Lewis shook his head. “No, I think we need all the water we can get. It isn’t the current that’s the problem; it’s the angle of the log in the hole.” Lewis smiled confidently, noticing a pair of inflatable kayaks tucked into a large cubby up front.
Lewis pulled both kayaks, also referred to as IKs, out of the cubby and turned to Gonzalez. “I can fasten these to the log with the climbing rope, inflate them; and they should lift the log the rest of the way out.”
Gonzalez opened her palms in defeat. “The tank’s out of air.”
“If we work together, we can get it done on a single breath.”
“Even if we could, we still wouldn’t be able to inflate the kayaks without the tank,” Gonzalez replied, as dejected as ever.
Lewis scanned the cabin area and grabbed the fire extinguisher mounted next to the left window. “This should do the trick.”
Captain Bob spoke up. “You better hurry, the current is shaking the log and the spear is working lose.” Glancing back nervously, he added, “Plus it’s almost dark.”
With that, Lewis and Gonzalez each picked up an IK. Gonzalez used Lewis’s knife to cut a few sections of rope for tying the kayaks to the log. Lewis still held the fire extinguisher in his right hand, but was able to use his thumb to snatch the roll of duct tape, just in case. With Lewis leading the way, they stepped onto the back deck and jumped in.
It was hard to follow the rope down while keeping a hold of everything. The IKs unrolled themselves in the current and acted like parachutes, trying to pull the pair off the rope. It took almost 30 seconds just to get down to the log. Lewis tucked his IK between his legs and the fire extinguisher under his arm, allowing him to use his free hands to pull himself down the log. Gonzalez did the same. By the time they reached the bottom, Lewis’s lungs were already burning.
Gonzalez looped one of her sections of rope around the log, tying it off using a quick cinch knot. Lewis tied the loose end to the front handles of both kayaks — he didn’t have the brain power for anything more than a sequence of granny knots that he hoped would hold. Lewis’s lungs were screaming for air, but he couldn’t leave until he and Gonzalez had the IKs tied down well enough that they wouldn’t simply float to the surface. Gonzalez’s face was beginning to show signs of strain as well. Just as she was about to tie another section of rope to the log, one of the kayaks fluttered up, knocking the remaining rope from her hands.
Lewis handed over the tape and Gonzalez looped it around the log a couple times before passing it back to Lewis. He wrapped the tape around both IKs a number of times in different directions, forming a kind of net. Lewis brought the fire extinguisher up to the valve on the first kayak and squeezed the handles to quickly inflate it. He felt like he was about to black out, but the one kayak wasn’t enough to lift the log, so Lewis headed for the valve on the second. Just as he got it close, the fire extinguisher slipped from his hands, the current hurtling it down the river. Somehow, Gonzalez was able to catch it with her feet before it was completely lost. Tucking her legs up, she passed the extinguisher back to Lewis, who used the last of his strength to fill the second kayak. The moment the log started to move, both divers swam out of the way, tumbling down the rapids as Captain Bob and the IKs worked together, finally lifting the log out of the hole.
Lewis sucked in mixed gasps of air and water as he tumbled down the rapids for the second time today, but choking had never felt so good. He and Gonzalez shared a high-five and a jubilant embrace. They floated along together, happy to be back in the land of the breathing.
Chapter 4 — GATEWAY TO HELL
Lewis woke as the first hints of daylight began to wash away the brilliant stars above, erasing the majestic display which was the last thing he saw as sleep overcame him the night before. The steady sound of the churning river continued to tug at Lewis’s eyelids, making it hard to fully wake up. He felt some aches and pains as he propped himself up on his elbows, recollecting yesterday’s events while watching the water flow by.
It had been a busy night. Captain Bob had taken a while to deal with the log before he could turn downriver to pick up Gonzalez and Lewis, allowing them to bob along with the current for almost a mile; it was completely dark by the time they heard the boat’s engines coming for them. After returning to camp, everyone ate a prepackaged meal, also known as an MRE, while warming up by a small driftwood fire. Before anyone could get too comfortable, however, Stonewood demanded that everyone begin getting things ready for tomorrow; he was agitated about the time wasted removing the log. Gonzalez worked on getting the dive gear organized and setup. Pierre packed climbing gear into two dry bags, which Lewis added lead weight to until they were neutrally buoyant, meaning they would neither sink to the bottom nor float to the surface when placed underwater. Samantha did the same with some sort of surveying equipment, along with a pair of heavy drills and a case of carefully-packed explosives. Stonewood’s men had already packed numerous bags of food and emergency supplies, which Lewis and Miller worked to get neutrally buoyant as well. Including three special black duffels which were exclusively for Stonewood and his men, the team laid out 34 bags before calling it a night. The final preparations would have to wait until morning. While the others found a spot in one of the tents, Lewis preferred to lie on the beach, where the rumbling river and beautiful night sky could ease his mind, ensuring a peaceful night’s sleep.
Lewis was brought back to the present by sounds of someone moving around near the boat. He quietly got to his feet and crept through the sand to check it out. As he got closer, he realized it was Gonzalez, going through the dive gear. “Good morning, dive buddy,” he called, inadvertently startling her.
“I didn’t realize anybody else was up,” she replied after her heart returned to a normal rhythm.
Lewis smiled. “I just woke up actually. I was lying on the beach thinking we should get together for a more enjoyable swim one of these days, then I heard you over here sabotaging my dive kit.”
Gonzalez laughed, playing along. “Based on yesterday’s performance, I set you up with a pair of fire extinguishers duct-taped to a snorkel.” She giggled at her own joke as Lewis feigned a hurt look. “Actually, I modified my usual checklist last night after seeing the equipment we have to work with. We’ve got some inexperienced people and I want to keep things as simple as possible.”
Lewis was also nervous about the level of experience, and planned on bringing up the ridiculous time crunch with Stonewood after the morning practice dive. For now, he looked at the gear spread out on a bunch of blue tarps, and asked, “How can I help?”
“There are eight empty tarps over there, one for each member of the dive party. Will you help me make sure that each tarp contains everything on this list?”
Working together for about an hour as the sky brightened, they finally got each person’s tarp labeled and ready. Lewis was admiring the organization when the blast from an air horn made his heart skip a beat.
“Good morning to you too, Michael — Mr. Stonewood,” Lewis said, after turning around to find their pushy little boss standing 15 feet behind him.
Stonewood had a fresh scowl for the morning. “Time for everyone to get up and get ready,” was all he said before walking back to confer with Craig and the two other men who had been waiting for them at camp yesterday.
It took some more barking by Stonewood but within 10 minutes, everybody was gathered around Gonzalez for a dive briefing. “I’ll give you a quick overview, and then I can address any specific questions,” Gonzalez began. Everyone had done some diving except for Miller, who had at least worked with divers on underwater archeology projects, giving him some familiarity with the basic equipment. Gonzalez explained that they would be using a side-mount setup, which allowed each person to carry two tanks, one along each side, rather than a more conventional setup where the tanks were strapped to their backs. This configuration would make it easier to fit through tight spaces, especially if it became necessary to remove one or both tanks to fit through an exceptionally small restriction. She explained the underwater lights and went over basic light communication signals: move your beam in a circle if you were okay or shake it up and down if you needed help.