“I need this to work,” Pierre said as he tossed a small satellite communicator to Lewis. “It is supposed to send and receive text messages but it appears to be damaged. I’m not good with electronics but, as you Americans like to say, I suspect this will be right up your alley.”
Lewis nodded, looking over the Delorme inReach SE device Pierre had thrown to him. He was familiar with the functionality of the communicator, having used one in a solo wilderness race a while back, but didn’t really know much about its inner workings. Needing to buy some time, he looked back to Pierre and smiled, playing like they were friends again. “You promise you will let us go?” he asked. After Pierre nodded, Lewis added, “This shouldn’t take too long. I sat on the review board for the design of the Indiogram firmware that’s used in this version of the inReach.” That seemed to put Pierre at ease, despite the fact that it wasn’t even close to true: Lewis had only just now made up the name Indiogram.
The device’s screen was on and showing 80 % battery life, but none of the buttons seemed to be working. As if he were working on a ticking bomb, Lewis made a show of carefully probing various parts of the communicator. Pierre may not have understood electronics, but he knew better than to give the solution engineer too much space, knowing that Lewis could activate the communicator and send off his own message for help. The climber-turned-saboteur stayed just far enough away to avoid a surprise rush, keeping his gun trained on the girls while he waited. Lewis took advantage of the extra time, scanning the area to take full stock of their situation as he worked to formulate some sort of plan. One thing was for certain: he would have to make his move before Pierre’s friends arrived.
Twenty minutes later, the sun was setting as Lewis continued to work, talking to himself as if working through a mysterious problem. In reality, Lewis suspected the inReach simply needed a reboot, a common solution to many issues with electronics. Pierre was clearly getting impatient, but Lewis still needed to buy some more time.
Lewis looked forward to the darkness, knowing it could be helpful camouflage for an escape attempt. His hopes were tampered; however, when Pierre instructed Gonzalez and Samantha to gather a pile of the dead tree limbs littering the area so he could make a fire using the fuel canister he pulled from his little sack. The fire would chase the darkness from the immediate area, but there was still hope that it might divert some of their captor’s attention.
Pierre was careful to keep an eye on everyone as he worked to light the fire, but the initial burst of flames allowed Lewis to quickly snatch up a 12-guage flare that had fallen from Pierre’s pack. Pretending to slap at a mosquito, Lewis slipped the flare into the top of his sock. He wished he had the gun to go with it, but was determined to formulate a plan using what he did have. With the fire burning bright, Pierre told the girls to move over next to Lewis, keeping everyone grouped together in the open area, bathed by the fire’s light.
“Your time is up, Quinn,” Pierre said after a few more minutes, obviously agitated by the slow progress.
“I almost have it,” Lewis replied, acting as if he was equally frustrated with how things were going. “Somehow this thing thinks it’s in the southern hemisphere,” Lewis lied while furiously tapping the buttons.
“Maybe it is time to shoot one of your friends.” Pierre pointed the gun at Samantha and squeezed the trigger, the bullet stirring up dirt next to where she sat. “That was your only warning,” the Frenchman stated boldly, his cold stare telling Lewis he would not hesitate to kill them all if he didn’t get his way.
“Just 30 more seconds,” Lewis pleaded as he pressed the X and down-arrow buttons, performing a soft reset of the inReach. He did his best to act as nervous as he could, hoping Pierre wasn’t ready to give up too much leverage before he had what he wanted. Lewis willed Gonzalez or Samantha to make some sort of small distraction, giving him the time he needed to race to Pierre and pile-drive the tiny Frenchman into the rocky ground. His mental telepathy didn’t work, the satellite communicator beeped back to life before Lewis found an opening.
“Gently set it on the ground there,” Pierre said, pointing in front of Lewis’s feet, “then all of you move over to that rock and have a seat.”
Having no choice but to comply, Lewis and the girls soon found themselves sitting on a large rock, a few feet from the fire. Pierre kept his focus trained on them, slowly sidestepping over to the inReach and picking it up. His eyes skipped back and forth between the screen and his captives while his fingers worked the buttons, typing out a message. It took nearly half an hour for the reply to come back. The worried look on Pierre’s face gave Lewis hope; they might still make it out of this.
Pierre slid the inReach deep into his front pocket, keeping the gun pointed directly at Gonzalez the entire time. “It looks like we’ll be spending one more night together,” Pierre stated flatly. “The rest of my real team will be flying in as soon as it gets light.”
“He fixed your thing,” Samantha pointed out. “You said you’d let us go.”
Pierre’s expression remained neutral, not giving anything away when he said, “That is the recommendation I will make to my business partners when they arrive. Besides, I may still need your help to guide our choppers in.”
Lewis put his hand on Samantha’s leg, stopping her from a hasty reply. “Let’s get some rest,” he said to the others. Lewis knew from the start that Pierre had no intention of honoring his promise, yet he wanted to lull their captor into a false sense of confidence, while staying alert for any opportunity to take advantage of his complacency. Both Samantha and Gonzalez followed Lewis’s lead, scooting down off the rock, using it as a backrest as they closed their eyes and tried to sleep.
Despite the fear that coursed through their bodies, exhaustion first overcame Samantha and then Gonzalez as they each fell sound asleep. Lewis knew that getting some rest would greatly improve everyone’s chances of survival, giving their minds and muscles a renewed sharpness that could prove to be their only advantage against their adversaries. He too managed to get some sleep, forcing himself to wake up a couple times each hour to check on Pierre. The small Frenchman’s resolve never faltered, keeping his attention, as well as his gun, fixed on Lewis and the girls.
Lewis detected the sound of the approaching helicopters soon after the first rays of light began to brighten the night sky. He made an exaggerated effort of stretching and groaning, making sure he woke the still-sleeping girls. There was no more time to wait for an opportunity; they would have to create their own. “What do you suppose our chances are with these partners of yours?” he asked Pierre.
Pierre shrugged then pulled the inReach from his pocket, checking an incoming message. He was momentarily distracted, allowing Lewis to secretly palm the flare as he removed it from his sock, pretending to continue his stretching routine. Pierre grinned wickedly as he tossed the messaging device into the shaft twenty feet away. “The truth is,” Pierre hissed, “I don’t have any partners. My employees just sent a message saying they found a safe place to land, just down the hill from here. That means I no longer require your assistance.”
At that moment, a pair of black helicopters flew directly overhead, stirring up dust. Pierre instinctively ducked his head, turning slightly to check the path of the incoming choppers. The diversion was too short, and the distance to Pierre too far, preventing Lewis from rushing the gunman, but the distraction did provide the perfect cover for Lewis to throw his flare into the waning fire. Gonzalez and Samantha tensed their muscles, each recognizing Lewis’s plan.