CHAPTER 1
The Underworld
Bats! Karina froze in place as dozens of dark-winged shapes flutteredpast her head. Her heart pounded wildly, but the bats didn't send icychills up and down her spine. Bats didn't frighten Karina. Her fleshcrept from the terrified shriek that still echoed in her ears—the shriekthat drove countless little brown bats from daily slumber into frenziedflight, the shriek that dredged up unknown fears, and the shriek thatcould have only come from one of her friends.
"Hurry!" Karina yelled to Joe.
She ran recklessly down the shadowy passageway—against allrules for cave exploration. The dim light provided by the tiny halogenlamp fastened to her helmet bounced wildly along the wet, slipperycave floor.
"Stop running!" Joe shouted.
A restraining hand firmly gripped Karina's shoulder. Her feetslid forward and threw her off balance. She nearly crashed into thecave wall's sharp rocks. Her helmet slid forward on her forehead andblocked part of her vision. Karina struggled to control her emotions.She turned to face her partner.
"Sorry, I should have known better."
Karina fought against the impulse to race toward the directionof the scream—the direction her friends had traveled. She adjustedthe unwieldy, mud-stained helmet that protected her from the jaggedrock ceiling only inches above her head.
"There was only one scream," Joe said in a reassuring tone, as onemight calm a frightened child. He swiped a strand of curly, black hairaway from his brow. "Some bats probably startled Megan or Heather.My guess is that it was Megan. She was awfully nervous about goingthis deep into the cave without an adult leader."
At seventeen, Joe was two years her senior. Karina took a deepbreath and let it out slowly. She shined her helmet light onto Joe'schest. Nearly six feet tall, Joe stood almost six inches taller thanKarina. His blue eyes sparkled in the reflected light. "You're right,"she conceded. "But let's hurry anyway, just in case."
She remembered how pale Megan had turned at breakfast whenMartin, Karina's guardian and headmaster of Blue Horizons, hadinformed them that he felt the class had learned the necessary skillsfor safe cave exploration. Blue Horizons, a small alternative schoollocated in the state of New York—far from the Missouri cave shecurrently explored—taught many courses through real-life experiencesthat included flying an ultralight airplane and cave exploration. Oftenthese courses were taught off campus and lasted for many weeks. Thatmorning, for the first time without adult supervision, Martin hadsent three teams of students into Little Scott's Cave to explore.
Megan was so nervous that she hadn't even eaten breakfast.During the previous five days of exploration, Martin had been herpartner. He had worked to help Megan overcome the claustrophobiathat terrorized her during each underground excursion.
Continuing at a safer pace, Karina worked through the narrow,winding cave and dodged numerous serrated rock spurs jutting outfrom the limestone walls. Little Scott's Cave was "dead," meaningthat its formations no longer grew larger, so Karina wasn't particularlyworried about damaging a cave formation, but Martin had taught herto respect nature. She didn't want to break anything—or get cut.Injuring herself would only make whatever situation awaited hereven worse.
"There," Karina said, pointing her light toward a hazy pinpointglowing in the distance. "I see only one light."
"Don't panic." Joe moved in front of her and led the way. "Stayclose."
Trembling and fearing the worst, Karina followed Joe throughthe dark passageway. She refused to let her imagination run wild. Hewould handle the situation as he always did. Past experiences gaveher confidence that Joe could handle whatever emergency awaitedthem. In just over a year, he had rescued her three times, twice savingher life. Joe had helped her land an ultralight airplane when she wasdeathly ill from a rattlesnake bite. Without his timely assistance,she would have crashed. Then he had rescued her from the Amazonrainforest when she had gone off on an ill-fated search for a lostpilot. And only three months earlier, he had helped her survive ashipwreck.
Joe's headlamp suddenly illuminated a slim, dark figure withlong blonde hair flowing from beneath her helmet. He asked quietly,"Heather, are you hurt? Where's Megan?"
"I twisted my ankle."
Heather sat on the damp, slippery mud. Grasping her right, boot-enclosedankle with both hands, she rocked back and forth, obviouslyin great pain. "Megan, like, lost her balance and put her hand on theceiling to keep from falling. She touched a bat and freaked. I grabbedher arm and tried to keep her from running, but I slipped and wentdown. Megan ran down that passageway on your right."
Karina knelt beside the much taller girl. "Take off your boot andlet me have a look."
Heather shook her head. "No. I might not be able to get it backon. I can feel my ankle swelling. There is almost half a mile ofpassageway to navigate to get out of here. Like, I don't intend to walkbarefoot on this slippery mud and sharp rocks. Go after Megan. I'llwait here for you."
Karina shook her head. "We can't leave you alone. You're hurt."
Joe grasped Karina's right arm and gently pulled her to her feet."Heather's right. Paul and Jessica should be along soon. We'd bettersearch for Megan. According to the map Martin showed us lastnight, that passageway breaks up into many divergent smaller ones,some of which have deep holes filled with water."
She bent over Heather and placed a gloved hand on the taller girl'sshoulder. Not long ago Heather and Karina had been something lessthan friends, but after surviving a shipwreck and other adventurestogether, they had become close. "Stay put," she instructed. "Noheroics. Understand?"
Heather nodded agreement. "Yeah. Like, go. I'll wait here."
"Paul and Jessica are supposed to meet us here within the nextten or fifteen minutes. Break out a light stick and save your batteries,"Joe said. Then he pointed his headlamp down a narrow passagewayto his right.
"Use your emergency blanket to keep warm," Karina added."Fifty-four degrees Fahrenheit seems warm when you're moving,but it doesn't take long to get cold when you're sitting on dampground."
Heather pulled a chemical light stick and a thin emergency blanketfrom her backpack. "I'll be fine. Like, go already. Find Megan beforeshe does something dumb and hurts herself."
Karina edged past Joe. "I'll lead. You have better eyes in the darkthan I do. I'll light up the floor; you concentrate on searching theshadows."
"Good thinking." Joe positioned himself directly behind Karinaand a little to her left. "Goslow. If Megan has fallen and is unconscious,we don't want to miss her."
Karina ducked under a rock outcrop, and darkness closed aroundher. She entered the narrow, winding passageway that led deep intothe cave—a passageway that led to more than eight miles of darkshadows and unknown hazards. Martin had instructed them not toenter the wilder sections without adult supervision, but Megan hadgiven her and Joe no choice.
Ankle-deep water reminded her of Martin's lecture on dangersthat might be encountered while exploring caves. She realized thatMegan faced two immediate dangers: falling and hypothermia.Megan could also get lost or slip into deep water and drown, butfalling and hypothermia presented the most likely threats. Fallingmight lead to fractures or head injuries. Both could lead to seriousconsequences, possibly even death.
"Take that passageway on the right," Joe instructed, his wordsbreaking the silent darkness and making her jump. She had been soabsorbed in thought that she hadn't even seen the new passageway.Karina shined her headlamp first toward the right and then down amuch larger passageway on her left.
"Are you sure? The left is bigger, and it's dry."
"Megan would be panicking, not using rational thought." Joestepped into the right passageway, removed his backpack, and tookout a map. "Megan's right-handed. She probably hugged the wall toher right and didn't even notice the other passageway. This one ismore dangerous. The map indicates waist-deep water and a long wayto go before reaching dry ground. The one on the left is much longer,but it's dry and pretty easy to travel."
Karina sighed deeply and took a final moment to shine her lightinto both passageways. She wanted to go left, but Joe's logic forcedher to accept his decision.
"Let's leave a light stick here and a marker pointing which wayis out in case Megan went that way and comes back before we do,"Karina suggested.
Joe pulled her close to him and gave her a warm, enduring hug."Great idea. When it comes to handling a crisis, you've come a longway."
"I've had lots of experience lately," Karina said dryly and returnedhis hug, burying her head against Joe's chest. Why is it that everytime we have a chance to be truly alone, there is always some emergency?Karina sighed and gently pulled free from Joe's strong arms. Firstthings first.
She stared into the dark void and decided that this situationwasn't as serious as others she and Joe had shared. Still, being lost ina cave had its own dangers, and Megan might be in serious trouble.
Joe broke the inside cylinder of a chemical light stick and shookit to mix the two liquids inside. Immediately, the cave around themfilled with a soft, white light. Using the heel of his boot, Joe scrapedan arrow in a muddy section of the cave floor that stood above thewater level. It pointed down the passageway to where Heather waitedfor them. Then he etched the word "out" along the shaft of the arrowand placed the light stick next to the drawing.
Karina shivered slightly. Her feet and legs were soaking wet fromsplashing through the shallow stream. "Let's hurry. I'm getting cold.If Megan came this way, she must be freezing by now."
"She'll be fine as long as she keeps moving. Lead on."
Twenty minutes later Karina and Joe waded through cold, hip-deepwater but saw no signs that Megan had traveled through thewater-filled passageway. Karina was ready to suggest going back andgetting more help when Joe abruptly grabbed her arm and pulled herto a complete stop.
"Look! A flashlight!" Joe pointed his headlamp toward a smallplastic object floating in the brown water. He picked up the flashlightand examined it closely. "It's one of ours. Megan must have comethis way."
"Megan!" Karina shouted and then listened as her own voiceechoed down the seemingly endless passageway. Only silence greetedher effort. The dark cave swallowed her voice, leaving an uneasysilence.
"Walk slowly. We might find more signs," Joe said.
Trembling from cold and fear of what she might find, Karinastrained her eyes, seeking out any clue that might lead the way toher friend. She sloshed forward; the water's depth increased, inchingabove her waist and coming to rest halfway up her chest. Karina'steeth chattered slightly; her exhaled breath produced wispy cloudsthat her headlamp illuminated.
Karina thought, Poor Megan must be terrified and cold. Maybe she'sinjured and all alone in this eternal darkness.
Joe swung his headlamp to their right and switched on a backupflashlight, interrupting her worried thoughts. Increased brightnessfrom the combined light sources exposed a dark object half submergedin the murky water. He carefully lifted a nylon backpack from thewater by a broken strap and then opened it.
"That's Megan's backpack," Karina stammered, trying to controlher shivering.
Joe rummaged through the soggy bag. "This isn't good. Her extraflashlight, batteries, water, emergency blanket, and light sticks are allhere. Megan has only her headlamp and what she's wearing. If shehasn't changed batteries, she may already be without light."
Karina shined her light in every direction. "Then she can't befar. She wouldn't try moving in total darkness. Even if she's stillpanicked, she'd grab onto something and stay put."
"Megan!" Joe's voice echoed. "Shout if you can hear us."
Only silence answered from the darkness beyond. Karina shinedher light onto Joe's chest to get his attention. "I'll look to the right.You look to the left. We've got to find her quickly. How long didMartin say a person could survive in fifty-degree water?"
"About two hours if a person is in the water and isn't able to moveand generate heat," Joe responded. "If Megan's out of the water, sheshould be able to last five or six hours. But she's tiny and doesn't havemuch body fat."
Karina increased her pace, determined to find her friend asquickly as possible. At least thirty minutes had passed since Meganhad broken away from Heather. Megan would be turning fifteen thenext day, and the class had planned a surprise birthday party. Karinafeared tragedy might annul the celebration unless she and Joe actedquickly.
For the next hour, she waded through cold, muddy water,stopping to shout every twenty yards. She and Joe searched twoshort side passageways that they found on the right side of the cave,but they found nothing and had to continue down the long, wet mainpassageway.
Shivering from being cold and wet, Karina stopped. "Do youthink we should turn back? Did we miss something on the leftside?"
The side-to-side movement of his helmet light indicated Joe'sdismissal of her idea to turn back. "This is our best hope for findingMegan in a timely manner. Martin and the others should be searchingby now. Let's give it another twenty minutes. If we don't find Meganby then, we'll leave a marker to show how far we searched and thengo get more help."
Joe pulled her to him, hugged her for a few long seconds, and thenvigorously rubbed her shoulders and arms. In spite of the fact that sheand Joe were unofficially going steady—Blue Horizons discouragedformal commitments of affection among its students—she foundlittle relief in Joe's attempt to warm and reassure her. She slippedfrom his arms and splashed onward.
Karina felt the tightness of panic rising in her voice. A suddenheaviness settled on her chest. Worry made her careless; she nearlyfell headfirst several times. Near the end of Joe's twenty-minutedeadline, she stopped and shouted. "Megan!"
"Here ... I'm here."
A barely perceptible voice floated to Karina, bringing a vastmeasure of relief. Karina and Joe shined their lights in every direction,seeking the source of Megan's voice.
"Megan! Keep shouting! We're coming!"
"Here ... here ... here," the voice echoed. "I'm up here ... here ...here. I can see your light ... light ... light."
Joe shined his headlamp and flashlight upward. The light revealeda small hole on the right side of the cave wall. The narrow openingwas about two feet above the water level. Skid marks streaked themuddy wall—evidence of recent climbing.
"She has to be in there." Karina moved toward the hole. "Boostme up. I'll check it out. Megan, I'm coming."
Joe easily hoisted her ninety-eight pounds up the incline. Karinascrambled on hands and knees for nearly ten yards before her lightlanded on a small, muddy girl cuddled up against a rock.
Megan sat with arms wrapped around her legs. Her chin restedon top of her knees, and her teeth clicked with great intensity.
"Megan," Karina called softly, scrambling to the shivering teen."I'm here. Joe's here. Look at me."
"Is she there?" Joe's voice penetrated the darkness.
"Yes," Karina yelled.
She removed Megan's useless helmet. Water dripped from theshivering girl's soggy hair and soaked clothing. Seconds later Karinaheard a scrambling sound behind her.
"How is she?" Joe asked.
"Freezing," Karina lifted Megan's pallid face. The shivering girltried to speak, but clicking teeth made intelligible speech impossible."I don't think she can walk. What should we do?"
"I'll go back for help. You begin treatment for hypothermia," Joedirected.
"Okay, but hurry. Time is short. I'll try to warm Megan. Becareful. We're counting on you."
In a facetious manner, Joe saluted her stream of orders. "Yes,ma'am. Help will be here in no time." He moved close, slipped off asoggy glove, lifted Karina's mud-smudged face, and lightly kissed hercheek. Then, without saying another word, he slid down the muddyincline and disappeared.
