BRAINRUSH 02 - The Enemy of My Enemy (17 page)

Kenny made his way to the UAV control console in the main cabin. He slid into the swivel-mounted chair and wrapped his fingers around the joysticks at the end of each padded armrest. The trio of flat-panel displays before him was already powered up. The center screen displayed the drones’ status boards, and the outside panels were slaved to the UAVs’ forward cameras with overlays that streamed input from their onboard sensors.

An eight-inch model of the
Millennium Falcon
was affixed to the top of the center display. He gave it a customary love tap and went to work. Under his breath he muttered, “Game on.”

Chapter 30

Beneath the Sonoran Desert, Mexico

T
he vast network of tunnels under the Sonoran Desert was fed by thousands of acres of aquifers. Tony imagined the tremendous amount of pressure they exerted on the dammed underground river. When the wall collapsed, its full force would be released all at once.

The stream had grown to a small river. Tony estimated it at five feet deep at the center. Its edges lapped against the cavern walls. He jogged forward, hugging the right wall. His shoulder scraped against a small outcropping of rock. Being tethered together made the going more difficult. Marshall was directly behind him, panting fiercely. Splashing footfalls resounded behind him. Helmet beams bounced off the walls.

They were nearly a half-mile into the unexplored fork when the ground began shaking. A roar echoed down the passage behind them. Time had run out.

“Into the water!” he shouted. He high-stepped through the shallows toward the center of the swift-flowing river.  

The rest of the team splashed after him.

“Oh crap, oh crap, oh CRAP!” Marshall cried out, putting a voice to the fears everyone felt.

The current pulled harder against Tony’s legs with each stride. He tightened his grip on Josh. Two steps further his feet slipped out from under him. He sat back as the current took him in its grasp. Max paddled alongside them, his head held unnaturally high in the water thanks to the inflatable neck splint. There was a brief tug on the rope behind Tony as the rest of the team lost their footing, and then they all were rushing through the oily darkness.

The current swept them forward double time. Tony welcomed the speed. There was no way they’d outpace the monster that was rushing to catch them, but the further away from the breach, the less severe the impact. Tony squinted into the gloom ahead, scanning for signs of boulders or obstructions in their path. He struggled to keep his feet pointed downstream, using his free hand as a steering oar.

The monster was nearly upon them.

Tony pulled his hand from the water and ripped the can of Spare-Air from its Velcro strap. Sensing the shift in Tony’s posture, Josh dug his fingers deeper into the back of Tony’s neck.

The current quickened. The roar grew louder.

“Josh,” Tony yelled as he touched the rubber mouthpiece to the boy’s trembling lips. “Now’s the time, buddy. Remember to breathe through your mouth, not your nose!”

Josh nodded, slipping the mouthpiece in and clamping his teeth around it.

A thunderous rumble overwhelmed them. The air filled with mist.

“Hang on!” Tony shouted. He tightened his grasp around the shaking child.

A second later the wall of water slammed into them.

The frenzy impacted Tony’s back with the force of an NFL linebacker. He curled himself into a protective ball around Josh. He kept one hand wrapped around the air canister to hold it in place against the boy’s mouth. They twisted and tumbled through churning water. Tony’s face broke the surface for an instant and he caught a brief glimpse of the tips of stalactites rushing by not two feet above his head. He grabbed a breath just before the undercurrent sucked them back down into its vortex.

Tumbling within the deluge, Tony focused on protecting Josh. He pressed him fiercely to his chest. His lungs were on fire, but he refused to risk loosening his grasp on the boy in order to grab the second can of air. Seconds felt like minutes. Something cracked hard against his helmet and wrenched his neck. Another object punched into his thigh. Violent tugs on the rope latched to his belt reminded him that his friends battled the same demons.

Tony’s lungs sent desperate signals to his brain, commanding him to open his mouth. He clenched his jaw and refused the order. A growing part of him wondered if the end was near. His mind slowed.

All at once the current loosened its grip. The combined buoyancy of two life jackets blew Tony and Josh to the surface. Tony’s face broke through the water and he sucked in a huge breath. The roof sloped upward and the spear-like rock formations were now a good distance above him. He panned his helmet lamp from side to side. The tunnel had expanded considerably, dissipating the pent-up forces and slowing the current to nine or ten knots. The river still stretched the full width of the cavern and there was no place to land. But for the moment at least, the violent flow had declared a truce.

“We made it, pal,” he said softly to Josh.

In spite of his blindness, the boy’s eyes were as wide as saucers. Tony removed the mouthpiece from his lips.

“I’m proud of you,” Tony said, patting his back. 

Josh buried his face into Tony’s neck. His chest hitched with sobs. A rapid series of splashes brought Max to their side. His front paws clawed through the water and onto Tony’s outstretched arm. The dog struggled with a feverish need to climb out of the water. Tony wrapped an arm around the dog’s torso and held him firm. Max’s tongue lolled out the side of his open jaw and his eyes drooped with exhaustion. The shredded neck splint hung loosely around the dog’s neck.

“Atta boy,” Tony said with a squeeze. “You’re gonna be okay, fella.”

A dog never looked more grateful.

Tony spun around in the water and confirmed that the rest of the group had made it as well. Marshall and Lacey held each other in a tight embrace. Blood trickled from a gash in Marshall’s forehead. Lacey pressed her shirtsleeve against it.

“It’s worse than it looks,” Marshall said. “Just a scrape.”

Bradley was beside them. The bandage around his wounded arm was saturated with blood.

“You okay?” Tony asked.

“No worries,” he said. “Just a few bumps and bruises.”

Becker and Sarafina floated into the light. Her arms clung to the Australian’s neck. She blinked away the dripping water.

“Is Josh all right?” she asked, shivering.

She’s something, Tony thought. She just got pulled out of a washing machine on full spin cycle and the first thing she wants to know is if her schoolmate is okay. Even though she’s not related to Francesca by blood, there’s no denying she shared the woman’s empathy.

Josh must have heard Sarafina’s question. He sniffled away a sob and nodded several times. Tony could sense that the boy wanted to hide his tears from her.

“He says he’s fine,” Tony said. When the dog licked Tony’s hand, he added, “Max, too.”

Josh stiffened suddenly in Tony’s arms.

“N—noise,” he said, pointing downstream.

Tony swiveled his helmet lamp just as the river made a sharp bend to the right. They entered the turn, the acoustics shifted, and the rumble of water cascading over rocks breached the silence.  They rounded the turn with increasing speed. The roof of the cavern sloped sharply downward.

The rumble became a roar. The river disappeared beneath them and they were suddenly weightless amidst a shower of raging water.

**

They plunged deep into the pool at the base of the massive waterfall. The aerated water cushioned the impact. Tony felt several sharp tugs on his belt as the rest of the group dropped beside him.

The life jackets pulled at Tony’s shoulders. Aided by kicks from his powerful legs, he broke the surface well beyond the crushing wall of water. Josh was still firmly within his grasp. He coughed up water. Max paddled in a frenzied circle nearby.

One by one the others bobbed to the surface. They found themselves in a large rippling pool. The river’s gripping force had disappeared. Tony imagined it plunging deep beneath them into an unseen underwater exit. The chamber they’d tumbled into was half the size of a high school gym. The ceiling rose nearly sixty feet overhead.

“Is everyone okay?” Tony shouted through the thick, swirling mist.

Nobody heard him. His voice was buried under the thunderous roar of thousands of tons of water crashing down from above. He used the universal okay hand signal and was relieved when each of the group responded in kind. Lacey and Marshall pulled a grateful Max into their embrace.

The surface current pushed them away from the cascading mass of water. As they neared the center of the circular pool, the howl of the falls seemed to double in volume, reverberating off the walls. Josh pressed his palms against his ears. The group banded together to form a single island. The beams from their helmet lamps panned and swiveled across the rocky surface of the tomb that enveloped them.

Tony studied the faces around him. It was apparent from their strained expressions that the adults understood the nature of their predicament. Becker was the only one whose expression showed no fear. The Aussie’s eyes narrowed on a rock outcropping fifteen feet overhead. The area immediately above it was shrouded in shadow.

An exit?

Tony scanned the wall beneath. It was sheer, with no fissures or handholds. He was considering how to get up there when he sensed that the ledge wasn’t as far away as he’d first thought. That’s when he realized the water level was rising. The chamber was filling up.

A few minutes later, Becker lunged up and grabbed the edge of the shelf. It was now just a few feet overhead. He pulled himself up and disappeared from view. The rest of the group held a collective breath as they bobbed in the rising pool. Their eyes fixed on the shadowed recess.  Lacey crossed her fingers. Tony saw Marshall’s lips mouthing the word “please” over and over again.   

A moment later, Becker’s wide, toothy smile beamed down at them. He reached his arm down and said, “This way out, mates.”

Chapter 31

Beneath the Sonoran Desert, Mexico

T
ony pulled himself onto the shelf in time to see Becker and Josh disappear into the shadows of the narrow fissure. The trail of dripping water in their wake glistened under the beam of Tony’s helmet lamp.

It felt good to be on dry land once again. Damn good. He unstrapped the LED torch that he’d salvaged from his abandoned assault rifle. He panned its powerful beam over the pool they’d left behind. The water continued to rise; it was less than a couple feet from the ledge. A cluster of bubbles broke the surface along the wall, as if the chamber had sprung a leak. A second string appeared a few feet away, gurgling and sputtering. He didn’t know what was going on down there, but it couldn’t be good. He was glad as hell to be out of there.

He turned sideways to fit his body through the narrow fissure that led to the adjoining cavern. He heard the echo of conversation in front of him. The tension had eased in his friends’ voices. The dog barked, sounding playful. Maybe their luck had finally turned.

The passage widened into a high-ceilinged cavern with walls that sloped outward from its depths, like the cone of a volcano, though this one had a solid roof over it. He found himself on an elevated shelf that was about midway up the space. Wide limestone ledges and outcroppings broke up the ragged walls above and below him. They combined to make a network of natural pathways and handholds that spiraled up, down, and across the entire perimeter of the unusual cathedral. It was a natural playground. There was an unusual aroma in the air. It smelled like a mixture of household cleaner laced with urine.

Lacey and Sarafina had hiked halfway up the opposite wall. Lacey no longer wore her life jacket. Sarafina had chosen to keep hers on. Tony aimed his light above them and could readily identify the twisting path they could take to reach the apex twenty-five-feet above his head. The unusual texture of the roof captured his attention—there wasn’t a stalactite to be seen. Instead, the shadowed recesses seemed to absorb the light rather than reflect it. The girls had apparently gone to take a closer look.

A bright lantern sparked to life below Tony’s perch, bathing the bottom half of the cavern in cool light. The rest of the team had gathered along the edge of a small pond of water. Their life vests were piled beside them. Marshall rummaged through the emergency backpack and sorted its contents onto the rocky floor beside the lantern. Tony unbuckled his life jacket and made his way down to them.

As he approached, he noticed that the gently swirling pond seemed to be fed from underground. The spillover drained into a tube-like channel the size of a large sewer main. The thin stream of water disappeared into its depths. He grimaced at the prospect of exploring the constrictive chute on hands and knees.