River Styx

By Sanguine

Episode 9.14

Part Three

 

“Do you hear that?” MacGyver asked as he hastily sketched the passage they were traversing onto his map.

“Running water,” Clarkson said, shining her light on the dripping stone walls. “We must be getting close.”

“There are soda straws all over the ceiling in here,” Willis said thoughtfully.

"We're watching the cave as it's still being formed.”

“It's amazing,” Clarkson murmured.

MacGyver nodded. “Imagine what it'll look like a thousand years from now.” MacGyver took a step forward and splashed his foot into a puddle. “Whoa!”

“Are you all right, MacGyver?” Willis asked, running over to him.

“Yeah, I'm fine. The water's cold and it startled me.”

“We must be really close now. The river sounds like it's right next to us.” t flowstone around them. “We must be getting close. Really close.”

Willis abruptly stopped, holding tight to his navigation device. “Look! I think we found it!”

MacGyver shone his headlamp near Willis’ and the light sent a glitter across the surface of the river as the broad stream gushed past them.

“Whoa,” Clarkson breathed. “Are those cave fish?” She pointed to the pale, eyeless creatures flitting about in the water, splashing away from the light.

“This is really amazing,” Willis said in awe. But after a moment, he frowned and asked, “But…there isn’t enough space to walk along this side of the river. We’re at a dead end here, unless…”

“Unless we go across,” MacGyver finished, deep in thought.

“It doesn’t look like it’s very wide. We could swim across,” Willis offered.

Clarkson shook her head. “I don’t see how. It’s moving too fast, and even though we can see the bottom, it looks really deep. Definitely too deep for me. I don't want to almost drown again.”

“No, it’s okay,” MacGyver said, getting an idea. “I have some rope in my backpack. We can use that.”

Clarkson glanced at Willis and whispered, “What’s he going to do with the rope?”

Willis shrugged. “I have no clue, but whatever it is, it’ll work.”

MacGyver unrolled a long coil of tough nylon rope and looped one end through the straps of his backpack, knotting it tight and testing it several times before nodding his head in satisfaction. “All right, this should do it.”

“I’m lost,” Clarkson said with a shrug.

Willis shook his head. “Don’t worry. In a minute or two, he’ll do something crazy that somehow works and then you’ll kick yourself for not thinking of it first.”

“Even though it’s totally crazy?”

“Exactly.”

Whether MacGyver heard them or simply ignored them wasn’t clear, but either way, he hefted the backpack and attempted to throw it across. The first throw missed, sending the backpack splashing into the water, throwing a spray of water into the air and scattered the fish.

“Hey! Leave the cave fish alone!” Clarkson scolded.

MacGyver cringed. “It was an accident. I’ll be more careful this time.”

Willis leaned over the water as MacGyver prepared for another throw. “Sorry, fish! We just really need to get out of here.”

“What exactly are you trying to throw at?” Clarkson asked.

MacGyver shook some droplets off his backpack and glanced at her. “See those two stalagmites along the edge of the water there? If I can throw this over them, then my backpack will be lodged behind them while the rope can go between them.”

“Like a grappling hook?”

“Exactly,” MacGyver said with a nod. “And then, we can hold the rope while we cross the river so that we won’t get caught up in the current.”

“Okay!” Clarkson said with an undercurrent of excitement in her voice. “So, just pretend that the stalagmites are your favorite hockey player and you’re tossing him your gear because he has to get ready for the game.”

MacGyver tossed the backpack behind the stalagmites, tugged the rope until it was taut, and grinned. “I think I’d rather pretend that the game is over and the Rangers have just won the Stanley Cup.”

Clarkson returned the grin. “Are you throwing down a challenge? If you want the gloves to come off, they’ll come off!”

“Yeah, if we could get out of this cave first before we start some kind of hockey adrenaline fight…” Willis interrupted. “I don’t mind, really, but if you both fell in the river, I’d only be able to pull one of you back out.”

MacGyver nodded. “You’re right. We need to keep moving. Okay, who wants to go first?”

“W-well, uh---I’ll go first,” Willis said, putting on a brave face.

“Are you sure?”

Willis nodded. “Yes. I’m sure.”

“How are you going to get your magic doodad across?” Clarkson asked, crossing her arms. “If you drown it, we’ll lose our map.”

“It’s mostly waterproof, and my backpack has a plastic lining. I think it’ll be okay,” Willis replied.

Clarkson nodded. “I guess it’ll have to be.”

Willis nodded to her, took a deep breath, and grabbed the rope. “Here goes nothing.” Slowly, he put one foot into the water, then the other. “It’s cold.”

“I know,” Clarkson said with a grimace. “You can do it!”

Feeling like thousands of needles were jabbing into his body as he sank into the icy water up to his neck, Willis began to swim across the river, kicking to propel himself along as he clutched the rope in one fist, methodically moving closer to the stalagmites and rock floor on the other side of the Styx. The current tugged at his body and his clothes, making him cling to the rope even more tightly. “So, Elisa,” he managed to call out as he swam, hoping to get his mind off the cold. “What's the first thing you’re gonna do when you get home?”

“Play with my puppers,” she said without hesitation. “My dogs are my babies. When I get out of here, the first thing I want to do is get back home to them. How about you? What’s the first thing you want?”

“A really long, hot shower,” he replied. “Mac?”

“Hawaiian pizza,” MacGyver answered. “No ham, extra cheese.”

“Pineapple on a pizza isn’t natural!” Willis spluttered, almost inhaling an eyeless cave shrimp in the process.

“Aw, c’mon, Willis! It's a fruit! It’s one of the most natural things out there,” Mac said defensively.

“Whatever,” Willis muttered as he dragged himself, soaked to the bone, out of the water and onto solid rock again. Then he tossed his end of the rope back to his companions. “Elisa?”

Clarkson shot a glance at MacGyver and shook her head. Her dark hair had come undone and fell in waves around her face. “I really don’t want to do this.”

“I know you don’t. I’m not too keen on it myself. But we don’t have much of a choice.” MacGyver paused. “It’s going to be okay.”

Clarkson steeled herself. “Okay. I can do this.”

Mac nodded encouragingly. “Right! You’ve got Willis waiting for you over there, and I’m right behind you. You can do it. We’re all going to get through this together.”

She nodded, grabbed the rope, and plunged into the water.

“You can do it, Elisa!” Willis called from the other side. She began to swim towards his voice.

“You’re doing great,” MacGyver’s voice rang out behind her. “You’re almost there!”

“Almost there,” she echoed, reaching out for the opposite side.

Then the earth began to shake.

“Aftershock!” Willis cried.

“Get down and grab onto something!” MacGyver called, flattening himself against the ground.

Elisa latched onto the rope with both fists until her knuckles turned white, sucking in a lungful of air and holding her breath as frigid water roared over her head in powerful waves.

Then, she heard a cry of terror and a loud splash, but she couldn’t see who had fallen into the water with her.

“Willis!” MacGyver shouted. “Grab the rope!”

Willis fought to keep his head above water, kicking desperately against the current with arms flailing. After several horrifying seconds adrift, he felt his fingers brush nylon and he snagged the rope, holding on with all his strength to avoid being swept away by the rushing water. His knee smacked into the hard surface of a half-submerged rock and he pushed himself above water.

After seeing that Willis was fairly safe, MacGyver began to look around for his other companion. She was still clinging to the rope in the middle of the river, bobbing up and down with the tumultuous waves.

“Elisa, are you okay?” MacGyver called out.

She pushed her head above water again and yelled, “I’m fine!”

“See if you can get over to Willis! He’s on that rock to your right!”

Shaking, the college student resumed her task of swimming through the water, this time moving slightly to the right to reach Willis’ rock. The swiftness of the river and the churning water made staying on course even more difficult, but finally she was close enough that Willis could help her onto the rock.

“I’ve got her, MacGyver! Are you okay over there?”

“I’m all right,” MacGyver replied. “Do you think you can make it the rest of the way across?”

Willis tested the rope and then looked down at the river. “I think so. We’re only a yard or so away from the other side.” Then he looked back at MacGyver. “But what are you going to do? Can you make it across with the water moving fast like this?”

“I don’t have a choice. When you and Elisa make it back to solid ground, toss me the rope.”

Willis nodded. “Okay, Elisa, follow me.”

Mac watched and waited as they quickly crossed the narrow gap between the river rock and the cave floor and climbed over stalagmites to safety. Then Willis said, “MacGyver? Are you sure about this?”

“No,” he admitted. “Just toss the rope.”

Willis picked up the waterlogged nylon cord and flung it back to MacGyver.
Mac caught it before it could drop back into the river and slowly waded into the Styx.

The river may not have been very wide, but it was deep; it wasn't long before the water was up to his waist, and then up to his shoulders, and then so deep that he couldn't touch the bottom. In the areas not skimmed by his still-surviving headlamp, the water looked almost black. And it was cold. Very cold. He'd expected that, but the icy pinpoints stabbing all over his submerged body still took his breath away. Holding fast to the suddenly frail-looking nylon tether that kept him anchored to land, MacGyver began to swim across the River Styx.

“You're doing great, MacGyver!” Clarkson's voice echoed in the empty cave.

“Yeah!” Willis added. “You've only got a few feet left to go!”

MacGyver, focused entirely on the treacherous swim, was almost able to touch the other side when the strap on his backpack-turned-anchor finally snapped and the rope slipped loose. He yelped in surprise as his safety line broke free, but his years of skill and experience kicked in and he struggled forcefully against the surge of the current.

After what felt like an eternity, MacGyver felt hands grabbing for his shoulders, and soon he was sprawled, drenched and dripping, alongside Willis and Clarkson on a slippery bank of limestone.

“Let's never do that again,” Clarkson said breathlessly.

“Pizza and hockey instead,” Willis agreed.

Mac nodded. “And dogs. Friendly ones.”

For several moments, they were all silent, catching their breath and calming their nerves, and the only sound in Mammoth Cave was the dull and steady roar of the river.

At last, MacGyver said, “Willis, why don't you check to see how the INS is holding up?”

“I'm a little afraid to look,” Willis confessed as he unzipped his backpack. Then he went through a careful checklist of every part of the machine. “The GPS is shot, but everything else seems to be working fine. The mechanical gyroscopes and the other non-electronics are unharmed so far.”

“That's great!” MacGyver said, retrieving his one-strap backpack from the stalagmites. “Let's see how close we are to the exit.”

“Thank God for waterproof paper, right?” Clarkson commented as Mac and Willis began to check their location on the map.

“We're close!” Willis shouted, relief evident in his voice. “We're really close, actually.”

“We were right. If we keep going down this passage, it'll take us out!” MacGyver said.

“Yes! Let's get going!” Elisa cheered.

MacGyver smiled. “Lead the way, Willis.”

Willis returned the smile as he wiped some water droplets away from his face. “Sure.”

Step by step, Willis walked along the strip of smooth rock between the stone wall and the river. “I think I see daylight up ahead!”

“I see it, too,” MacGyver said. “Just a little farther.”