John Lyman - The Secret Chapel

The sun had long since dipped below the horizon and the teams could feel the stored heat rising from the desert sand. In the darkness, they passed through pools of light created by the overhead flood lamps as they made their way to the waiting helicopter.

Nava and Gabriella climbed into the cockpit and donned helmets equipped with the latest night-vision technology for operations in total darkness. They would need that technology tonight.

The team members climbed onboard and settled into the back. Nava could hear the click of seatbelts behind her as she flicked a switch over her head, sending a signal to the engine. Soon, the whine of the turbines drowned out any other noise as the blades above began to spin faster and faster, causing the cabin to vibrate with power. Nava pulled back on the controls and the chopper leapt into the air at an angle, eventually leveling out en route to the excavation site.

Before anyone had time to dwell on what the next few hours would bring, they were hovering directly over the cavern. The descent team strapped into their climbing harnesses and put on their helmets while Alon remembered to instruct them to turn on their radios. One by one, the five members of the descent team were guided to the door by the paramedic and lowered into the darkness. They dropped along the vertical walls of the cavern while the helicopter’s strobe lights painted the scene intermittently with red and white flashes that filtered through the blowing sand.

The last to touch down, Leo felt for the cavern floor with his boots before unhooking himself from the line attached to the chopper, severing the last physical tie they had to the outside world. The team looked up at Gabriella and saw her waving to them from behind her cockpit window as the chopper lifted higher into the sky and passed out of sight. The sound of the blades beating the air quickly faded until the only thing that remained was the silence of the stone walls around them.

The five team members glanced around nervously, no one wanting to speak, lest they wake the thing that dwelt below in the tunnel. With Leo in the lead, they picked up their gear and made their way across the floor of the cavern. Reaching the overhanging slab of rock at the entrance to the tunnel, they heard a loud, static-like hiss burst from their earphones. Everyone winced as they grabbed their headsets before Nava’s soothing voice filled their ears.

“Team Two calling Team One. Radio check. Can you read me, Alon?”

Alon hit the button on his microphone and answered. “We read you loud and clear, Nava. Thanks for scaring the pants off us. Where are you now?”

“We’re flying east over the camp toward the Dead Sea. We’ll land about twenty miles from your location. We left a satellite phone at the surface by the edge of the cavern so you can contact us when you get out. We can be at your location in seven minutes if you need us.”

“Thanks. What time do you have?”

“It’s exactly 11:00 PM. You don’t have much time.”

The others watched Alon’s face in the glow of their lights as he spoke into the radio. “Remember, if you don’t hear from us by midnight, leave the area at once. If we don’t make it out, there’s no sense in losing any more people in an attempt to rescue us.”

Nava’s voice echoed in their headsets. “Godspeed to you all. We’ll see you soon.”

The radios were now quiet as the five adjusted their equipment under the leaning slab of rock in preparation for entering the silent tunnel before them. Leo glanced around at the others and paused. He looked directly at John and spoke in Latin. “ Ad maiorem Dei gloriam .” For the greater glory of God. It was the Jesuit motto. The team passed through the dark opening, cautiously descending the sloping floor of the tunnel into the labyrinth below. Microscopic electrical impulses crossed the synapses of their nerve endings, causing their hearts to beat faster as they approached the spot where the demon had first appeared to them. Their breathing increased to short, rapid gasps with the anticipation of its return.

Ariella’s eyes were wide and moving quickly from side to side. “Maybe you did scare it off, Father Leo.”

Leo squinted ahead in an effort to see beyond the reach of his light into the total darkness ahead. “I seriously doubt it. Even though we don’t see it, the demon knows we’re here.”

“This rock looks volcanic,” Lev said, reaching out and running his hand over the smooth black rock of the tunnel wall. It’s almost like we’re in the hollow part of an ancient lava tube.”

“What does that mean?” Alon asked.

“Nothing of significance really, except maybe to a geologist. It probably means that this cave was formed eons ago by volcanic activity. Usually caves that have large caverns were formed in limestone hollowed out by flowing water. Our ground-radar images show that there are large caverns below us. It’s possible that we are in two distinctly different cave systems. The one below is probably limestone, and the one we’re in right now was created by heat. I didn’t see any indications of extinct volcanoes on the geologist’s map. The surveys the oil companies made of this area years ago either missed them or failed to chart them for some reason.”

“I think I know why they weren’t charted,” John said. “If I remember my college geology classes correctly, lava tubes were rough and twisting, not smooth and straight with ninety degree turns. I’m starting to believe this tunnel was created artificially by tremendous heat from a source hot enough and focused enough to melt rock in straight lines.”

Lev studied the wall again. “Good point, John. The black color threw me off. Volcanic activity usually doesn’t create tunnels this straight and symmetrical. I’m glad you paid attention in geology class.”

The team shrugged off the conflicting geologic evidence and continued their descent farther into the cave. Every noise seemed amplified and set their nerves on edge, while every bend of the tunnel caused them to pause for a moment before descending deeper into the demon’s territory.

Alon peered down at the tiny glowing numbers on a new laser pedometer he was using to measure their progress. “I think we’re about a quarter mile inside the cave now.”

Leo stopped for a moment and looked back at the others. “This could go on for miles. There’s no end in sight. Do you sense anything at all, Lev?”

“Nothing, but we have to keep going, Father. We have no choice.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, and the nervous group set off again down the sloping floor of the seemingly endless black tube. After walking on for another fifteen minutes, Ariella noticed the color of the rock had begun to change. She walked up close to her father and pointed to the tunnel wall. “The rock looks lighter now.”

“I think the darkness is starting to lose its grip,” Lev whispered. “Everyone stop. Turn off your lights.”

The others looked around in confusion but did as Lev instructed. They were enveloped in darkness as soon as they turned off their lights. Soon, their eyes began to adjust, allowing them to see what Lev had suspected. Ahead, where the tunnel made a slight curve, a diffuse bluish light was barely visible, making the dark walls around them appear lighter.

Despite his fear, the prospect of discovery ignited John’s curiosity. It was a curiosity mixed with dread, like the feeling one gets when they see a car accident up ahead on the highway. He didn’t want to go any farther, but he couldn’t stop himself. “What do you think the source of that light is, Professor?”

Lev switched his light back on. “Your guess is as good as mine. Let’s keep moving.”