False Horizon - Alex Archer [34]
She flashed the light along the ground and saw nothing. No footprints led away from the cave. And there was no way Mike could have left the cave without leaving some sort of sign.
Unless he happened to fly away.
Annja shook her head and turned to Tuk, shouting to be heard over the storm. “He’s not out here.”
Tuk nodded and gestured for them to return to the safety of the cave. He ducked back inside.
Annja took another second to look around, shining the flashlight in all directions. But the snow and wind combined to make the beam of the flashlight ineffective even out to twenty yards.
He’s not here, Annja thought. He’s got to be inside the cave.
Somewhere.
She ducked back through the opening and took a breath as she got herself out of the storm. Tuk had already ditched his coat and was jumping up and down to get his blood circulating.
“No one would last in that weather for more than ten minutes,” he said a moment later.
Annja clapped her hands to herself, trying to warm up. “Agreed. But that still leaves us with the question of where Mike could have gone. If he’s not outside, then logic demands that he’s somewhere inside.”
Tuk frowned. “We’ve seen all of the cave, at least as far as I can tell. And from what we know, it is also impossible that Mike is in here with us.”
Annja shook her head. “I don’t think he would have gone outside. But he’s somewhere. People don’t just disappear.”
“I’m open to hearing your theories,” Tuk said. “I must admit I have none at the moment that could explain this.”
“Neither do I,” Annja said.
Tuk sat down on the blankets. “What if there is another way out of here that we don’t know about?”
“That’s the only thing that makes any possible sense,” Annja said. “But where? We’re in the main cavern and then there’s that back portion. Beyond that, I don’t see any other spaces.”
Tuk frowned. “Then there must be something that we have not noticed. Our perspective does not permit us to see what may be directly in front of our faces. Yet it would still exist.”
“We have to search for it,” Annja said. “Mike’s life might well depend on it.”
“Where do we start?” Tuk asked.
Annja pointed to the back wall of the cavern. “At what looks to be the dead end. If there’s nothing there, then we’ll work back toward the cave opening. But somewhere, there’s got to be something. There has to be.”
Tuk got to his feet. “And what happens if we search every bit of the cave and still don’t know where he is?”
Annja bit her lip. “Then I’ll have to accept the possibility that Mike has vanished off the face of the earth.”
Tuk took the flashlight from her and aimed it toward the back of the cave. “Well, we’re not there just yet. Let’s see if we can maybe find a logical explanation for his disappearance before we write him off entirely.”
13
Tuk set to check the back of the cave with Annja working over to his right side. He started pressing his hands into every inch of the rock, trying desperately to find some type of hidden spot that they couldn’t see with their naked eyes.
He watched as Annja worked on her own section of the cave. She ran her hands up and along every bit of rock she could find. The worry on her face was apparent and Tuk frowned. He had to keep her focused but less frightened.
“How long have you known Mike?”
“Huh? Mike? I’ve known him for years. We did some graduate school work together. I always thought he wasn’t serious enough. You know, because he played football and always seemed to be much more interested in sports than in anything to do with science and history.”
“You were mistaken?”
“It’s like what you were saying about perspectives just now. Sometimes what’s right in front of our eyes can’t be seen simply because we look at it from only one perspective. Mike was like that. And when I stopped seeing him as a football player, and instead looked at him as someone interested in many of the same things that grabbed my attention, then all of a sudden he became a great friend.”
“How many times have you worked together?”
“On again and off again. It’s how it happens in archaeology.