Lewis and Gonzalez discussed the underground river and what it would mean to dive it again. A solo dive under those conditions was beyond dangerous. They discussed bringing Miller to decode any instructions found with the Curators’ control system. Although he was willing to go, in the end, the dive would simply be too much given the professor’s lack of experience. Lewis would go with Gonzalez and hopefully he could figure out the system based on the overview he received from Miller.
Gonzalez was skeptical. “Crazy cave drawings and mysterious symbols don’t exactly make a good dive plan,” she said to Lewis.
“That much water has to go somewhere,” Lewis responded, trying to sound hopeful despite his own reservations about re-entering the deadly tunnel.
“Yeah, probably to hell,” Gonzalez shot back.
“At least we’ll get there fast!”
Bantering aside, both Gonzalez and Lewis were serious as they assembled their gear and went through their mental checklists. Each double-checked the other’s setup. They were as ready as they were going to get.
The plan was to dive together, with each diver using two of the full tanks in a side-mount setup, like when they first entered the cave. That would leave only four half-full tanks behind. The logic being that if this dive to the control system didn’t work, they were all dead anyway. Besides, just because they were bringing four tanks, didn’t mean they had to use all the air. Better to be safe than sorry.
Everyone pitched in, transporting the gear from the treasure room all the way back to the chamber with the pool of water. Gonzalez and Lewis each carried their own harnesses and the smaller dive equipment. Craig and Samantha worked together on the tanks. Pierre packed the climbing equipment necessary to set up the rappels, both into the room his group had been stuck in earlier, as well as the big room with the pool. Miller’s hands were busy the entire time, waving around as he talked to Lewis, trying to educate him as much as possible. All in all, the journey took over four hours. Two of the headlamps died on the way, leaving the entire group with just three working headlamps plus the dive lights, which wouldn’t last long, and a lantern back at camp that was probably about to give out. Clearly, they hadn’t been as conservative as they’d planned.
The divers reassembled their gear at the edge of the pool, both thankful they had tested everything before so they wouldn’t have to return for any missing items. The others planned to watch the pair descend, then make the return trip to the treasure room to get the remaining gear. Hopefully, the second trip would go much faster now that Pierre’s ropes were already set up.
Without any further ado whatsoever, the pair of divers slipped into the pool and peacefully descended towards the bottom. The tranquility ended the instant they got near the bottom and were ripped downstream by the powerful current. A short rope joined the two, preventing a separation as they once again rocketed through the tunnel, doing their best to keep their feet in front of them, hoping to cushion any upcoming impacts.
The first few minutes were actually better than Lewis remembered. Being better prepared for the conditions helped both divers remain calm as they were able to gently push off with their hands, maintaining their distance from the sides and any protrusions that stuck out. The speed was still fast, but their lights did a great job of penetrating the crystal clear water ahead, giving ample warning of approaching obstacles. Lewis found himself enjoying the experience. That was about to change.
As Gonzalez and Lewis rounded a gentle left-hand bend, a second underground channel joined from the right. The current from this new channel caught Gonzalez first, shoving her ahead of Lewis and spinning her around. The short rope kept them together, but also made for a more violent spin the instant it got tight. Before Lewis could react, he was slammed against the wall face first, shattering his mask and bloodying his nose.
Once they lost control, there was no getting it back. Both divers ricocheted off the walls, ceilings, and floors, as well as each other as they tumbled down the underground river. Lewis was unable to regain his bearings, or even tell which way was up, as he rapidly flipped around, seeing searing flashes from the powerful dive lights followed by absolute darkness in rapid succession. Much like on the last venture here, Lewis’s body was developing an array of cuts and bruises at an alarming rate.
After a few more flailing rotations, Lewis found that their rope had become wrapped around his neck. Now he was spinning out of control while being strangled. The wrapping of the rope around his neck had taken all the slack out, pinning his head against one of Gonzalez’s tanks. The battering was making him see stars, and Lewis fought to avoid total panic while coughing violently from the water being shot up his nose.
Someone hit him in the chest with a sledgehammer! At least that’s what it felt like when Lewis collided with a massive wooden beam. Before he could really figure out what had happened, Gonzalez’s momentum yanked him onward, almost ripping his head off as he shot past her as if launched from a giant slingshot. The next collision didn’t feel much better. This time, though, the opponent was a set of metal bars, like the door to a prison cell.
The prison door, as Lewis thought of it, presented two new problems. First, the sudden stop caused a two-diver pileup, with Gonzalez immediately ramming Lewis the moment he stopped. This chain reaction knocked Lewis’s regulator out of his mouth and pinned his arms behind his back. The second major issue was the fact that the bars created what river rafters and whitewater kayakers refer to as a “strainer” — something that stops you from moving, but lets the water run by, pinning you in place. Being caught in a strainer is a common way to drown in a river. Adding to the dilemma was the fact that Gonzalez’s back was firmly pressed against Lewis’s face, totally blocking his vision, and putting unwanted pressure on his aching nose.
Gonzalez did an amazing job of remaining calm. She quickly slid off of Lewis’s face, then pushed her second regulator into his mouth with one hand while untangling the rope with the other. All told, Lewis was without air for only three or four seconds. The divers now formed a sort of T, both still stuck on their backs facing upstream with Gonzalez’s hip right above Lewis’s head, the powerful current plastering them in place. At least the battering tumble had stopped, and they could both breathe.
Lewis fought hard to get his arms out from behind his back, promising himself he would start doing yoga if he survived this. Finally, he managed to wrench his arms free, but it was still very hard to move them against the strong current. He could tell by Gonzalez’s light that she was scanning the area looking for a way out. Lewis did the same. The ends of the bars were somehow cemented into the walls of the cave, forming a strong grate that spanned from side to side, all the way from the floor to the ceiling. Suddenly, Lewis realized that the smoky reflection from above wasn’t the ceiling. It was the surface of the water — just three short feet away.
The proximity of the surface was exhilarating, but Lewis still couldn’t move because he felt super-glued to the bars. It felt like his arms weighed a ton as he struggled to reach down, trying to grab one of the bars. He eventually got a hold of a bar and shoved against it, hoping to lift his body upwards, but he didn’t budge. Fighting to bend his legs, Lewis got his heels dug in above one of the lower bars. With the combined effort of his arms and legs, Lewis was able to push his body upwards a couple inches, his head now firmly pressed into Gonzalez’s right hip. Her right tank was now up against the side of his head and pressing into his shoulder. Lewis could think of many more-comfortable positions to be in.
Gonzalez could see what Lewis was doing and she did her best to time her efforts with his so they achieved maximum force. It was much tougher for her because she was parallel to the bars, making it difficult to position her limbs in a way that provided much leverage. Halfway to the surface, she ran out of air. Normally she would just do a quick regulator swap. The problem, in this case, was that Lewis still had her second regulator in his mouth.