by Ben Hammott
“Are you sure this is safe?”
The two women looked toward the sound of Henry's voice; his legs dangled through the hole in the cavern roof.
Max's face appeared in the hole. “Yes, Henry, I assure you its safe and the rope is secure.”
“That's what he said about my rope, Henry,” called out Jane, jokingly.
Henry's face peered at the women below, his headlight barely penetrating the darkness. “Get ready to catch me if I fall,” he joked. “I'm coming down.”
Henry lowered himself into the hole and for a moment just swung there.
Max leaned in and pointed. “You have to squeeze the lever on your descender to move.”
“I'm not a complete idiot.” Suddenly, Henry shot down the rope. Just as those watching thought he was going to crash into the ground, he slowed his pace and lightly touched down.
The two girls smiled and clapped.
“Nice entrance, Mr. Sandberg,” said Lucy.
Henry unhitched the rope and gave a little bow. He glanced at the hole far above. “The coming down's easy. It's the getting back up I find hard.” He glanced around the gloom-filled cavern. “Even from the little I can see, the cavern's bigger than I'd imagined.”
“When we get the brighter lights down here, we'll be able to get a measure of its true size and what's down here,” said Jane.
“Everything we need is on its way.” Henry walked over to join them. “Have you done much exploring yet?”
“Not yet,” said Lucy. “Though we were keen to, we thought we'd wait for the rest of the team so we can explore it together.”
Henry smiled at them. “That was very unselfish of you both. Many of my colleagues wouldn't have been so generous. They would've wanted to be the first to find anything waiting to be discovered down here and give it a name.”
“As you said in your pep talk, Henry, this is a team effort and we all share equally in the knowledge and any discoveries we make.”
“Thank you, Jane, and you Lucy. It's nice to know some people actually listen to what I have to say.” He glanced up at the opening. “Which is more than I can say for everyone on the team. Eli and Max should have started lowering down the supplies by now.”
Eli tied the last crate of supplies to the rope, pushed it over to the edge of the rift a short distance from where Jane and Lucy had climbed down, to avoid the ice shelf a few yards below. He grabbed the walkie-talkie from the top of the box and pressed the talk button to communicate with Theo at the bottom of the rift. “Final crate coming down. Over.”
“Okay. I'll let Henry know. Over.” Theo replied.
Eli slipped the radio into his pocket, grabbed tight hold of the rope and nudged the supply crate over the edge with a foot and slowly lowered it into the crevasse. A gust of cold wind ruffled the fur collar of his hood. He turned his head in the direction it had blown from. He frowned at the distant grey clouds. They were a good indication of an approaching storm.
Max glanced up at the snow and ice debris dislodged by the approaching crate sliding down the side of the ice wall. He squeezed past the three boxes ready to be lowered into the cavern, knelt beside the hole and poked his head through. “Eli's sending the last box down. As soon as we have it, we'll lower them down to you.”
“Okay,” Henry shouted back.
By the time all four boxes had been lowered into the cavern thirty minutes later, the wind blowing through the rift had increased, driving pellets of frozen snow that stung their faces.
Max observed the grey cloud-filled sky that had gradually darkened. “A storm's heading our way.”
Theo had reached the same conclusion. “We won't feel it when we're below.”
Max sat with his feet dangling into the void. “It's not us I'm worried about, but Eli up top.”
“It doesn't seem too bad at the moment. Hopefully it'll blow over soon.”
“I hope you're right.” Max dropped into the hole.
As soon as the first box had been freed from its tether, Henry opened it and took out a flask of hot chocolate and a tier of plastic cups. Because the temperature was warmer in the cavern and sheltered from the wind chill, there was no need to drink from thermos cups to prevent the hot liquid from freezing.
“Anyone for hot chocolate? I had Pike make a fresh batch.”
“Henry, I could kiss you,” said Jane with a smile.
Henry smiled. “If I was thirty years younger, I'd insist on it.” He handed out two cups and filled them with steaming hot chocolate.
Jane and Lucy both took a sip.
“Ahhhh,” sighed Lucy, appreciatively. “It's better than sex.”
“You've been dating the wrong men,” said Jane.
Lucy laughed. “You're so right.”
Max's descent was accompanied by flakes of snow drifting through the opening.
“Is the weather turning?” Henry asked.
Max released the rope so Theo could pull it up. “A storm's on the way.”
Lucy glanced up at the hole and the specks of snow and ice drifting in. “Will we be okay down here?”
“We'll be fine,” Henry reassured her.
Theo joined them a few moments later.
“Right,” said Henry. “Now we're all here, how about we find the flashlights and start exploring this amazing cavern?”
With no shelter to protect him, the wind whipped at Eli, flapping the hood of his coat. If it grew any stronger he'd have to return to base. Though a precaution of Henry's was that at least one person remained on the ice while the team entered the rift, in case they got into trouble, not even Henry would expect anyone to remain unsheltered in this weather. He could take refuge in the Sno-Cat temporarily. It had a heater if the engine was running, but if the storm was an exceptionally cold one and lasted for a few days he might run out of fuel and freeze to death.
Even through his layers of thermal clothing, Eli felt the high wind chill steal away his body heat. He wiped the film of frozen snow from his goggles with a gloved hand and gazed north. Rolling black clouds sped toward him. Though he'd never experienced one before, he'd heard about the Katabatic winds caused by heavy cold air rushing down glacial inclines like a tidal wave. Often referred to as Hell's Wind! Not named because it was hot― the opposite in fact― but because of the up to two-hundred-mile-per-hour winds that spurred it along, causing anyone unlucky enough to be caught in its path to endure hell or be sent to it.
He turned and looked at the base camp and back at the blizzard screaming across the ice. It was travelling too fast for him to outrun in the Sno-Cat; he had only one option. He picked up one of the climbing ropes trailing into the rift and moved to the edge. He was about to climb down when he heard a sound carried by the wind. It sounded like a small plane. His hurried glance into the sky revealed it clear of everything except dark clouds. He must have been mistaken. No pilot would venture out in this weather. Eli climbed down.
Jack fought the controls as the strong winds playfully jostled the small aircraft in all directions. The engine screamed in protest as it was forced to keep the small craft airborne and level. Jack cursed his greed, his bad decision and the frightened passenger who'd offered him four times his going rate to risk dropping him off at the rift base camp before the bad weather struck. The blizzard had arrived earlier than expected and was currently chasing their tail. Though, to be fair, it was also the chance of meeting Jane again that had helped persuade him to risk the flight. Though he'd been accused of wearing his heart on his sleeve on more than one occasion, resulting in a few sad partings, including one he thought would break his heart, it hadn't happened for a while. But it had with Jane. This time, however, it was different. Something more than the attraction he'd felt in previous relationships. Love at first sight, perhaps? Whatever it was, he was smitten with her.
“Can't this damn thing go any faster?” shouted the plane's only passenger and the main cause of the danger they both now faced.
Jack ignored the man's dumb question. Tho
ugh the plane was going flat out, it was unable to keep ahead of the storm chasing them. His eyes did a quick survey of the ground below; he would have to make an emergency landing if they were going to survive, but they were still too far away from the scientists' base camp to seek refuge from the wind and cold. His eyes rested on the wide, yawning rift. It was their only chance. He dipped the nose of the plane and aimed for the rift.
“Are we landing?” asked the passenger, hopefully, queasy from the plane's erratic movements.
“If we land here, we won't survive. We need to shelter from the blizzard and the only place able to offer us that around here is the rift base camp. I'm going to fly in the rift as the ice walls should shelter us from the full force of the side winds. I'm hoping I'll gain enough speed to keep ahead of the full brunt of the storm until we reach the scientists' camp.”
The passenger anxiously glanced out of a window, catching glimpses of the rift through gaps in the driving snow. He prayed the pilot knew what he was doing. “Will we make it?”
The pilot heard the fear in the man's voice, but felt no pity for him. “You'll be the second person to find out.”
The passenger gained no reassurance from the reply.
Eli backed along the small ice shelf and was about to climb over the edge when he remembered he'd forgotten to anchor the Sno-Cat. The strong wind he already experienced was nothing compared to the intensity of the gusts that would follow. If he didn't climb up and anchor it to the ice, there was a good possibility the wind would carry it away. Maybe even into the rift. He cursed and reluctantly moved to the ice wall and began climbing back to the top.
The front edge of the blizzard reached the rift base camp. Scott and Pike had just finished securing the garage and outbuilding doors and making sure anything the wind could pick up and blast through the air like missiles was safely stored away.
Though Scott stared in the direction where the others were, the ice and snow carried by the wind prevented him from seeing that far. “Do you think they'll be okay,” he shouted to be heard above the noise of the howling wind and the fluttering flags that marked overhead cables and the camp perimeter.
“I'm sure they'll be fine,” said Pike. “Though I'd expected Eli to have returned by now. He can't stay out on the ice in this.”
“Let's get inside before the wind carries us off and contact them on the radio.”
Before the wall of snow and ice carried by the one hundred-mile-per-hour winds arrived at the rift base camp, it first encountered the two Sno-Cats parked by the ice rift. The vehicle Max and Theo had anchored to the ice with strong nylon straps tethered to metal spikes driven deep in the ice slid until halted by the restraints. Though the straps strained with the force they prevented the strong wind from claiming the Sno-Cat.
The second Sno-Cat Eli had used to bring the supplies from base camp wasn't anchored. The wind took it in its grasp and pushed it along the ice. It skewed on its tracks as the wind sought the greatest area to thrust its strength against, the side of the vehicle, and moved it toward the edge of the rift.
Eli cursed his forgetfulness when another strong gust buffeted him, causing him to lose his footing. He reclaimed his grip upon the ice and persevered with the climb; the Sno-Cat was too valuable a resource to lose. When he glanced up to check on his progress, he saw the corner of the vehicle he'd failed to secure appear over the edge. He cursed again. If he hurried he might still save it. While keeping one eye on the Sno-Cat as it started to turn, he increased his efforts. Slowly, more of the Sno-Cat came into view as the wind's relentless pummeling drove it over the edge. Realizing he was too late to save it, Eli climbed down the rope.
A forceful gust pushed the Sno-Cat over the edge. It toppled and headed straight for Eli. To avoid being crushed, Eli did the only thing he could― he let go of the rope.
Jack battled against the full force of the blizzard that had finally caught up with the plane. Funnelled along the rift, the strong current gripped the airplane and sped it along at an impossible speed that the small engine alone could never hope to achieve. He shot a glance back at his passenger. The man gripped his seat tightly and stared out at the ice wall zooming by. Jack had never seen a look of fear to match the one he witnessed on the man's face. He smiled at his frightened passenger. “Hold on tight, it's about to get bumpy.”
The man, white as a sheet and shaking, looked at the pilot and then at the ice and snow battering the small craft's windscreen. He was amazed the pilot could see to steer the plane between the two ice walls. He hoped if he died this day, his death would be quick and painless. He shut his eyes.
Even though Jack knew the rift's tall walls sheltered them from the full strength of the storm, with his visibility rapidly decreasing by the second it was only a matter of time before they crashed. Though with the impossible weather conditions it was difficult to tell with any certainty, he thought they must be near the base camp. Because reaching it was their only chance to live through the blizzard, he had no choice but to brave the storm and hope they survived the landing.
When Eli's feet touched the ice shelf, he threw himself to the side and rolled out of the path of the falling vehicle. The Sno-Cat struck the ice he'd just vacated with a loud crunching of metal. Unfortunately, in his panic to avoid one danger Eli headed straight for another. He rolled too far and slid into the rift. He snatched out for one of the ropes trailing over the edge. His fingers brushed one and gripped hold tightly. Hanging from one arm he swung along the side of the ice wall. For a brief instant he thought he heard the sound of an airplane again.
Carried by its momentum, the Sno-Cat bounced on the ice with a screech of buckling metal and tumbled over the ice shelf.
Jack attempted to force the plane out of the rift, but the wind's strong grip refused to set him free. He forced the stick back in an effort to raise the nose of the plane and slowly it began to point skyward. He glimpsed a flash of red out of the left window. Something struck the plane, tilting it at an angle. Both men inside watched the wing torn from the plane scrape along the windows before disappearing from their view.
Jack cursed.
The passenger screamed.
Eli released a sigh of relief when the Sno-Cat bounced clear over him. He then heard the engine noise again, much louder now. He turned his head and was astonished to see an airplane appear out of the blizzard below him. He watched with trepidation as it shot nearer, catching a glimpse of Jack fighting the controls. He watched in horror for its passengers when the Sno-Cat smashed into the wing, sheering it off like it was paper. The wing folded and struck the side of the aircraft before it was lifted by the wind and borne aloft while the Sno-Cat dropped into the crevasse to be lost from his sight.
Now minus a wing, the plane tipped up on its side with the still attached wing aimed at the bottom of the rift. With a shriek of tortured metal, the bottom of the plane scraped along the ice wall, tearing off the skids. The plane dipped to head deeper into the chasm. The screech of metal was deafening inside the plane the passenger now looked upon as his coffin.
Jack released his white knuckle grip on the useless controls. They were in fate's hands now. He braced himself for the impact he knew was coming. As the fuselage screeched along the ice wall, Jack felt the plane rotate. He caught a brief glimpse of the narrowing gap between the ice walls before the airborne snow and ice stole it from him again. A secondary screech of protest filled the small space when the top of the plane made contact with the ice and skimmed along it. Pilot and passenger stared at the buckling fuselage. The sound of tearing metal that filled the small craft announced the loss of the remaining wing. When the top and bottom of the plane touched ice at the same time, an outcrop of ice ripped through the thin aluminum skin. Ice shards sprayed the plane's frightened passenger, his eyes transfixed on the ice wall speeding by only inches from his face. If it was possible for him to be terrified more than he'd been previously, then he was.
When the plane neared the bottom of the rift, it was forc
ed between the narrowing sides of the two ice walls, crushing the top and bottom of the plane. As it became wedged in the tight space, the plane's momentum slowed. It brought a glimmer of hope to both pilot and passenger that they might actually survive the crash. After what had seemed like an eternity for the plane's occupants since the start of the catastrophe, but was in fact only a few seconds, their ordeal came to an end when the plane slowly juddered to a halt. After a few creaks and groans, the plane settled, and except for the weather raging outside and the two passengers' fast pumping hearts, all was still and silent.
“We made it! We actually made it!”
Jack turned to look at his passenger. “You owe me a new plane.”
“After what you just put me through, you can sue me.”
Jack sighed. He would argue the issue later. They weren't out of danger yet. They still had the freezing cold to contend with. If they remained in the plane, they'd soon freeze to death. If they left the plane, they had no equipment to climb out of the rift and seek the shelter of the nearby base camp. He picked up the radio― it was dead.
“So, what do we do now?” asked his passenger.
When he had recovered from the shock, Eli climbed down to the bottom of the rift and headed in the direction he'd last seen the plane before it disappeared into the blizzard. If there were survivors, which he doubted, they would need help. They wouldn't last long in this weather. He came across the plane about one hundred yards along the crevasse. Its wings had been torn off, and the fuselage was crushed and dented. He hoped the passengers inside had fared better. He headed forward to find out.