Catalyst (8 page)

"Then take a seat. Jack Bonnett's the name. Thank you
so much for helping an old fellow out."

Amy nodded and sat down. "Bonnett? I know the name.
Of course, the other girl trapped in the cave is Renee
Bonnett."

"My daughter," Jack replied. "I had to be here." He
shrugged. "Not that I can do much."

"And how are they?" The woman sounded like more than
someone being polite. There was apprehension in her voice. "I only
arrived late last night."

Jack studied Amy. "Do you know Renee?"

"No," Amy replied. "Courtney Howlett, the other girl
with her, is my granddaughter. I was contacted by the police
yesterday and flew straight out."

"I see," Jack replied slowly. "You're going through
what I am." He reached across the table with his right hand. "I'm
glad we bumped into each other, so to speak."

Amy's hand was soft with well-manicured nails but her
grip was firm. She flushed softly. "I must confess it wasn't a
coincident, Jack. When I arrived last night I was told you were
here and I followed you into the diner."

"I'm glad," Jack replied with a smile. "It gets so
impersonal here. Sure, the police and parks people couldn't be more
helpful but they have their hands full."

Amy looked at Jack with warm hazel eyes. "So tell me
about Renee."

"She's a lawyer," Jack began proudly. "A wonderful
girl..." He gave his table companion a glowing summary of his
daughter's accomplishments before stopping mid-sentence. "Here I go
again. Sorry, I shouldn't be rambling on. I'm sure your
granddaughter is every bit as successful."

"No," replied Amy. "She could be, I'm sure but she
dropped out of school and ran away. I've been trying to trace her
for weeks."

Jack frowned. "Where did she go?"

"I've no idea," Amy said. "Elizabeth, that's my
daughter and Courtney's father broke up and Lizzie moved in with
another man. Hank, her father, is overseas in England. This man
Lizzie moved in with had his own family and the kids didn't get on
with Courtney." Amy stirred her breakfast cereal and sighed. "He's
a pleasant enough chap but you know how it is when two families are
brought together."

"I've heard," Jack replied. "And is Elizabeth
here?"

"No," Amy replied angrily. "She had the silly idea
Courtney wouldn't want her, so I told her if that was the case I'd
come." She glanced up and smiled. "Teenagers can be difficult these
days but what else could I do?"

"I'm sure this young lass will appreciate you being
here."

"We'll see. My own daughter had everything but never
appreciated a thing. I had hoped Courtney wouldn't grow up the
same." She ate more breakfast before continuing. "Perhaps it was
all my fault, I don't know. Anyhow, I tried to help Courtney but it
seems she's gone down the same track as Elizabeth."

"But you don't know that."

"Well, she ran away and heaven knows what she's like
now. The things you hear that happen to young girls. When I heard
she was here, it seemed a blessing but now..." She ran a hand over
her mouth and gazed at Jack with moist eyes. "There's some rumor
about poisonous gas blowing up before they can be rescued."

"There are always rumors," Jack said in a whisper.
He, too, had heard the story and was worried. "Look, I'm driving up
to the cave after breakfast. I've got the farm's Chevy Blazer that
Renee brought, at my cabin. Would you like to come?"

"Thank you, Jack," Amy replied. "I've got no
transportation and would love a ride." She frowned. "But how do you
drive?"

"Stick the automatic in Drive. My good side is all I
need for the accelerator and brake." Jack grunted and dug into his
breakfast. He glanced up and saw that the woman looked interested,
rather than just nosy or condescending, so he continued. "Still
want to risk coming with me?"

Amy smiled. "Of course."

Jack grinned. The woman seemed pleasant but he felt
self-conscious. Except for Renee, of course, he had little to do
with the fair sex since his wife died. He was discreet but sized
the woman up. She was probably in her late fifties, obviously
wealthy but seemed genuine in her concern about the wayward
granddaughter.

Jack reached for his coffee and sipped. "Damn thing's
cold," he muttered to himself and felt embarrassed when Amy took
the mug and walked to the counter. She returned a moment later with
two steaming hot replacements.

"They didn't mind," she said. "I like my coffee hot,
too."

****

"Dad," Renee said through the microphone. "We have a
little problem with Courtney. She's distressed."

"What is it, Sweetheart?"

"She feels alone. Could you ask the police if they
managed to trace either of her parents? I think she needs
them."

"Is that so?" Jack replied. "Can I talk to her?"

"I'll get her. Won't be a moment."

Courtney frowned as she switched on the microphone.
"Hello, Mr. Bonnett."

"Do you know a Mrs. Amy Ryburn, Courtney?"

"She's my grandmother but how do you know about
her?"

"Let's say I've been in contact and she's worried
about you."

"Grandma? Did she call here?"

"She thinks you won't want to talk to her," Jack
continued. "I told her that was a load of old rubbish and you'd be
thrilled to have her near. Am I right?"

"Of course I'd talk to Grandma," Courtney said. "I
always got on well with her. Next time she phones can you get the
call transferred down here?"

"Nope," said Jack.

"Why not?" Courtney was disappointed.

"No need. Can you wait a moment?"

"I'm not going anywhere," Courtney retorted and
glared at Renee, who could hear the conversation over the
speaker.

"Honey, is that you?" Amy spoke.

"Grandma!" she screamed. "Where are you?"

"Here, Honey. Right above you with Jack."

"Oh, my God." The girl gasped and burst into tears.
"You came all the way out here from home?"

"When I found out I took the first plane out."

"For me?" Courtney's voice broke.

"Of course, Honey. I have only one granddaughter, you
know."

"Oh, Grandma. Thank you so much but where's Daddy or
Mom?"

"We're trying to contact your dad. Mom sends her love
and will try to make it out here as soon as possible."

"Yeah. I'm sure," Courtney muttered. "But you're
here, aren't you?"

"I sure am, Honey and I'll be here when you come out.
We can catch up on everything. I've missed you, Courtney."

"You have?"

"Of course. I wrote several times but your mother
said she didn't know where to forward the letters. You were
naughty, disappearing like that."

"Yes, Grandma," Courtney replied but her eyes were
glowing.

****

The eastern access to the cave proved to be a
problem. The labyrinth of unexplored tunnels came back on
themselves, petered out, or became so narrow nobody could
proceed.

One possibility was a large cavern shaped like a
horizontal exclamation mark with the point dropping vertically to
another twisting tunnel. If instruments could be believed, it ended
up close to where the three victims were trapped.

"I don't like it," Dave Foy, the bearded spelunker
muttered, as he squinted into the flashlight beam showing the chasm
below. "We're below the cavern and this next section is lower
still. I wouldn't be surprised if the air is foul. There could be a
leak from that gas reserve the satellite picked up."

"So what do we do?" Police Officer Kelly Brausch
replied.

Dave wiped his hands on his jacket and grunted. "This
is where we need to use Rex."

He squatted, took a large pack off his back and
opened it. Inside was Rex, a remote exploration vehicle. It was
about fifteen inches long and with its two bulbous lenses at the
front and oversized lights on each corner, looked like a grotesque
insect on six balloon tires. Dave placed the vehicle in a fishnet
cradle and hooked it to a rope. With Kelly's help he dangled the
cradle over the vertical drop and lowered it down.

Rex disappeared into the depths for almost the full
length of the rope before it went slack to show solid ground had
been reached.

"Okay, Kelly get it going, then switch the controls
to the guys above."

"Right." The police officer pressed a button on the
remote control; four powerful lights blazed far below and bathed
the tunnel beneath them in a shadowless white light.

The pair gazed at the small monitor. Rex was in a
narrow cave large enough for a human to stand upright. The floor
sloped up to the west at a thirty-degree angle.

"It looks promising," Dave muttered. "Let's head
back. We've done our bit."

They turned and made their methodical way back to the
surface.

****

Fifteen minutes later an earsplitting roar shook the
speakers in the control vehicle parked on Eagle Point Plateau. A
vision of a fireball of gas filled the monitor screen before it
flickered and died. The whole mountainside shook.

Far below, the earth moved, the ceilings buckled and
fell. Countless millennia of natural formations collapsed like a
faulty building in a Turkish earthquake. Layer upon layer tumbled,
the surface dipped and shook, while surface crews could only hold
on and watch.

A gentle slope of mountainside just beyond the small
base camp vented smoke before the earth moved again. Thousands of
cubic feet of the surface quivered and imploded. Trees, rocks and
soil sunk for hundreds of feet into a moonlike crater of debris,
smoke and dust. The mountainside trembled and a second landslide
tumbled into the subsequent gap, until the gentle forested slope
was no more.

In its place was an inverted cone of sheer cliffs
that disappeared into the bowels of the earth. Hissing, groaning
rocks replaced the thunder, the quivering soil slowed and stopped
as the caverns filled and held. Incoming soil backed up, slid down
ravines or other slopes, until gravity stopped the momentum and
dust flew into the air to join the smoke and ash.

Dave, Kelly and the others discovered later that the
landslide did something humans with all their resources would have
had difficulty achieving. A million tons of limestone, rock and
soil contained and smothered the explosion, so it never reached the
surface. Only a cloud of fine brown dust blew into the air and
dropped over the mountain.

Kelly and Dave were lucky to escape death that
morning. Fifteen rescue workers were trapped in higher tunnels but
radio contact was maintained. Everyone survived the explosion and
the subsequent collapse of the caves with little more than ringing
ears and thumping hearts as adrenaline worked overtime to supply
terrified minds. Confusion reined and rescue crews waited for
aftershocks.

****

"What was it, Jack?" An ashen-faced Amy asked when
she staggered to her feet beside the collapsed tent that served as
rescue headquarters.

"Something went terribly wrong," he replied in a
hoarse whisper choked with emotion. "There was an explosion." His
one good arm encircled the woman beside him. "I don't think it came
from below but around the mountain. Look."

The pair gazed up at a cloud of brown dust bellowing
into the sky beyond the firs.

"My Courtney," Amy whispered. "Could they have
survived?"

"I don't know," Jack replied, his own face like
chalk, "but pray to God, they did."

He held the weeping woman while his haunted eyes
stared at the dust. His gaze shifted and saw others rising to their
feet. Stephanie stood dazed with blood streaming down her face.
Another man staggered, groaning and disoriented, while a third
crawled from beneath the tent canvas. Orders filled the air but it
was not over yet, for the earth had begun to shake again.

****

"We've got the electricity going," Gary McKnight told
Jack and Amy. He pointed to a gauge needle that had swung to a
yellow curve. "So the cavern must still be there."

It was over an hour since the explosion and the
father and grandmother were standing beside the mobile generator.
Most of McKnight's team had gone to help in rescue efforts but the
sergeant had decided it was important to make contact with Renee,
Lem and Courtney, so had kept a skeleton crew at the drill
site.

"But the phone and speakers are dead," Jack
grumbled.

"Equipment failure," Gary explained. "A crew is
feeding a new line in now. If they're conscious we'll find out
within a few moments. Excuse me." He glanced up as a man wearing a
hard hat walked in. "Any luck, Nathan?"

"As you can see, we got the power on," Nathan
replied. "The main pipe has been squashed and nothing will get
through. I'm hesitant about trying to clear it with the drill. We
could sever the power line."

"So what do you suggest?"

"We need to move the rig a few feet and drill a new
hole."

"But how do we find out if they're alive?" Amy said.
"They could be lying there injured, suffocating...anything."

"They have light," Jack replied. "So at least they'll
know we're okay. I'm sure this gentleman will get through as soon
as it's possible."

Gary nodded. "If that's the best way, then do it.
You're the engineer, Nathan."

"Right," the man replied. He glanced at Amy and
raised his helmet a fraction. "Sorry, Ma'am. As soon as we have
news, we'll tell you."

"Thank you, Nathan. I know you're doing your best and
it is appreciated." She turned back to the elderly man watching
her. "I'm glad you're here to share the burden, Jack. Somehow, it
makes it easier."

Jack ran a shaky hand over his stubble and held her
blue eyes. "Me, too," he replied in a soft voice. "I wish I'd met
you in better circumstances."

He gave a twisted smile, nodded at the sergeant and
limped out of the tent. Dust still rose above the firs but the sun
poked out beyond it from a deep blue sky. Jack stopped and stared.
If only Renee was safe. The waiting and not knowing was
unbearable.