by JC Ryan
His words instantly polarized the group. Cartwright and JR, two of those who had raised their hands in response to Summers request started talking at once.
"By what right…" started Cartwright.
"You little weasel," interrupted JR. Of all the people Summers might have expected to come to his defense, JR was not one of them. He noticed that Rebecca was also looking at JR with surprise.
"What was Daniel's answer?" Summers asked.
LeClerc was reluctant to tell him, because Daniel had in fact asked to speak to Summers. LeClerc had told him that Summers was unavailable, but that he would have him call at a later time. In answer, he shrugged, with a Gallic movement that irritated more than one of the witnesses. Several, however, were looking back and forth, unable to determine which side they should take.
"In that case," Summers said, drawing himself up with determination, "it's my intention to leave immediately. Come with me or don't come, but if you don't you will get no credit for any discoveries we make, and I will report to the Rossler Foundation that you abandoned the rest of the expedition."
Those who had been on the fence suddenly found their minds made up for them. As one, everyone rose to follow Summers. Everyone but LeClerc. But, when he saw that Bart was going as well, he felt he had no choice but to go with them, though he had grave misgivings about their safety. Summers quickly organized restocking of their food, and they set out without even sleeping, and without any sort of ceremony to mark the deaths of the two miners. But, in place of the easy camaraderie they had enjoyed before was a sense of uneasiness and impending doom that most couldn't shake.
Chapter 16 – Its Warm In There
All along, in addition to modern maps and GPS technology, Summers had been tracking their progress on the ancient maps that had first sparked his interest. With the expedition in danger of going home without result, he pinned his hopes on this last segment. Not only had Robert seen what he thought might be a cave entrance on the last edge of the previous section, but also the ancient maps showed a valley somewhere in the same vicinity. The valley was much larger than any they had encountered previously, and therefore held some interest for him. His intention was to at least explore that valley, even if they had to cut short their mapping of the rest of the segment.
The team was still saddened and depressed concerning the absence of the miners. Few were talking, and in fact, most were sleeping. The trackless waste no longer held their interest, the victim of familiarity and featurelessness. However, JR and Cartwright had discovered some interest in common, and were talking about spelunking, much to Misty's disgust. JR was beginning to tire of Misty's constant neediness. But, with only a few weeks to go before they were extracted, he was content to leave well enough alone. Bedding her was still pleasurable, because at least then her prattle ceased, while her shouts of pleasure stimulated his passion and fed his ego, giving him a reason to stay with her. Therefore, JR ignored Misty while he learned all he could about caving from Robert.
Relieved of the necessity to reduce their speed for the snowmobiles, the Sno-Cat made good time and reached the mountains only three days behind schedule, in spite of the four-day delay. However, when they reached the coordinates that the map indicated should open into a large valley, they encountered instead a steep escarpment. Summers called a halt, and asked Cartwright to join him. Showing him the map, he asked "What do you make of this, Robert?"
Robert examined the map closely, and then laid it over a modern map. Folding the ancient map along the centerline, Robert tried to match it up to the modern map. There were too many differences, however. His best guess was that one of the calamities, probably the 10th Cycle one, had shifted the land so much that the valley had disappeared. Or, it could've been tectonic movement, since the Western half of Antarctica had broken away from Australia and crashed into the eastern half, which was what had raised these mountains.
"I'd say we're buggered, mate. You really expected to find the city here, didn't you?"
Summers sighed heavily. "I had a great deal of hope," he said. "This would have been an ideal location, except for the glaciation. I'd hoped there would be some explanation to account for the 9th Cyclers colonizing this continent."
"Didn't I hear some talk that you thought geothermal activity might account for a different climate in their time?"
"It was one theory we floated," Summers answered. "But now, I'm at a loss as to where to look. It seems as if this mountain simply fell out of the sky and covered the valley."
"Well, I've read more bizarre theories about the end times calamities," said Robert. "Some say that's how Atlantis disappeared. Come to think of it, could the civilization we're looking for have been birthed on Atlantis, and the entire continent has been transported here, to become Antarctica?"
"That’s an intriguing theory that has been put forth before by the fringe element," Summers said, dismissing Robert's flight of fancy. "What shall we do about this?"
"Well, what I'd like to do is explore the cave system I thought I saw. Then, maybe it's time to go home." said Robert.
"I suppose you're right." Cartwright had never seen Summers so dejected, or defeated. His own sunny optimism couldn't help but raise his adrenaline level when he thought of the possibility of finding something within the cave system.
It took a little while to coordinate the drone-mapped segment with their commercial maps. However, once they did, it was a matter of one hours’ coverage by the drone to find again the dark area that he had thought was the cave entrance. At his shout of excitement, everyone gathered round. The location was perhaps ten miles to the northwest. Summers made the decision to break camp and travel there by Sno-Cat, over LeClerc's objections.
LeClerc wanted to stay in what he considered a safer zone, far enough away from the escarpment that they would be safe from avalanches or falling ice, yet near enough to the cave entrances. By now, all discipline had been compromised. With little regard for LeClerc’s leadership, Summers instead called for a vote, which was in his favor. They then struck camp and moved the Sno-Cat closer to the cave system.
Robert was eager to explore the caves, but in this regard, Summers and LeClerc were in agreement.
"You should wait until you've rested, Robert," Summers said. "You’ve been on your feet for more than sixteen hours."
Hearing that, Robert hurriedly glanced at his chronometer. Indeed he had. The more or less constant sunlight, coupled with the excitement of his discovery, had combined to keep him from feeling the effects of fatigue. With his agreement, the group again made camp, with the plan to support his spelunking adventure the following morning. The next morning found JR harnessed into climbing gear and ready to accompany Cartwright into the cave.
"Are you sure, mate? You're a tall drink of water, and sometimes caves get tight. Are you at all prone to claustrophobia?"
"I can handle it," JR promised.
The outcome of this day would dictate whether the expedition was over for the year, or whether a few more days’ exploration was warranted.
Despite their proximity, the entrance to the cave had not yet been located. Because the drone made a 3D image of the sub-surface, it showed a rather large open area underground, but Robert was aware that the entrance could be much smaller. The group split up to comb the area, Robert and JR taking the interior of the canyon. Before they left, Rebecca stopped JR to tell him to be careful. The uncharacteristic show of concern specifically for him unsettled JR, creating a warm glow somewhere in the vicinity of his stomach.
Robert and JR proceeded up a short, narrow canyon, each examining the sides of the canyon for a likely opening. Robert was squinting into the slanted sunlight to try to make out what he thought was a dark shape when JR grabbed his arm.
"Robert, could that be it?" JR was pointing to a dark alcove situated by an overhang of ice topped by deeply drifted snow.
"Could be, but I hope there's another."
“Why’s that?”
“I don’t like the look of th
at overhang. But, we’ve got to take a look, at least. Would you be willing to stay outside while I go in on a rope at first? You made the discovery, but I’m the more experienced climber and spelunker,” Cartwright suggested.
“Yeah, man, no problem. But you’ll let me come in once you scope it out, right?”
“Sure thing, mate.”
Robert harnessed up, and positioned JR where he thought he’d be safe if the overhang let go, with the rope in his gloved hands but secured around a short outcropping right behind him. Then he went in, watching the overhang to judge its stability as he went. He made it in with no mishaps, and used the light on his helmet to look around once he’d reached the limit of the rope. A less experienced caver might have unhooked from his rope and gone to explore further, but Robert knew better. No matter how tempted he was to see more, safety was paramount. Even if he were willing to risk his own life, he wouldn’t risk JR’s, and it would have that effect if his rope went slack and JR came in after him.
From what he could see, it was well worth bringing in some of the others and exploring further. With his flashlight on full beam, he could see at least two large passageways leading away from the main cave across from his location near the entrance. In addition, a third, closer one led out of the main room on a downward pitched slope, as near as he could tell from his vantage point. He recalled other cave systems where the main entrance, even though it led into a very large room, was tiny in comparison to the rest of the system that lay hidden below. Carlsbad Caverns in the US was one of them. This main room needed to be mapped for other exits, whether they lay hidden behind stalactites and stalagmites, were visible, or led upward from the ceiling of this room or downward below the floor.
He could do no more without more gear and more helpers. It was time to leave, let JR have a peek if he wanted, and then get back to Summers and give his report.
As he assumed, JR did want to go in and look at what they’d found. He gave the younger man a quick refresher course in the use of the rope rig and some basic spelunking advice, made him promise on his honor that he wouldn’t under any circumstances remove the rope from his harness, and told him he had half an hour to get in, look to his heart’s content and then re-join Robert for the short hike back to the camp.
JR was sorely tempted to un-hook and get closer to some of the passages he could see, but Robert had warned him that if he felt the rope go slack once he reached the end of it, he, Robert, would personally kick his arse all the way back to the Pole. He thought the Aussie might try to do it, too, and he’d hate to have to hurt the man. But the main reason he didn’t was that he liked Cartwright, who treated him like a colleague. If only other people would treat him like that instead of like a naughty child or the spoiled brother of the Foundation director, he’d meet their expectations more often.
~~~
As soon as they were spotted coming out of the mouth of the canyon, JR and Robert were mobbed by the rest of the group, none more eager to hear of their discovery than Summers. Though it was well past lunch-time, the two had eaten nothing but a couple of energy bars since breakfast, so Bart prepared something more substantial while everyone else gathered around to hear their report. JR deferred to Robert, because of course he could give a more informed description of the cave they’d entered.
“It’s a large main room with passages leading off in at least three directions. Because it was so large, we wanted to come back and get some others to help us map that main room, but I can tell you that it has formed from erosion within the sandstone and siltstone sedimentary layers that lie above the granite and gneiss of the volcanic basement. There may be more than one entrance beneath the ice at the top of the escarpment, but what we went into was an opening on the side of the canyon wall. I saw no evidence of ruins, but there was something I think will interest you, Dr. Summers. That cave was warmer than it should have been.”
Summers tilted his head, looking so much like a puzzled dog that JR had to suppress a hoot of laughter. “What do you mean, warmer than it should have been.”
“Most caves, certainly those with small entrances, are considered closed systems with regard to climate. The temperature tends to stay pretty close to the average annual temperature of the area. In this case, that’s minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit, give or take. But, the thermometer I took in there read plus 13 after only about fifteen minutes. I suspect there’s a geothermal outlet somewhere below there.”
“Are you telling me that there could be habitable caves below the one you were in? We’re naming it Cartwright Cave, by the way.”
“Thank you, but JR spotted the entrance. It should be Rossler Cave. And yes. If you were Inuit, you’d consider that one habitable.”
“Rossler-Cartwright, then. We’ve got to get back in there.”
“Yes, that’s what I’d recommend,” Robert said. “There’s just one problem; there’s a rather delicate hazard directly above the cave entrance. We’ll have to be very careful, and it would be best if Roosky were with us just in case it lets go.”
“That’s going to cut it close getting back and forth and still being ready to be extracted on time,” LeClerc said. “I say we explore what we can now, and come back next year for a more thorough search.”
“No,” said Summers. “We can’t risk anyone getting trapped in there. We need Roosky. We’ll go back to base, drop off anyone who isn’t needed and doesn’t want to risk not getting back in time, pick up Roosky and make it back here with all possible speed.” Summers had virtually taken over the leadership position, and LeClerc, being physically unimposing and prone to fits of temper, had lost the respect of most of the team. Summers prevailed. They struck camp immediately and headed back for the Pole, traveling as fast as they dared.
By traveling long hours and settling for quick rations instead of the gourmet meals Bart could produce given enough time, they made record time getting back and caught everyone back at base by surprise. The plan was to turn around as quickly as possible after re-supplying, and everyone had a task to perform to accomplish it. Robert and Summers went to talk to Roosky about what they might need from him, Rebecca and Bart saw to the resupply, and the others had various manual labor tasks in support of the doctor and Bart. Meanwhile, LeClerc disappeared, but no one noticed.
As soon as he could slip away, LeClerc had hurried to the weather station monitoring room, where he studied long-range forecasts. Still worried about the early storm that had taken two of the crew, he closely questioned the meteorologists about their predictions and saw their evidence. Satisfied that he was on solid ground with his request, he sought an audience with Cmdr. Andersen.
“Cmdr. Andersen, thank you for seeing me.”
“Mr. LeClerc, you’re welcome, but I must ask that you state your business succinctly. I’m very busy.”
“Just so. Briefly, then, I wish for you to place Dr. Summers under arrest until we can arrange for transport back to McMurdo Station.” His request was stated in such a calm voice that at first Andersen thought he’d misheard.
“Excuse me?”
“I request that you arrest Dr. Summers,” LeClerc repeated.
“On what charges? This is an extraordinary request, LeClerc. Please explain yourself.”
“Very well. Dr. Summers is even now preparing to take the expedition back to an area we just came from. There is a large cave that must be explored; however, with travel time back and forth, a few days to explore the cave, they will not be back before the last day of February. If storms create any delay at all, we would be overwintered here. I think you’ll agree, sir, that this would be a most unfortunate turn of events.”
“, you have easily three weeks remaining before you would have to worry about overwintering. Do you have another reason for making this request?”
“Yes, sir. Your own meteorologists are predicting a very large storm that will overtake us before we reach the shelter of the mountains. This cannot help but delay us disastrously.”
“And you have
been unable to persuade Summers to change his mind?”
“The man is how do you say? Derangé. He will not listen, and the others, they listen to him instead of me. I am the leader of this expedition, but my power has been usurped!”
It was LeClerc’s misfortune that his agitation had gotten the better of him. Now it was he who sounded, and looked, deranged. Andersen regarded him for a moment, took in the unruly hair that his hands constantly disturbed in their fluttering, the wild eyes and the deterioration of the man’s English when he was disturbed. Andersen concluded that this was a case of professional jealousy that he had no business arbitrating, and told LeClerc that he’d take it under advisement. He then dismissed the hapless Frenchman, with a refusal to take action.
With no other choice to prevent the final trek, LeClerc appealed to the two whom he thought the most influential of the Rossler Foundation group: JR Rossler and Rebecca Mendenhall. Perhaps he thought JR had his brother’s ear, or that the two of them could persuade others, but in any case, he spoke to them in private and expressed his concerns.
“This storm you say they’re predicting. How accurate are they in terms of when the storms hit?” asked JR.
“I believe within thirty-six hours, with a fifty percent accuracy rating,” LeClerc said, pulling a number out of thin air because he hadn’t bothered to ask that question and didn’t want anyone to know it.
“Dude, that sounds like it’s a wild-assed guess. I don’t think Summers will agree to abort the mission for that,” JR returned. In fact, he wouldn’t have done so himself if he’d been Summers. Having seen a glimpse of the cave, and with the tantalizing information about the unnatural warmth of it, which he hadn’t known until Robert dropped that bombshell in his report, he was anxious to get inside it again himself. LeClerc could expect no help from JR. Nor from Rebecca, it seemed, who had nothing to add.
Distraught, LeClerc again considered refusing to go, but at the last minute, his sense of duty along with the threat that he wouldn’t receive credit for his contribution if something were discovered induced him to re-join the rest after all. Within a few hours, the expedition would leave and he’d be with them, albeit against his wishes.