Episode 9

“Is everything okay?” she asked the professor as she helped him to the entrance of the lower chamber and tied a rope around her waist, which she looped over a thick stalagmite. She began lowering the man slowly. She soon realized the professor wasn’t in her weight class. Gritting her teeth, she slowly let out the rope, already feeling this wasn’t the easiest solution.

“I’m down!” came the shout once. She looked back up at the clay layer still blocking the entrance above. She had tried shouting earlier, but there was no response. The professor began explaining what might be causing the silence from above.

“A several-meter-thick clay layer might have covered the entrance, blocking even sound. And we also have to consider that the rest of the rescue team might be in greater danger than we are.”

“Do you think, Ágoston, that the debris might have buried them, and…”—she didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to imagine her colleagues possibly suffocating in the muddy sludge. The old man nodded, though his voice remained calm.

“Unfortunately, we have to consider that possibility. We could be here for days if we don’t find another solution.”

But she had found one.