Rival of Atlantis

VIII

THE WASH OF THE ROTOR blades coming up ahead shuffled their hair as Gillian and Summer exited the helicopter. People gathered near the landing site even before the chopper, a Eurocopter UH-72 Lakota bearing the US NAVY fatigues and markings, settled down while a man in blue coveralls, making hand gestures that were never related to air navigation, guided the helicopter in landing. Gillian took note of the people that gathered near the landing site. She read hope in their eyes, maybe because of sighting the US Navy aircraft.

The only passenger aside from them jumped off the craft behind the two girls. He is a soldier carrying the rank of ensign, equal to an army first-class lieutenant. The drone of the aircraft went from high RPMs to low as the rotor blades slowed. The pilots just put off the engine after some time.

As Gillian strode her way towards the cluster of men, she took note that the hope lingering at the corners of their eyes shifted to puzzlement. She cannot blame them. The sight of US military aircraft might have given them hope, but with only three people jumping off, wherein two are mere women in shorts and sneakers, is in fact puzzling.

"Engineer Rico Martinez," a short, white and fat man came to approach the man in military gear behind them. Gillian noticed that the man has completely disregarded them as if they are not there at all. He is extending a hand towards the soldier. "Assistant Operation Officer."

"Ensign Frederick Thomas," the soldier took the hand with both of his.

Gillian and Summer turned around just in time to see the engineer leaning sideways from the soldier and looked up the sky. From the looks in his eyes, it is as if he is expecting another chopper materialize in the up above. The man shielded his eyes with the hand he just shook with the soldier.

"Pardon, sir," he pronounced in a learned accent while eyeing the pilots who had just switched off the engine and are jumping off the aircraft. "Is the other chopper running late?"

"There's no other chopper," the soldier declared flatly.

"So," the engineer gestured with his hands in disbelief. "Where's the rescue team?"

"Right behind you, sir," he gestured an open palm to Gillian and Summer.

The man turned around expecting he missed somebody. While the party is walking towards them, he only saw the man in US Navy fatigues with a rifle slung on a strap and disregarded the women who looked like they are dressed for a walk in the park.

"Women?" He boomed in disbelief. Their COO with a team of survey miners and a visitor are trapped inside the mining tunnel and he cannot believe that their fate rest in the hands of women.

The soldier felt the sting of tension when both Gillian and Summer raised their eyebrows. He immediately paced in between the three to help remedy the situation. "This is Doctor Gillian Brown," he gestured a palm to her then to Summer. "Engineer Summer Santos. They are scientists from Special Advanced Research, a UNESCO scientific wing."

"Scientists?" He said with no effort of hiding his disdain.

"Women," Gillian pronounced with air of authority. "And scientists. But it seems we are not welcome here. I thought there is urgency in a matter of lives and deaths here." She began walking towards the chopper. "There are other things that need our attention. The last thing I wanted is being dragged in places where we are not welcome."

Summer was instantly behind Gillian's heels when the soldier spoke. "Let me tell you frankly what the situation is. Your government cannot spare rescue units in an instant. Ours are having some sort of full force exercise and cannot give the manpower. We are just refueling and are on our way back to our ship when the call from our flagship came through. US government wanted to protect the lives of their citizens in your tunnel. They pulled all the strings to answer the urgency of the situation."

He paused a moment to watch Gillian and Summer as they boarded the helicopter. "The last thing US wants is to tag international outfits for this rescue mission. Those girls?" He paused to let it all sink down the mind of the engineer. "Have jobs to do when we picked them up. My pilots and I have things to do too. You either apologize to them and get this done or don't, then we'll on our merry way."

The engineer weighed the things before he spoke. The tunnel is blocked by some three hundred meters of dirt and rock. The water level is also rising in the tunnel. They fought almost overnight for a fire that came from a faulty generator unit and took one of their buildings to ashes. The last thing he really expected was a pair of women for the rescue mission.

"Pardon, sir," he croaked. "My boys and I fought nearly overnight against a fire." He nodded towards one of the buildings.

The soldier turned to see one of the buildings that is blackened by sooth. Its roof was collapsed inward from the black metal thrusters. The windows are now just regulars square cuts in the walls, the glasses gone with the conflagration.

"I see," the soldier noted. "But that's no excuse to mistreat help."

"Indeed."

"So you go there," he pointed in the chopper. "Tell all of these to them and apologize."

The engineer nodded and treaded towards the chopper. Upon reaching it, he apologized to Gillian and Summer and told them how stressed he was from different problems that occurred overnight. He told them that one of the generator sets caught fire when they tried starting them just after the lines of electricity erupted in sparks that put all the lights out. Just when they are fighting the fire, the tunnel shook as if someone detonated dynamite and then it collapsed inward.

Gillian accepted the apology, never the one who lets her emotion cloud the rational judgment. After some exchanges of ideas, she requested Summer to be escorted to the mining site while she asked if she can have a look at the tunnel sketches. The engineer brought her to a nearby tree shade where a collapsible table has been set up and was later piled with wide sheets of papers she later recognized as tunnel plans. Together with soldiers from the US Navy, she and the engineer discussed information about the tunnel and the rescue attempt.

Gillian studied the map of tunnels sketched on a tracing paper for maybe the tenth time while the engineer gave information like how his men are trying their best to move debris hastily and the expanse of the tunnel. The map looks to her like it is drawn in haste or was made by a student-apprentice. Either way, the map spread on the old and worn table is still discernible.

Gillian took note of the expanse of the tunnel presented on sketches. It has two entrances facing same point on a compass from a face of a mountain. The two entrances are separated by a distance of gap and from both of them, the tunnel ways go in a labyrinth that resembles a vast expanse of ant tunnels. She took note that from the main tunnel which goes in a crooked "C" from both entrances; sub-tunnels were cut along its sides that nearly covered the interior of the mountain.  

At least the sketch artist had the dimensions right, Gillian thought as she took note of the measurements spread across of what should have been the blueprint of the labyrinth of tunnels.

"This part of tunnel is the one that had collapsed," the engineer pointed with a pencil. He shaded a part of the tunnel along what was labeled as Entrance B. "Instrument reading revealed that it is approximately clogged for some 250 meters now."

"Approximately?" Gillian looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Somewhere between 250 and 280."

Gillian studied the map again. Aboard the chopper earlier, the US Navy who is the only passenger has explained the situation to them. A mining tunnel that is not yet operational is where a crew of the last company that bought conducted ores sampling when they were trapped inside the tunnel. Gillian cannot discern earlier what is special about miners being trapped inside some tunnel. It is only in her discussion with the Assistant Operation Officer that some enlightenment have been shone on her but still cannot contemplate why there is a rush in saving some trapped miners. Aside from imparting that two of the potential victims are US citizens, the soldier is in the dark himself. He only explained that all units of US Navy nearby are deployed for some military exercise offshore and that they are only refueling in Costa Rica when the distress call came. They are the ones who contacted the US Embassy to Costa Rica who in turn tapped SAR, asking if they have a team who can possibly perform rescue operations.

Gillian leaned and traced an index finger from the shaded part to its depths. Her finger made some curves and turns in the crooked main tunnel. "So they can be somewhere in this length."

"Not totally," the engineer said. He drew broken lines in some parts of the tunnel. "Two days ago, the COO ordered pumps to be put off, making these parts of the tunnels flooded by the water that is coming from underground. Water is reaching beyond this point now."

"So, this Entrance A," Gillian pointed to the other entrance. "It is flooded?"

"Definitely," the engineer tugged the sketch and revealed another sheet. This time, the map labeled as ENTRANCE A was enlarged and written in a perspective that it as if you can see it sideways through the earth. The engineer explained the obvious. "The entrance is a 50-degree plunge from ground level. It is a stairway made up of rocks and goes down for 50 meters. The ground levels after the drop for about a hundred meters then later go down again in a hundred-meter drop in almost thirty-degree plunge. Some part, or maybe all of what shown on the sketch is the one with water."

Gillian followed the tunnel to where it ended right at the sheet's margin. "Then after the hundred meter drop, it levels with the ground again?"

"Yes."

"For how long?"

The engineer barked a command at someone. Afterwards, a laptop which was already switched on was laid on the table. The engineer punched a few commands on the keyboard then later turned the device to Gillian. He then moved to her side. The screen shows the labyrinth of tunnel in three-dimensional model which is a layout of blue lines over a black background. The engineer pressed few keys and a darker blue appeared on some parts of the tunnel. "The water rises up as high as here. From the parts that are flooded, the tunnel goes in many ways, mostly up and they are not yet covered with waters as of now. From there, the way to Entrance B is filled with water, at least 500 meters of swim."

"So there is no way to get them from A?

"No way but swim." The engineer confirmed.

"How long can you get the clog out of Entrance B?"

"A week or so."

"I believe your COO and other miners has no other choice but breathe and survive for a week. Your people are working round the clock to clear the debris. With a little haste, your people will be out in four or five days." Gillian begun to walk away from the table when she heard the man talked.

"They may not even have a whole night left." The engineer shot her at the back.

Gillian ceased walking and faced him. "I've heard trapped miners eating rats, clothes and each other. For sure, your people may thrive munching on rocks. Aside from the grim of waiting, I do not see any urgency of this rescue."

"You don't understand?"

"Understand what?"

"That the water has risen to all time high," a familiar voice came from a distance to her left.

Gillian turned around to face Summer. "Risen to what?"

"You heard me right, boss," Summer continued. "As of this talking, the water has taken at least a quart of the hundred-meter drop . Their pumps do suction from both entrances, but all the water they are spilling out does not help decrease the depth."

"That situation," the engineer blurted. "Plus we cannot employ back up pumps from outside. In a hurry, my people fueled them last night with kerosene. The pistons of the engines are busted."

Electric lines igniting, lights going out, generators on fire, trapped miners, rising water and water pumps filled with kerosene, Gillian thought of a disaster filing over disaster. Unlucky creatures.

Summer casually walked towards the table and Gillian got no other choice but to follow. "They have alternative pumps from inside the clogged entrance and are operated in the tunnel. The exhaust fumes are being blown via hoses," she traced a finger along the tunnel towards Entrance B. Four pumps with eight hoses; four for the water and another four for the exhaust. Only one of the water hoses is doing its job. The other three are spitting nothing but droplets."

"The people in there are trying to save themselves from drowning," Gillian uttered softly, afraid that it is as if she is pronouncing enchanting spells.

"Saving and at the same tine killing themselves," Summer shot at her.

Gillian gave her a blank look. The horror of the men trapped inside the tunnel is finally dawning on her. She can imagine their desperation like she is one of them.

"You forgot the exhaust hoses," Summer explained, her finger still on the paper. "Only one of them is blowing out exhaust fumes. The other three is fast filling the tunnels with stale air."

Gillian stared blankly at the air. Before her was the real world no more. It was replaced by the pitch black darkness of the inside of the tunnel.

"The trapped men in there are running out of breathable air," the horror is fast becoming a reality to her. "But there is at least five hundred meters of swim in there. I am a biologist, you do the math, engineer."

Summer studied the map, flipping through the pages of sketches. Her face gives the clues that she is dead serious about the task. "Make it at least 620 meters."

"620 meters?" Gillian asked unable to believe the figures.

Summer raised an index finger before her front. This is one of the times that their relationship is not boss-subordinate or best of friends, but purely something else with a little tinge of professionalism. She bit her lower lip and stayed silent as Summer flipped through the pages.

"That's one point two kilometers of swim back and forth in still waters," the engineer in Summer is taking over her. "Eight man, one diver-"

"Two," Gillian pressed. The others around the table are silent as statues.

Summer raised her head from the paper and gave Gillian a stare. Her friend has never been a professional diver. She can rappel down walls like a spider, dive from planes like a plunging bullet and can command chutes, but in-depth water rescue is out of her league. She is about to ask what she just heard, but she knows there is no point arguing with Gillian. She can be as stubborn as a kindergarten and once she made a decision, there is no changing it. She looked down the paper and studied it further.

"I need exact dimensions," Summer spat at the engineer. "With water level."

In an instant, the engineer was on the laptop. Asking few details about the water level Summer has just surveyed, he entered commands. After a short while, he turned the laptop to Summer. "You can use the arrow keys to turn it around."

In a black backdrop, blue lines were drawn making up the expanse of the tunnel. There are occasional numbers dotting the tunnel layout depicting the dimensions, widths, lengths and depths. A green color filled parts of the tunnel and Summer's attention was caught in it. "This green color would be the water?"

"Yes," the engineer responded.

Summer went silent for a minute. Her eyes have a faraway look at them. She is just beginning to picture what lies ahead and is weighing up the impossible task.

"This tunnel" she pointed at the screen. She waited for the engineer to tread along her side, never lifting her finger. "What is this?"

The engineer took note that she is pointing something near the clogged entrance. "That is a new cut. As you can see, it goes sideways then up in natural rock caves that are widened by explosives. That's where our boss is leading the visitor."

Summer stared at the round chamber at the end of a crooked tunnel cut that goes up. According to the model, the dome-shaped chamber is at least four times as wide as a conference room. Then her eyes moved to another chamber.

"This would be the highest chamber?" Summer asked pointing to another chamber at the end of tunnel next to the previous one.

"Yes, that's the highest chamber. The entrance is a little up the water line."

She stared at the screen a little longer than usual, visualizing things she can only see. Then there was a change in her irises like enlightenment has dawn on her. She just knew where the trapped miners might be.

"I need the sat-phone, boss," she addressed Gillian.

"Who will you be calling?" Gillian asked flatly.

"HQ, we need my stuff."

"Let me handle the call. Study it further." She walked away towards the guardhouse.