw bits of green moss scattered among the shards of limestone. Someone climbed down from the top of the rock to the depression. The depression must be a ledge. What did it host? Perhaps the opening to a cave? “Let me have the sound gun, Maram. Be absolutely silent.”
Abdul pointed the sensor directly at the depression on the rock and waited. In less than minute the light on the VAD again blinked out the portentous message.
“Maram, keep monitoring that spot on the rock above us. Do you see it?”
“Yes, I am tired, but I am not blind.”
“I am going to get Ratib. I think we have found our mice. Now it is time to behave as all cats do.”
10
Lee sat facing Jennifer in the small cavern. In the darkness, her face became only a vague, shadowy form, eliminating a distraction he could not afford. He needed to focus on their escape plan.
“If somehow they stumble across this cave and start getting too close for comfort—”
“They’re already too close for comfort.” Jennifer’s whisper raised a semitone or two.
“Yeah. You’re right about that. But wouldn’t you like to know who they really are? Ram had to be a terrorist, but beyond that we—”
“That might satisfy your curiosity, but it wouldn’t improve our situation now, would it?”
“At least we would die knowing who killed us,” he replied without thinking.
Jennifer recoiled from him. “I thought you said God must have more planned for me to do.” She wanted some kind of assurance.
Was God opening another door?
“I think He does have more planned for you and me. He brought us this far so I can’t believe He will let the goons kill us.” He paused, and then stepped through the open door. “But, you don’t have to live in fear of death. There is Someone you can know Who has overcome death. He can overcome it for you, too.”
Jennifer slid forward. “I would really like to believe that. However, I’m not to that point yet.” She stared at the cavern wall. “I suppose, though, if someone wholeheartedly believed it, it would make them absolutely fearless, wouldn’t it?” Her voice sounded different, like a small child, but the darkness hid much of her body language.
He focused on her question. “That’s right in theory. For me though, it just makes me fear less, not fearless. I don’t fear my death because I know Who lies just beyond that door. The thing that still scares me is what might happen leading to my death. And with these goo—”
“Can we talk about something other than death right now? I would rather live to see these guys arrested for attempted murder or, better yet, tried in a military court.” Jennifer had changed the subject again.
And he had blown it.
Sorry, Lord. But this woman you sent my way is… Sorry again. That excuse didn’t fly the first time You heard it.
“In order to make sure we live to see them brought to justice we’d better come up with an emergency plan, a plan we invoke if we hear them in this cave. Got any ideas?”
“As a matter of fact I do.” Her gaze returned to his face. “But first there’s something I want to ask you.”
“OK…uh…what’s that?”
“Don’t worry. I think you can handle this one.” She paused for several seconds. “When did you start calling me Jenn instead of Jennifer?”
A video clip stored in his memory played. “Things were happening pretty fast while you were driving. I guess Jennifer took too long to say. Jenn seemed to work better at the time. Do you want me to call you Jennifer?”
“No, it’s OK. I’ve just never allowed anyone to shorten my name except…” Pause. “Dad.”
“So you’re saying it’s OK for me to be something like a father figure?” Please tell me I didn’t say that. Jennifer was recalling the painful loss of her father and he was thinking about—he wasn’t thinking, just being stupid.
“That’s not what I mean…I wouldn’t want you to be my father because I…” There was another pause. “Because, well, Dad is dead, and I said I don’t want to talk about death right now. So, about the backup plan, which I’m sure we won’t need, have you ever slid under that big overhanging rock?” She pointed to the dark slit near the floor in the rear left quadrant of the cavern.
What was she about to say before changing the subject?
He couldn’t let his mind run wild with possibilities. He’d better concentrate on the subject at hand. “Under that overhang? No. My buddy and I never went under that rock. I do know there’s less than a foot of clearance under the front edge, because I stuck my head in once. I only saw darkness and didn’t have a light at the time, or the inclination to explore it.”
He decided against explaining his disinclination to explore the slit under the rock. Telling her how he’d freaked out in one of these caves—a full-blown, claustrophobic, panic attack, could serve no good purpose. He had bailed out into total darkness that day. Fifteen feet up on a chimney wall inside a big cavern. But truthfully, he didn’t even know how high up he was. He’d just bailed.
He couldn’t afford to panic today. He brought Jennifer into this cave, told her she would be safe, and he must deliver on that promise. If he failed to keep the promise his only consolation would be he wouldn’t live to regret it.
Lee looked at the dark slit barely visible under the overhanging rock. To him, it had claustrophobia written on it in neon lights. Nevertheless, the small cavern offered nothing else to check—nothing hinting of a way to hide, or escape.
He prayed softly. “Please, don’t let me get stuck in there, God, and please…no panic attacks.”
Jennifer’s voice came from behind him. “What did you say?”
“Uh…I’m going to check out your hiding place…you know, the crack under the big rock.” Was he practicing deception with Jennifer? He shoved the thought from his mind.
“Be careful, Lee. I’m going to sit here and listen for…hopefully nothing.”
Lee was eleven when he discovered this cavern. At the time, he doubted he could slide under the overhanging rock. At age thirty the attempt to slide under the rock required lying on his stomach and rotating his head sideways and placing his cheek on the floor of the cave.
Using his toes and hands, and the uncomfortable body position, he managed to scoot into the slit. Progress came with great difficulty. After a couple of hard bumps on the head he realized the underside of the rock was not smooth. It was too dark to see anything, so he started feeling the rock above with the backs of his hands.
After nearly five minutes of scooting and periodically getting stuck he still hadn’t found an end to the crack. He lay spread-eagled about fifteen feet in engaged in a fierce firefight with claustrophobia. That “can’t breathe” thought threatened to
explode like a bomb in his mind, sending him into insane behavior, or perhaps into insanity itself.
On the verge of panic, only Jennifer’s dependence on him kept him from running up the white flag. If he lost it completely and started screaming like a mad man he would probably lose Jennifer, too.
Barely man-sized, this crack was worse than the MRI tube the doctor placed him in after a hard collision with a wall knocked him out on a racquetball court. The cave was much quieter, but he would prefer the MRI tube any day. In fact he would prefer—his heart raced and he began rapid, shallow panting.
Lord, please help me. I have to get out of here now.
His first scream was still embryonic, growing fast in the womb of his conscious mind, when Jennifer’s voice reached him.
“How’s it going in there?” Her whisper echoed all around him. Her voice had wonderful tranquilizing qualities.
The scream died somewhere short of his vocal chords. He took a deep breath and tried to relax. When he reached up to feel the rock his hand felt nothing. Then the back of his forearm struck a sharp edge, the end of the overhanging rock.
Thank you, Lord.
“Jenn, I think there’s an opening back here. I’m going to slide into it and let my eyes adjust. In a few minutes I’ll know what’s back here.”
“OK, but please try to hurry. The scooting noise you’re making echoes all around in the cavern. I can’t tell which direction it’s coming from. It makes me really nervous.”
Not as nervous as my screaming would have made you.
He took a deep breath and exhaled. “It’s OK, Jenn. The scooting part is over for now. Check back with me in about five minutes. I might have some good news.”
“OK, five minutes. But…please hurry.”
****
Jennifer sat alone in the darkness of their hideout waiting for Lee to explore the opening he found. Though danger threatened Lee dominated her thoughts. There was an obvious, strong attraction between them. But Jennifer’s feelings went deeper than mere attraction—so deep they frightened her.
She couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face when she recalled how Lee first reacted when they met in Howie’s office. He acted like every other guy, like an idiot. But he hadn’t treated her like any other guy. He encouraged her, protected her—did that signify something deeper?
He possessed a strong faith.
She thought faith in God was a false crutch.
But Lee’s faith strengthened him and his strength carried her through several moments of crisis.
Jennifer jumped at a sound coming from somewhere she couldn’t locate. She listened for a few moments, but heard no voices—nothing.
It must be Lee exploring the cavern.
Guys had always brought her trouble. That started when she turned thirteen. Because of one guy who brought trouble she usually carried a gun. But the trouble that came with Lee wasn’t his doing.
She listened for a few moments. No more noises.
In a minute or two she would check with Lee to see what he found. But what she found in him mystified her. It drew her. It seemed to her Lee’s life was built around relationships, even one with God. She merely communicated with a few people, but Lee lived in community with many people. They respected him—even Howie—Howie who set her up—Howie who tried to fill in for her dad. Did Howie somehow know she needed Lee?
If she believed in God like Lee believed she would ask Him to show her what was happening here. But that was a silly contemplation. They might never get out of these caves alive. That’s what she should be asking God about—what a person needs to know before they die.
Would He really answer if she asked?
****
Abdul led the three as they entered the occupied tunnel. He stopped suddenly and stared at the confusing rock structure in front of him. His gaze locked on a small opening that appeared to penetrate deeper into the rock. “Maram, come here.”
She stepped beside Abdul, who continued to study the hole. “Maram, you are the only one of us I am sure can pass through this opening. Slide through and I will pass you the light…but wait, Maram.”
“Make up your mind, Abdul.”
Maram seemed increasingly irritated with each command he gave her. It mattered little. Only a few more commands remained until he gave her the last one. “I need to examine these marks on the rocks.” Abdul pointed the light through the hole. “There are also marks on the cave floor. So, they did not seek another tunnel after all. Go now, Maram.”
“Always it is me who gets the dirty work.” After some wiggling of her body, Maram slipped through the hole and fell onto the cave floor beyond it.
Abdul shoved the light at her. “No, Maram. The real dirty work will begin shortly and I will be the one doing it.”
Dirty work for which you have made me work much too hard, Lee Brandt.
When Maram reached back for the sound equipment, Ratib pushed it towards her. The parabolic dish clanked against the sides of the hole. “The sound gun does not fit through the hole. What should we do, Abdul?”
Abdul shrugged. “It no longer matters. See…the batteries have died. But we still have the light and they cannot be far ahead. Maram, take our guns while Ratib and I squeeze through this hole. If Lee Brandt thinks this obstruction will stop us he is a fool.”
Ratib struggled to work his body through the small hole Maram had easily slipped through. When Ratib fell exhausted onto the cave floor Abdul took his turn. More strongly built than Ratib, he became stuck in the small opening. Skin scraped from his arms and one shoulder when he forced his body violently through the opening.
Abdul clenched his jaw and stared at his bleeding abrasions. “Lee will pay, skin for skin. Or perhaps the girl will pay,” he whispered.
****
A sound startled Jennifer from her musings.
Voices echoed through the tunnel. They came from somewhere near the entrance to the cave, not from Lee.
They’re in the cave almost here.
Her heartbeat jarred her. Her breathing became panting. News clips replayed in her mind—videos of the atrocities terrorists and drug lords inflicted on their captives. The images in her mind drove her deeper into panic. These evil men beheaded people. Dismembered them and—she had to stop this enumeration.
It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. She knew they might be killed. If so, she thought she would die beside Lee. Not alone in a cave. In the dark. Without Lee. Without God? No. She needed them both.
Please, God, help me.
Jennifer shrank to the back of the cavern. She stood next to the overhanging rock. Her hands trembled when she placed them on the floor of the cave. Her arms shook, barely able to support her weight, as she lowered her body to the opening under the rock.
Footsteps reverberated through the chamber.
When she slid under the rock the darkness of the cavern exploded into light.
11
Lee’s panic subsided. He sat on the edge of a cavern of unknown size waiting for his vision to adjust. Nearly five minutes passed and he began to notice strange things as he glanced around. An infinite number of shades of black existed between darkness and total darkness. Only prolonged exposure to darkness in a cave without a light could teach him that. But he wasn’t completely without light, because—
It came from above. Light was shining down. It drew his gaze upward to its source. If it wasn’t light, it was at least one of those lighter shades of black.
When Lee tilted his head to look upward, he detected a faint light high above. Hoping to see the sides of the chimney wall, he lowered his gaze, permitting his eyes to readjust to the darkness. As he waited a small down draft tickled the hairs on the back of his hands and neck. A puff of slightly fresher air descended upon him. Air from the land of the free. The place he must take Jennifer.
After a few seconds Lee could distinguish the lower part of the cavern walls. This cavern was large, at least fifty feet across. He moved carefully to
one side and began examining the wall. He surveyed the lower portion. They could climb it easily, but the mid and upper portions were shrouded in shadows. A faint hope began growing, but two nagging questions remained. Could they make it to the top? If so, could they actually climb out?
If this represents a way out of this cave for Jennifer, please show me, God. There’s no way I would try to take her up this wall unless I know it’s a way of escape. The climb would terrify her, or worse. Please give me some direction.
****
Abdul followed close behind Ratib, who carried the flashlight. Moving deeper into the bowels of the limestone spire, the three continued to track their quarry. In a couple of minutes they approached a place where the tunnel widened.
This must be the place.
Abdul pulled Ratib to a stop. He brought the three of them into a huddle. “When we enter, find them with the light, Ratib. Maram, be ready with your weapon. When I signal we will enter.”
On Abdul’s cue the three stepped into the small cavern. Ratib swept it with the light. But what Abdul saw disturbed him. “The cave goes no further. They could not have disappeared. Give me the light, Ratib.”
They could not lose these two. It would mean losing access to data for all of National Aerospace’s weapon systems. Anger threatened to cloud his thinking. He took the flashlight and explored every nook until all that remained was a narrow slit near the cave floor in the rear left quadrant of the cavern. He pointed at the spot. “Be quiet and listen.”
After a few seconds Ratib pointed towards the narrow opening near the floor of the cave and nodded. Ratib’s hearing was sharper than his. Smiling now, Abdul knelt and bent low. After placing his face on the cave floor, Abdul shined the flashlight into the narrow opening under the rock.
****
Lee had prayed about climbing the chimney wall, but so far God hadn’t—he gasped when a hand grabbed his shoulder. He whirled to defend himself. A soft hand gently touched his face. He heard rapid breathing.