Reconnaissance in Fear

The difficult part turned out to be finding the cave. We never would have noticed it from the sub if not for the momentary light. Without scuba, it took a few hours of snorkeling to locate. Laughlin finally spotted it at last around 11:00 a.m., only forty feet down and a few hundred feet distant from the island. By this time, the sky had gotten gray and foreboding, and I no longer had any trouble believing that a storm was on the way.

Given our earlier "accident," Laughlin and I armed ourselves as best we could, with dive knives, spear guns and a bang sticks, a device that emitted an electric shock designed to deter sharks. We also brought along a couple of dive torches, essentially flashlights that worked underwater, and some magnesium underwater flares. Finally, we roped ourselves together, Laughlin grabbed one of the oxygen tanks for ballast, and we were ready for what Laughlin aptly observed was not a reconnaissance in force, but a reconnaissance in fear.

Laughlin got a solid lungful of air and dived down to the cave, while I hung back and kept an eye out for intruders. It was dark below, and I couldn't make out much until Laughlin lit up his dive torch. With the light on, it was possible to see the narrow entrance to the cave, which appeared to be about three feet across by four feet high. It was also possible to notice the white-tipped reef shark swimming near the cave entrance. Laughlin marked the location with a underwater flare, left the oxygen tank in the entrance to the cave, and returned to the surface for air. He told me that the cave appeared deeper than we'd thought. How deep, he couldn't be sure.

Having caught his breath, Laughlin went back for a second look. As he approached the cave, he was grazed by the shark who'd been hovering in the area. It was a surprisingly aggressive action for a shark, one that caught both Laughlin and I by surprise. When the shark came around a second time, Laughlin had his bang stick out, and as shark surged forward, Laughlin jabbed the stick against its snout. It thrashed, churning the water and obscuring Laughlin from my view.

By the time the water cleared, the shark was hovering about twenty meters from the cave, while Laughlin had gone inside. I felt a tugging on the rope a short time later, and moved closer to the cave, still keeping an eye on the shark. Sure enough, after a few minutes, it began to circle closer again. This, combined with a pressing need for air, prompted me to tug on the rope to encourage Laughlin to rather reluctantly join me at the surface.

Laughlin immediately headed for the boat when we surfaced, grabbing more bang sticks and another spear gun. While he was adding to his arsenal, he outlined his plan to bring our oxygen tanks into the chamber he had discovered and open the cranks, thus creating an air pocket in the cave that the two of us could use to refresh our breath. I raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "Perhaps I'm missing something, not having seen the chamber to which you are referring to, but unless it's really narrow with a high ceiling, I doubt there's enough air in those tanks to create an air pocket. What did you see down there that's got you so all-fired eager to go rushing back without taking a minute or two to assess the situation?"

"That's the whole point. I haven't seen enough yet to assess the situation. I need to get a decent look at those pillars. Don't you find it a little strange that there are manmade pillars in an underwater cave? If I remember correctly, pillars made of stone are not exactly normal architectural principles for the ancient cultures of the Pacific rim. That implies to me that we might have a SIGNIFIGANT archeological discovery on our hands."

"There are pillars down there?" I said with surprise. "That is interesting. Why would that make Theresa pass out, though?" I paused for a moment as a thought occurred to me. "Hmm, know any fellow archeologists who would be willing to kill to protect something like this? That might explain what happened to our regulators."

"If there are any archeologists that would kill to protect something like that, they are probably at the conference. I don't imagine that something like this could be kept too hushed up, so I imagine that there is some other explanation."

I wasn't as sure of that. "Like what? Who else would kill to prevent us from checking out some pillars in a cave?"

"The list is long, but can be summed up to two; criminals, and something unexplained. That is why I want to get back down there and find out what is going on."

"Agreed. The question is, is it urgent that we do so now, with a aggressive shark in the area, a nasty-looking storm moving in, and non-functioning diving equipment? The shark and the storm being the more pressing matters."

"Good question. I don't know. This could be time sensitive, it might not. My only concern is not being able to sleep if I don't figure out what is going on."

"But is it worth risking your life over? At the very least, I don't think we should be diving out here during a gale." It wouldn't do us much good to have survived the attempt on our lives, only to get killed by the weather.

"I am not real worried about the shark, but if the storm will kill us regardless of what we find, then I can wait. I guess the question is, now that we have already been assaulted for going here, what is to stop the attempts on our lives without some chips to bargain with?"

"I agree. I just think we need to make a contingency plan as far as the storm is concerned. If there was someplace sheltered around here where we could move the boat, we could wait out the storm and start exploring again afterward."

I took a look at the map at this point, but unfortunately, the only decent shelter for a large boat appeared to be at Utelei or Pangai, 45 and 60 minutes away, respectively. I looked up at the sky, trying to judge how much time we had before the storm hit. Although the hotel had required all boats to be docked by noon, the storm wasn't expected to hit until several hours later.

"Even if we want to be very conservative, we probably have at least two hours," Laughlin observed. "You want to go for it?"

I looked back at Laughlin. "How far back in the cave are those pillars? Could you get any idea of what lies beyond them? We're definitely going to be limited in terms of how long we can hold our breath."

"Unfortunately, I am not too sure on either of those. Hence bringing down the tanks. I figure we crank open a couple of them as soon as we get in the cave, catch our breath, and then do a quick survey. If we find anything REALLY interesting, we get a whole team together, and come back with the works. Including our own security. I just need enough information so that I can authorize that kind of investment."

"How exactly are we going to get at the air in the tanks, without the regulators?"

"I was planning on just open up the relief valves."

I looked puzzled. "That will just let the air bubble away. We'd have to rig something to trap it in."

"Top of the cave."

"I didn't think the cave was narrow enough for that to be effective." I shrugged. "It sounds like we should be able to get as far as the pillars holding our breath, so why don't we do that, and determine how far beyond them we can see?" I scanned the horizon for any intruders. "Did you want to stay roped together on this dive?"

"I think it would be best. If we use quick release knots, we shouldn't interfere with each other, but it is one of the best ways to attract each other's attention."

"I agree." I checked to make sure everything was still strapped in place, then worked on roping us together again. Laughlin grabbed a net bag with some more flares, then got back in the water to deep breath before the dive. I quickly followed suit, unable to get the image of that shark out of my mind. The way it was acting, it was almost like it was guarding the cave. But that was impossible...wasn't it?

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Last modified on October 9, 2000 by Kris Fazzari.