Deeper Into the Void (12 page)

Chapter 12

T
he afternoon sunlight reflects off of the mirrored pond, the light shimmers back up onto the ceiling of the dome, giving the dome a luminous ceiling. A loud rumbling sounds out from the atmospheric compressor, which is mounted adjacent to the thick glass wall about fifteen meters from the south end of the pond. Ghent’s diligent concentration is shattered by the pervasive noise that has broken the stark silence.

His hand jumps off of the metal crate that he is trying to open. The light aluminum alloy container had been sitting adjacent to the airlock since they had arrived. Ghent carefully grabs the handle-style metal latch on the side. The air begins to rush by the rubber gasket on the door. After the air finishes equalizing within the crate, Ghent retrieves the integrated kit to set up the bee hive. In the process of sliding the kit out of the crate, he stops suddenly. He quickly stands upright, and then holds perfectly still; no movement is made for several moments. He slowly draws his hands up to his ears to cover them.

Doctor Mendez, who happens to be standing up in the plaza, watches Doctor Ghent from afar with great interest. Her facial expression reveals her bewilderment and surprise at his sudden cessation of all movement. She pauses a quick moment to see if he will start to move again before she starts walking to him. After a few tense moments, he begins to move cautiously. He starts to shake his head vigorously back and forth, as if to express “no” like he never had before. He first turns his head around to the right without moving any other part of his body, and then rigidly swings his head back the other way.

As suddenly as his strange behavior came, it also disappears; Doctor Ghent continues his task of setting up the beehive down by the pond. As Mendez arrives next to him, he remains focused on his work diligently and seems to be completely unaware of her presence, even though she is standing right in front of him.

Ghent’s hand once again flies off of the surface that it had been holding. The kit falls from its precise holding place in the crate and strikes the ground at his feet. Mendez reaches her hand out, as if to appear to want to stop the kit from falling, although she could not affect its salvation even if she wanted to.

Ghent holds his palm out in front of him, facing her. He moves his other wrist up to his mouth, as if to cover it.

Mendez cannot help but to notice that Ghent continually glances over his shoulder at the pond, it looks as though he is watching to see if something is going to come out of it while he is talking. She cocks her head to the side to watch what he is watching. An abrupt ripple from the inside of the pond begins to move outward. The circular disruption takes a minute or so before the reaching the edges of the pond.

Ghent had noticed Mendez’s facial expression change from a look of concern into a look of bewilderment. The color of the pond began to change, very gradually at first, and then all at once the color changed from green to a brownish hue.

Mendez quickly nods her head up and down, she takes a couple of steps backward. Her eyes remain fixated on him as she slowly steps backward; she holds her hands up by her shoulders where he can see them. Her calm retreat is interrupted abruptly by Cardiff shouting from behind her.

Cardiff presses her finger against the earpiece firmly planted in her ear.

A nod of her head demonstrates her active listening to the radio in her ear. She continues her descent down the hill to meet Mendez and Ghent where they stand.

Cardiff removes her hand from the earpiece and she looks Mendez in the eyes as she can see the impending question forming.

Cardiff looks over Mendez’s shoulder, eagerly watching Ghent as he remains industrious by the pond shore.

Mendez, Cardiff and Ghent all stand near the airlock, awaiting the radio call from Long to say that he has arrived. As time passes, it is apparent that the intense feelings of apprehension are almost more than Mendez and Cardiff can reasonably handle. Hands rub pale faces, and fingers are kept fidgeting to pass the time. In the space of two hours, the time it takes for Long to make his way back to the dome, feelings of nervous nausea and heart palpitation pervade each moment. They move from one location to the next, all to keep an eye on Ghent without him becoming aware of the scrutiny.

Finally, the radio call comes in as the large rig pulls up next to the airlock. Mendez, Cardiff, and then Ghent come running out of the airlock, all suited up. Additional provisions, which will surely be needed, are carried over shoulder as they make haste.

There is little time to explain the events that have transpired as they jump into the large rig. Without pause, the team makes the sojourn back to the volcanic tube, where Lawrence lay unconscious and broken. The time passes slowly as the rig rolls across the endless wasteland to reach the fallen man. Interrogative discussion ensues regarding the happenings that led up to the accident; Long appears calm, yet concerned in his discourse.

Long explains that he had dropped flares and oxygen to Lawrence in the event that he awakens; after a long exposure on the ground in the cavern, so far below the warming rays of the sun, he will inevitably expire from hypothermia or suffocation, whichever comes first.

Upon arriving at the destination, all four team members leap from the vehicle and rush toward the repelling ropes that have already been fastened at the top of the opening. Two at a time, they repel down the wall of the drop.

After so much time waiting to arrive, anxiety and restlessness almost overwhelm their purpose with hysteria. Long quickly brings the rest of the team to the same crossroads that Lawrence had stood with him a few long hours ago. The convoluted passage frustrates Cardiff and Mendez as they cannot know how much further away the cavern is.

As they triumphantly burst from the confines of the small tunnel into the cavern, Cardiff can’t help but to verify what she hopes to be true.

The water condensation from Long’s breath overwhelms the fan in his helmet, and begins to collect on his visor. Once in the large cavern, jagged rock and uneven floor surfaces make this journey a dangerous one for everyone.

As Lawrence opens his eyes, the dimmest of light in the background reveals to him that his mask has a series of cracks running through it. He rolls over and slowly tries to sit up. He lay propped up on one arm as he feels a sharp, yet throbbing pain in his other arm, and another in his pelvic bone. Both are definitely broken from the long fall. The sound of radio signal in his ear increases his situational awareness even further.

As the rest of the team hurriedly rushes to climb up the large rock inside the cavern, the edge of the crevice becomes visible. A sudden flash from within the hole further reveals Lawrence’s natural internment. The rich oxygen environment breathes life to a new demon. Brightly colored flames erupt out of the crevice, and a sudden burst of heat and flame knock the four from their climbing positions onto their backs in the cavern, bringing their approach to a sudden and horrific halt.

With an unrivaled hunger, the flames engulf the entire hidden cavern in heat and light. The rising inferno illuminates each crevice and far-reaching corner in the cavern. The intense heat radiating out of the fully-engulfed cavern threatens to melt some of the components on the team’s pressure suits. Walking with their hands, and their backs against the wall, the others rush to get out of the way of the erupting inferno.

As the flames become satisfied, and the fog begins to clear, they all get up and carefully wander to the rock housed within the cavern, yet again. Cardiff dismisses probable peril as she rushes to the bulge of rock, which houses the crevice atop it. Long comes alongside her. She gives him a lifting boost, and he manages to crawl back up to where he once had been.

Mendez tosses a hand-held light up to him and he crawls over to the edge, on his stomach once again. With a very deliberate press of the switch, the lamp ignites, projecting intense light down into the hole. His head quickly pulls away from the crevice to retreat from the horrific scene below. Long slowly rises to his knees, and braces his hands on his thighs as he leans forward. His helmet comes to rest on the rock face in front of him. Mendez reaches the top of the rock and carefully walks over to him. She tentatively bends over and places her gloved hand on his back.