Catalyst (9 page)

A rustle from behind made him turn. Amy stood with an
apprehensive expression. "If you want to be alone with your
thoughts I'll leave, Jack."

"No, Amy. I'm not good at talking to ladies but would
like you to stay. What say we go and watch the rig being
shifted?"

"I'd like that."

As they walked down the path her hand slipped through
his arm. Jack glanced down, smiled and stepped forward with hardly
a limp. Inside, his thoughts turned to confidence. Renee was safe,
he knew now but other emotions, suppressed for years, stirred.

"Thoughts?"

"Just thinking about my daughter." Jack lied as his
leathery face heated. "She's a lawyer, did I tell you?"

"You did, Jack." She laughed. "You must be proud of
her."

Their solitude was interrupted when the huge tractor
unit that carried the rig burst into life. Two workers used
oversized wrenches to unbolt the pipe protruding from the ground
rock. Another man waved, sixteen massive tires gripped and the
steel tower crawled forward. Within a few moments the truck had
maneuvered to a new spot twenty feet away, commands were shouted
and the drill itself was raised, locked in a vertical position and
the cutting head turned.

It descended, the rumble turned to a howl and
particles of dirt and dust spun into the air. Water, used to cool
the cutter, sprayed everywhere but was ignored by the crew as they
carried out their appointed duties.

For better or worse, the fate of those trapped below
would soon be known.

****

CHAPTER
8

When the earth shook, Renee gave an involuntary
shudder and glanced up from the book she was reading. What began as
a slight shaking of their overhead light was within seconds a
rolling tremor. Seconds later the area jolted violently and was
accompanied by a rumbling like thunder during a summer's storm.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Trouble!" Lem yelled.

Courtney screamed when the light went out and the
trio were plunged in darkness, a total blackout. This lasted mere
seconds.

"Oh, my God," Renee hissed.

The whole area to their east lit up in a bright
flash, so strong she had to shade her eyes.

"Lightning," screamed Courtney. "But how, down
here?"

The whole cavern was lit by a pulsing red and yellow
glow. The rumbling continued, accompanied by sudden movement of
air. A gust that sucked towards the light turned to a gale, which
buffeted Renee's face. Words were torn from her mouth, hair flung
into her eyes and the book pages flapped.

Choking dust twirled, stung her eyes and entered her
nose. She could not breath. It was blocking everything. Where were
her crutches? They'd been blown aside. Magazines, plastic bags and
other light objects flew through the air and the tent flapped. Only
heavy restraining pegs held it secure.

She sputtered a rasping cough to clear her throat and
sucked in dust-laden air, only to find herself choking again. Her
eyes could barely function as tears tried to flush them clean. Her
lungs protested. She heaved and gasped like an asthmatic. The more
she tried to breathe, the worse it became.

She forced her stinging eyes open. Everything was lit
up, so every stalactite and stalagmite stood out like a monstrous
Greek temple. Desperate, Renee attempted to stand but her broken
ankle would not support her weight and she was pitched sideways
onto the ground.

Panic set in.

But help was at hand. A muscular arm grabbed her and
she was half carried and half dragged into the flapping tent. Lem
shouted something in her ear.

"Oxygen," he yelled. "Put on the mask."

She felt his hand place a small plastic mask over her
face. There was a faint hiss inside her head and cool fresh air
entered her raw throat. She could breath!

"Take it slowly." Lem's muffled voice punctured her
senses. "The air is being sucked away."

Renee opened her eyes, rubbed the stinging tears
aside and glanced around. Orange canvas flapped above the dark blue
floor. Courtney was coughing beside her but had managed to pull the
tent door zipper down.

Renee breathed that fresh, delicious oxygen into her
lungs and squeezed Lem's hand. "Thank you."

But there was no time to say more. Another gigantic
rumble made her jump in terror and the world blacked out. Total
blackness surrounded her as if someone had punched out her eyes but
all other senses were on overdrive. She felt dust even inside the
tent. The taste of grit filled her mouth, her eyes smarted and she
could smell scorched milk.

Scorched milk, how could that be? It wasn't, of
course but there was a distinct aroma of burnt objects.

A light came on, a local friendly light. Lem had
turned on his helmet flashlight.

"The tent!" Courtney screamed.

Renee frowned before she understood. The flapping
stopped. Everything became quiet but this was only momentary. When
the flapping began again it was less powerful and only buffeted the
canvas gently but while the air was still dust-laden, it felt
different.

Lem removed his mask and a pale smile came to his
lips. "We have air. I think we can breathe without the masks."

Renee removed her mask and took several tentative
breaths. The air appeared fresh. The wind slowed to a breeze and
finally nothing. Lem looked as if he'd grown a ginger-beard and
Courtney was wide- eyed and open-mouthed.

"What was it?" the youngster gasped.

"An explosion followed by a cave-in, I think," Lem
answered. "It sucked our air away and the following landslide
collapsed the cave to our east and sealed us in."

"But we can breathe," Courtney argued.

"There must be an entrance somewhere in the direction
where we fell in. Perhaps the earthquake made a hole."

Renee replied, "New air from the upper cave rushed
into the vacuum. That was the changed wind direction."

"I'd say so," Lem concluded.

Renee found Lem's arm around her and noticed he also
held the shaking teenager. She began to speak but stopped. Another
earthquake had arrived. The tent shook, some equipment outside
clanged, the shake subsided and silence returned to their lonely
prison.

"Oh, Lem," Renee cried. "Is it over?"

"I think so. Stay here and I'll slip out for a
peek."

He squeezed both their arms and walked away.

"I was petrified," Courtney confessed. "When I
couldn't breathe I thought that was it."

Their conversation was interrupted when Lem returned.
"It's a mess out there but the air is fresh. Even the hot stink has
gone. However, the light doesn't go on and all contact with the
surface is broken." He produced a flask. "Here, quench your
throats. The food is all over the place." He sat and grinned.
"There'll be no more earthquakes, though." Nobody said a word and
his expectant look turned to disappointment. "Well, aren't you
going to ask why?"

"I know why," Renee whispered.

"I don't. How?" Courtney shrieked in
exasperation.

Renee pulled back the tent flap. "The glowworms have
lit up." She frowned. "I'd forgotten but just before it happened,
I'm sure they switched off. I glanced up from my book and saw it.
Seconds later the quake started."

"So it must be a good sign," Lem added.

"But how would a tiny insect know?" Courtney
asked.

"They knew," Lem replied. "And I reckon they know
it's okay now."

And so it was. No more tremors arrived, the air
remained pure and a million glowworms covered their artificial sky
like friends offering guidance and support. Ten minutes later the
light came on but the microphone and speaker remained silent.

"Well, back to being Robinson Crusoe," Lem said.

"Yeah and two Girl Fridays," Courtney replied.

****

The day passed slowly, an anticlimax fueled by the
apprehension of not knowing what was happening outside. During the
afternoon the light flickered in a distinct rhythm.

Renee frowned and clicked her fingers. "Of course.
Have we a pencil handy?"

"I think so," Courtney replied. She rummaged through
one of the containers, produced a note pad and pen and handed them
to Renee.

Meanwhile, the light flickered a steady pattern.

"Someone is sending us Morse Code," Renee said. She
wrote the short and long flickers down as dots and dashes.

While the others watched, she continued for several
moments before grinning. "One message is being repeated." She held
up the note pad. "Now I have to work it out."

"They've stopped." Lem nodded at the light that
glowed without a flicker.

But Renee wasn't listening. She wrote letters down,
frowned, scratched a few out and replaced them, before she smiled
and studied her effort. "Here it is. I learned it years ago as a
girl scout. It fascinated me and I still know most codes. Daddy
would have remembered that." She read the message. "Turn off light
two times."

It was Courtney who rushed over and pressed the tiny
switch above the bulb. They were plunged into darkness. It returned
when she pressed the switch again and repeated the maneuver.

They waited but the bulb glowed without a blink.

"Do it again," Lem said.

After the third time they stared at the bulb and
waited.

"Shit!" Courtney whispered when it flickered on and
off once more.

Renee grabbed the pen and again jotted down the code.
A few moments later she handed the note pad to Lem who read it.

"Drilling new hole. Old pipe blocked...take time. Do
not worry if ceiling shakes. Love, Daddy."

****

Jack broke into a broad smile when, for a second time
the amp gauge on the generator flicked back, stopped and resumed
its original position.

"They're alive," he hooted in excitement and placed a
sloppy kiss on the woman next to him, then realized what he'd done
and broke into profuse apologies.

"Why apologize, Jack?" Amy was excited, too. "If we
can't show our emotions at a time like this, when can we?"

"Yes but..." Jack flushed and looked at Gary for
support.

The trooper grinned and shrugged. "Well, you'd better
work out the next message old timer. I thought Morse code had gone
out of fashion years ago."

"Probably has," Jack replied, "but this just shows
the newfangled things aren't always the best."

He sat, wrote out his message, scratched out
unnecessary words and assigned the code to it.

From the messages that arrived from Renee, Jack and
his companions found that the three were safe but curious about the
cause of the explosion.

"Tell them not to move away from their present site,"
Gary advised. "It'll take awhile for the new access hole to be
drilled and we don't know how stable the cavern is."

"Right," Jack replied, his eyes aglow.

****

Afternoon turned to evening and the pair were still
by the generator when Stephanie arrived.

"The drill hit an unexpected piece of hard strata and
has had to slow down. The foreman reckons they won't be through
before morning." She smiled at Jack. "Why don't you two go back to
the campground?"

"But what if messages come through?" Jack
protested.

"We had a copy of the code sent to us," the officer
continued. "I'm here all night and if a message comes through I'll
work it out." She placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. "It'll take a
little longer but I'm sure we can decode any message."

"Come on, Jack," Amy persuaded. "Exhausting yourself
won't help anything."

"No, I guess not." Jack smiled when Amy handed him
his walking stick but he hesitated and turned. "Can I ask one
favor?"

"Sure."

"Could you drive the Chevy back to camp? When I'm
tired my bad side shakes and I find it difficult to drive."

"Of course but on one condition."

Jack frowned.

"Oh, Jack," Amy said and squeezed his arm. "I was
going to invite you for dinner at the trailer I rented. It has a
full kitchen unit." She hesitated before continuing in a quiet
voice. "Like you, I hate waiting around. Cooking is my way of
occupying my mind but to do it just for myself..."

"You know, I love cooking, too," Jack replied. "It's
one way I help Renee. When she gets home from work late and she's
tired, I have a meal waiting."

"So you'll come?"

"Yes, love to," Jack replied. "I get sick of those
diner meals all the time. There's nothing like home cooking, I
say."

****

It was a wonder Renee's and Courtney's ears didn't
burn, for all evening Jack and Amy discussed their offspring with
pride.

"We're wrapped up in our kids, aren't we Jack?" Amy
said. "I've missed Courtney over the last few months."

"Renee has always been there for me."

"So, what else do you do, Jack?"

"Well, the farm became a burden so except for a
couple home fields, it's leased out. I potter around."

Amy listened as Jack talked and she told a little of
her own life. She had been a widow for three years and had only one
daughter. She smiled. "Thanks for listening to me ramble on."

Jack returned the smile. "I enjoyed it."

And he had. When he drove the short distance to his
cabin an hour later his thoughts were on the pleasant evening. Amy
was different than his late wife in many ways but in others she was
the same. He sighed. It was stupid to compare the living with the
dead. She was a pleasant woman who shared the same near tragedy.
Once Renee and Amy's granddaughter came to the surface he'd
probably never see her again. He chuckled. It was a great evening,
though.

****

CHAPTER
9

"Watch the birdie," Courtney yelled when Renee woke
up.

The waking woman's senses were on full alert but
there was no danger this time. Instead she saw an impulsive grin
and Courtney with a digital camera in her hand.