River Styx

By Sanguine

Episode 9.14

Part Four

The number of yards between the three of them and the exit dwindled, and before long, the daylight coming from the mouth of the cave shone brighter than any light they'd seen in hours.

“It almost hurts my eyes, but I didn't realize before how much I miss the sun,” Clarkson commented.

“Me, too,” said Willis cheerfully.

MacGyver alone wore a frown. “I wish I could be more optimistic about this, but as close as we are, don't you think we should be seeing more sunlight than this?”

“Surely you don't think this exit could be blocked, too?” Willis asked, worried.
MacGyver said, “I'm not sure. All I'm saying is that we need to keep our eyes open.”

The closer they got to the cave entrance, the more the pit in MacGyver's stomach grew. Finally, the three of them were close enough to clearly glimpse the crevice in the cave that the river flowed through---and the enormous tree that had fallen right in front of it.

MacGyver reached out and touched the bark of the fallen tree, taking in the tangle of splintered branches and the wide trunk that made the three-foot-tall crevice into a three-inch crack. He gave the tree an experimental shove, and the others soon jumped in to help. Nothing. It didn't budge.

“That's not good,” Clarkson said. “What're we going to do?”

“First, we're not going to panic,” Mac replied.

“MacGyver, I'm panicking,” Willis informed him. “We can't get past that tree by ourselves, and there aren't any other close exits that we know of. Let's face it: we're stuck.”

“So, what's the worst case scenario here?” Clarkson asked nervously.

“The rescue team will look for us. Eventually, they'll find us,” Willis said. “Right?”

MacGyver took a deep breath and slowly blew air out through his mouth. “Yeah, but they expected us to wait at the rendezvous point, which is blocked off. Now they won't know where to find us. It could take them even longer to get to us.”

“How long has it been since we were supposed to meet with them?” Clarkson asked.

“We had three hours to explore and then they were going to look for us if we were two hours getting back to the rendezvous point. That's five hours total. How long have we been down here?”

Willis checked his watch. “Six.”

Clarkson brightened. “So they're looking for us by now. That's good, right?”

“Sure, but even if they knew our exact location, they'd still have to get through that rockslide, and that could take hours or even days,” MacGyver said.

Willis sighed. “What I'm hearing from you, MacGyver, is that whether we turn back and try to make it back to where we started, or whether we stay here and wait for someone to notice us behind this stupid tree---either way, we're not getting out of here for at least a couple days.”

“That's about the size of it,” Mac replied, running a hand through his hair. “We need a way to move this tree.”

“But how, MacGyver?” Willis said. “We're in a cave. Look around you! We've got limestone, some gypsum salts, potassium nitrate, uh, a quartz formation over there---just rocks! None of this is going to help us get out of here. We're at a dead end with no resources. What can we possibly do?”

“Uh, guys?” Clarkson said suddenly.

“Yeah?” Willis said.

“Is it just me, or is the river getting wider?”

MacGyver and Willis automatically looked over at the Styx. The water was rushing as fast as it had been during the aftershock, and the edges were beginning to swell.

“Uh-oh,” Willis said.

“What does the uh-oh mean, Willis?” Clarkson said warily.

“It means that water from somewhere is draining into the river, making the water level rise. And with the tree blocking the exit, the water's coming into the river in a rush and leaving in just a trickle, so it has nowhere to go.”

“Uh-oh,” Clarkson said. “What do we do?”

“We get rid of the blockage,” MacGyver said.

“Once again, how? We have nothing,” Willis said.

“Not nothing!” Quickly, he searched through his soggy, broken backpack until he found the waterproof container of matches among the supplies that he’d brought along. Holding his breath, he popped open the lid and felt inside---then he grinned in relief. The container hadn’t leaked. “Elisa, exactly how many sugar packets do you have in that backpack of yours?”

Shrugging, she reached into her backpack and held up the plastic bag of snacks. “A lot. I like really sweet tea.”

“Get out as much sugar as you can find,” MacGyver commanded, opening his Swiss Army knife to a wide blade and moving over to one of the cave walls, which was covered in crystallized minerals. Carefully, he began to scrape away at the delicate formations until some of the crystals fell like dust into the cupped palm of his free hand.

“Potassium nitrate?” Willis said. Then he blinked and adjusted his glasses.

Potassium nitrate and sugar is an explosive combination.”

“Not necessarily explosive. Just…very flammable. Did you ever make homemade rockets as a kid?”

“No. Did you?”

MacGyver paused for a moment before he answered. “Only until I got caught. The fuel that goes into amateur rockets is basically the same as what I’m trying to make: saltpeter and sugar. They call it rocket candy.”

“Rocket candy? Are you serious?”

“Sure.”

Willis looked over at Clarkson. “Is he serious?”

She grinned. “I honestly have no idea, but rocket candy sounds really delicious.”

Mac grinned as he weighed the handful of mineral dust in his palm. “It sounds good, but don’t eat it. Okay, Elisa, are you ready with that sugar?”

“I have 13 packets. Think that’ll be enough?”

Willis’ eyebrows flew upwards. “Why would anyone possibly need that much sugar?!”

“This is the South,” she said as if that explained everything.

“Willis,” MacGyver said, and his friend instantly turned to him, alerted by the sudden seriousness in his voice. “Willis, listen… You’re right. Potassium nitrate and sugar is a dangerous combination, even in small amounts. That’s why I think we need something to help contain and direct the reaction.”

“Like what? What do we need?”

“Well, I’m not seeing many loose rocks in this area, so ideally, I’m going to need a piece of metal.”

“But we don’t have any metal.”

“Yes, we do.”

Several seconds later, Willis stepped backward as MacGyver’s point sunk in. “No. MacGyver, no. I can’t take apart the INS. Not after I worked so hard to build it. I--- I put the entire thing together myself, from the motherboard down to the last fitting.”

MacGyver put his free hand on Willis’ shoulder. “Look, I don’t need the whole thing. Just the external casing. The motherboard, the gyroscopes---all that stuff can be saved, and you can put those parts into a new one.”

“Well…” Willis said slowly, “I guess this field test has given me some ideas for a redesign anyway…”

“That’s the spirit,” Clarkson added. “You can make a heavy-duty magic doodad next time. Besides, if you can help us get out of here? You’ll be my hero.”

Willis sighed. “Okay, MacGyver. I’ll take the INS apart.”

“You’d better hurry, because the water’s already up to my ankles,” Clarkson said.

MacGyver reached for his Swiss Army knife, opened the screwdriver, and passed it to his friend. “Don’t worry, Willis! This was still a successful test.”

“A successful failure, you mean,” Willis huffed as he removed the screws that held the internal components of the navigation device together and removed the metal framework.

“C’mon, Willis. That’s what they said about Apollo 13, too, and that turned out okay.”

“I guess,” Willis said begrudgingly. Gently, he placed the components into his backpack and handed the empty, lidless box of metal to MacGyver.

“Thanks, Willis,” Mac replied. “Trust me, you’ll feel a lot better once we’re out of here!” He poured the saltpeter into the box first, then gestured for Clarkson.

She sloshed through the cold water, now knee-deep, and offered him the handful of sugar packets. “At least there’s no risk of being pulled by the current here, right?”

“That’s what I call looking on the bright side. Tear those open and pour the sugar on top of the saltpeter.” After she had poured the sugar in, MacGyver carefully mixed the two powders together. “This isn’t ideal, but it’s going to have to work.” He wedged the box between the cave wall and a thick branch wider than most of the gaps inside the cave, with the makeshift rocket candy facing the rough tree bark. “Okay, Willis. Hand me a match, and be ready to stand back.”

Willis nodded and gave his friend the match, then pressed himself against the opposite wall with Elisa in tow.

“Okay, the rocket candy is supposed to burn up part of the tree, right?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Willis said.
“What’re we going to do if it doesn’t work?”

“Look on the bright side,” MacGyver said. Then he lit the match. Slowly, he eased it toward the homemade rocket fuel. He released the tiny stick over the top of the powder, then jumped back as fast as humanly possible in the rising water.

As soon as the diminutive flame grazed the powder, the saltpeter and sugar mixture ignited into a small but roaring blue and purple blaze, oscillating in colors and spreading across the dry leaves on the branch first before slowly eating its way across the bark.

Within minutes, the colorful rocket candy inferno had eaten away the top half of the fallen tree. A few minutes more and it finally burned itself out, the saltpeter and sugar fuel exhausted. A few tendrils of orange flame still crackled and seared the trunk of the burning tree until the escaping river gushed past and extinguished the fire.

Wide-eyed, Willis gaped at the remains of the half-destroyed tree. “Wow.” He felt something move against his leg, and glanced down. An eddy in the calming river had sent the INS’ metal frame sailing back to him. He picked it up gingerly, testing to be sure that it had cooled before lifting it and holding it up to the light. His jaw dropped. Besides scorching the sides of the metal box, the saltpeter fire had melted a hole the size of Willis’ face in the bottom. “Unbelievable. I knew that glucose and potassium nitrate would produce an exothermic reaction, but I never knew that it would be this---this incredible!”

MacGyver shrugged. “Welcome to my world. C’mon, let’s get to the ranger station and get some dry clothes. I think we’ve had enough explosions for one day!”

After a short hike up a forested hill, the trio emerged---shivering and looking as though they’d been drowned---at the end of the trail that led back to the visitors center.

“Do you hear that?” MacGyver asked. Then he pointed to an ATV that was rumbling down the trail ahead of them. “Hey!” he shouted, waving his arms.

The ATV skidded to a halt. Ranger Ellis jumped off and ran towards them. “MacGyver! Willis! I'm so glad you three are all right! The ranger teams have been looking all over for you, above ground and below.”
“We were trapped by the earthquake,” Willis said. “There was a rockslide that blocked us off from the rendezvous point.”
“But we made it out just fine,” MacGyver added. “How's the other team doing?”

“Looking for you,” Ranger Ellis replied. “They found the rockslide after you-all were late in meeting up with them, and they've been trying to find a way to get you out ever since. But somehow you made it just fine on your own!”

“How long were we gone?” Clarkson asked.
Ranger Ellis glanced at her watch. “About five hours.”
“Five hours?! Wow!”
MacGyver shrugged. “I guess time flies when you're exploring one of the world's biggest caves.”
Ranger Ellis smiled. “Come on, let's get you three into the ranger's station and we can all compare notes while we get you into something dry!”

*********************

A short while later, both teams of cave explorers were sitting around a conference table in warm, dry clothes with now-empty boxes of pizza scattered around them.

“And finally, the chemical fire burned away enough of the tree for us to escape,” Willis said. MacGyver grinned as his friend finished sharing the tale of their adventure.

The other team leader, Ryan Daniels, leaned forward in his seat. “That's quite a story there!”
Willis nodded. “We did have one casualty though.”
“Oh?”
Surely, Willis retrieved the burned-out shell of the INS, showing everyone the charred hole through the bottom.

“I'm sorry,” Daniels said finally. “I know how much that machine meant to you.”

“The good news is that we salvaged most of the parts,” MacGyver said, “and the INS has had a completely successful field test. As a matter of fact, we never would've found the River Styx exit without it.” He nodded at his friend. “Willis should be proud.”

Daniels cracked a small smile. “Yes, he should.”

“Well, I suggest that you all go back to the bunkhouse and get a very long night's rest. Everything else can wait until morning,” Ranger Ellis said.

“Agreed!” Clarkson said with an enthusiastic nod.

As the two teams of cave explorers filed out of the room, Willis made his way over to her. “Um, Elisa?”

“Yeah?” she said with a smile.

“I was wondering, um… maybe---maybe you'd like to exchange telephone numbers? You know, so we can, um, stay in touch?”

She smiled. “Of course! I'd like that.”

Willis beamed. “You would? Really?”

“Sure! And we should all go out to eat sometime. I know all the best restaurants and coffeehouses. You, me, MacGyver, and my fiancé!”

“Yeah! That sounds---wait, what?”

Clarkson nodded with a grin. “It'll be great! All four of us. I can't wait to introduce him to both of you. He'll never believe it. You can even show him the rebuilt version of your magic doodad!”

“Great. Right. Yeah.”

“Okay, well, I'd better get going. I need to give him a call and tell him everything that happened. I'll talk to you later, Willis!”

Still smiling, she bounced away, leaving him behind with a box of gyroscopes and mechanical parts.

MacGyver nudged Willis’ shoulder. “Don't worry. Someone else will come along. You want some pizza?”

Willis glanced down at the pineapple-covered slice of pizza in the box that MacGyver was offering and shuddered. “No, thank you. I'm going to take a long shower and forget this day ever happened. And then I'm going to build a better navigation system. And this time, it'll be MacGyver-proof.” With that, he grabbed the parts and walked out.”

MacGyver smiled and finished eating, then wandered outside to stand at the edge of the trail. Beneath the boulders and forest, he stood there alone with the Green River sinking into the mysterious darkness of Mammoth Cave and the River Styx.