“Hello!” A woman’s voice called out as the figure from the mist started walking toward to them.
“Howdy,” Eli said, coughing as the pungent sting of sulfur permeated his sinuses.
“You people should get out of here now,” the woman said, pointing to the caldera she just came from and covering her mouth with a handkerchief. “There are a lot of poisonous gases being released, not to mention the threat of rock slides. You’re putting yourselves in a lot of danger if you remain.”
“And you are?” Burr asked indignantly.
“I’m a field scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey. I’m warning you that this volcano could erupt at any time and if you—”
“We’re well aware of the situation,” Eli interrupted her. “We are not going to be up here long, but if you are going back down, you must get a warning out to the towns beneath this volcano. They need to be evacuated as soon as possible.”
“I’m already on it. I am going to help the local authorities once I get down. They’ve begun issuing the warning already, so do yourselves a favor and get off this ridge now.”
“We’ll take it under advisement. Thanks,” Eli said as the three started off in the opposite direction.
“Fools!” Rosalie yelled, shaking her head in disbelief as she turned and headed into the shrouded mist.
Ten minutes later, the three came to a breach in the acrid mist, where they saw a large formation of rocks sitting just above the fault line.
“There it is.” Maria yelled as she ran toward the rock. Though damaged greatly during the 1949 eruption, the distinct shape of a hand could be clearly made out as the three continued to their goal. Climbing out of the fault line on large step-like rocks, they maneuvered to a point just above the deep trench. Eli looked in wonder at the formation, curious as to what secrets it held.
“What are we looking for?” Burr asked as the three stood at the lower base of the huge stone hand.
“Simon’s scroll indicated that the relics were beneath the Hand of God,” Maria replied, eyeing the rock for anything unnatural while walking slowly along its massive base. “There’s been so much erosion and shifting over the centuries,” she added. “It may take days of excavation to find any sign of a burial chamber.”
“I’ll check the high side of the rock, Maria,” Eli said, making his way up the side of the monolith, and then disappearing into the mist around its upper corner.
“Search for anything that looks like an opening, or for any unnatural cuts in the rock face.” Maria instructed Burr as the two slowly worked their way along the base, scraping the loosened basalt from the base of the rock with their hands.
It began as a slight tremor, running along the depression in the fault line from the Crater del Duraznero and traversing the entire length of the break in the earth. Increasing exponentially in strength, the tremor made its way to the huge rock formation. The tormented earth began to shake beneath them as the fault line fractured under the tremendous forces at work along the Cumbre Vieja ridge. As the new fracture began to widen and a vast column of noxious gasses were released, the three explorers were thrown to the ground like rag dolls.
Maria and Burr lay debilitated under the relentless onslaught of nature, as loose rock and earth beneath them began cascading into the newly created chasm.
“Hold on,” Maria yelled at the top of her voice as she and Burr began to slide down towards the gaping crevasse below them. Burr screamed in terror as he found himself sliding uncontrollably toward the newly created ninety-foot gash in the earth, belching its poisonous gases from deep within.
The cataclysm seemed to last for an eternity. Then, suddenly and mercifully, it abated as quickly as it had begun. Maria laid on her back in the sudden silence gasping for breath. Burr opened his eyes and shrieked in terror to see his legs dangling precariously over the edge of the newly formed crevasse, with the loose dirt slowly cascading out from beneath him. Holding onto the small outcrop of rock, he began yelling for help.
“Eli, we need the rope,” Maria screamed as she slowly, and, on all fours, started making her way down the still sliding embankment to the helpless Burr, who was frozen in fear.
“Maria — freeze!” Eli yelled as he came around the boulder seeing the situation. “Moving will only make it worse.” He slipped the rope from over his shoulder, and then fastened a climber’s taut line hitch on the one end. In one fluid motion, he hurled the looped end down towards Burr where it landed just out of reach and to his right. Eli's second attempt found its mark and landed on Burr's right arm. He grabbed at it wildly, sending more loose basalt cascading down into the chasm beneath him. He managed to slip the taut line hitch over his shoulders and slide the knot tight just as his precarious ledge finally gave way. He began careening into the abyss until the line snapped taut, leaving him dangling in midair.
Eli managed to wrap the free end of the line around a small jagged boulder, just in time for it to snap taut as Burr’s body weight reached the end of the rope.
“Maria, I want you to slowly make your way to the rope and grab on,” he yelled, grasping the rope with both hands and planting his feet firmly on the jagged boulder. Maria slid crab-like on her back and finally reached the safety of the rope. She grabbed on and pulled herself up to Eli’s position by the huge boulder.
“Okay,” Eli said once she was safe, “start pulling with me.” The two began to pull with all their might as the dead weight of Alton Burr slowly began to rise to the edge of the chasm. Burr, now nearing exhaustion, scrambled to get a foothold as he reached the ledge. Finding firm footing, he pushed with his legs and used all his remaining strength to surmount the edge of the precipice and get back onto the steep, rocky slope. Eli and Maria continued to pull, and, after a few more moments, Burr was reunited with the pair. The three of them slouched down in total exhaustion.
“I’m starting — to think — that this wasn’t — such a hot idea,” Maria said, gasping for breath every few words.
“Thanks for coming after me,” Burr said, out of breath. “I thought I was a goner. Maybe we should reconsider this venture, take the lady’s advice, and get the hell out of here.”
“What, and not see the lovely entrance that was uncovered by that last quake?” Eli said coyly, standing up and brushing off his pants with his hat.
“You found it,” Maria yelled in excitement as she stood up.
“All the loose basalt that was extricated by the slide exposed an entrance just above the rock’s high side,” he said as the three carefully made their way to the elevated side of the huge monolith.
“There it is,” Eli said, pointing to an orifice the size of a manhole cover.
“Hand me a flashlight,” Maria told Burr, who reached in his backpack and produced a small spotlight.
“Hope it still works.” he said, handing the light to her. Maria was delighted that the light snapped on when she slid the switch. She aimed it at the opening and peered down into the darkness below. The light cut through the swirling dust from the recent quake, revealing a smooth, basalt floor. It was about nine feet down a gradual incline to get underneath the huge hand-shaped boulder.
“It’s a skylight,” Maria said excitedly, still looking into the darkened chamber.
“A what?” Burr asked.
“A skylight is a breakthrough in the ceiling of a lava tube, where lava was once forced to the surface during an eruption,” she replied, turning off the light and facing the two men. “In this case, the skylight was covered by a rock that became dislodged during that last tremor. I can see it smashed on the lava tube floor.”
“I’ll get the rope,” Eli said, going back to the front of the huge boulder and retrieving the line. Looking around when he returned, he saw a boulder that would suffice as a tie off for them to repel into the lava tube.