D. Thomas - Backlash

Lewis refused to let Pierre be the one to risk his life climbing to the speared tree. He could not bear watching someone die if his wild plan failed. Lewis clipped an ascender to his harness, but hoped to use the rope to support as little of his weight as possible, climbing as much as he could. At least the ascender would keep him attached to the rope, making it possible for the others to pull him to safety from their end if the makeshift harpoon pulled free.

Lewis could hear the knife blade creaking in the tree as he started out, relying heavily on the rope after Craig lifted him as high as he could. He clawed at any imperfections in the rock that he could find, struggling to support even a few pounds of his weight. He worked his way towards the corner to a possible route Pierre pointed out from below. He could never have climbed it alone but, with the assistance of the rope, Lewis was able to work his way up Pierre’s route to within a dozen or so feet of the top. There was nothing but smooth rock ahead.

Fear and fatigue combined to make his legs and arms tremble as he clung to the final holds. This last stretch would rely solely on his knife’s grip in the trunk of the tree. He released one hand, sliding the ascender as high as he could before letting go with the other hand. Having only the single ascender meant he had to use his arms to pull himself up then hang by one arm while he slid the precious device up to match. He inched along as calmly as possible, trying hard not to wiggle the spear more than necessary. Looking up, he could see the blade working its way out of the tree.

Lewis was less than three feet from the top when the Earth’s gravity finally won the battle, tugging the Leatherman’s blade from the tree. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for Lewis. He heard the gasps from below as if they were the steady drone of a worn-out ceiling fan. He watched his own arm reaching upward like a slow wave in a parade. Another rocket ride on a tank seemed like it may have been a better plan.

The seemingly slow straightening of his arm was actually a lightning fast grasp for the lip of the shaft. The first two fingers of Lewis’s right hand barely caught their target, providing just enough grip for him to swing his left hand up for a stabilizing hold. Lewis wasted no time pulling himself up, not wanting another fracture of the rock to cost the group their freedom. And that was it: Quinn Lewis was safely out of the cave at last.

“I’m up!” Lewis yelled back down as he stared at the rope that had made it to the surface, only because it was still threaded through his ascender. A mixture of cheers and sobs met him from below, the weight of the ordeal having taken its toll on everyone.

Still not wanting to risk another collapse or some freak accident, the team worked quickly to get everyone hoisted out of the shaft. Craig was the last one up, remaining in the cave until the end to help make sure the others were properly secured. Pierre stretched his arms to the sky, vowing never to go underground again then turned to remove a small gear bag attached to his harness. That is when Lewis saw it: Stonewood’s headlamp was in Pierre’s bag.

Pierre followed Lewis’s questioning gaze. Unable to come up with a quick excuse, the French climber instead thrust his hand into the bag and came out with a compact .38 revolver. Without hesitation, he aimed it at Craig and shot the bodyguard in the chest, sending the large man sprawling backwards where he plummeted to the bottom of the shaft.

Lewis was shocked by the sudden death of Craig at the hands of a man he, until moments ago, considered a friend. The realization that it was Pierre who had murdered both Stonewood and Miller lit a fire of rage within Lewis. He quickly mapped out the two steps it would take to cover the distance to the Frenchman, hoping to get there before Pierre got off another shot.

“Stay where you are!” Pierre shouted, yanking Gonzalez in front of him and putting the barrel of the revolver to her head.

Lewis froze. Pierre was smart to grab Gonzalez as a human shield. Lewis would willingly risk his own life for a chance to save everyone, but he could not bring himself to take the same gamble with Gonzalez’s life in the balance. “Take it easy, Pierre,” Lewis stated calmly. “We can work this out.”

Pierre stared at Lewis, trying to gauge the true intentions of the man he had gotten to know fairly well over the past few days. He released Gonzalez but kept the gun trained on her as he said, “Actually, Quinn, I could use your help. I need help contacting my people.” He paused as if pondering something before continuing. “If you help me, I’ll let all three of you go free.”

“What do you need?” Lewis asked. He knew there was no merit to Pierre’s proposed deal; after all, this was a man who had pretended to be their friend while slowly killing those that got in his way, one by one.

“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.