uniform to his personal computer gave him and only him access to and control of his gear He should have known when all else failed he could count on his OS band for help What did Fanchon mean by prepare He was about to ask when the computerized Fanchon instructed Please fully secure jacket pockets and cuffs Beginning ten-second countdown sequence now Ten nine eight Hold on Cruz threw his jacket over his shoulders and shoved his arms into his sleeves The water was edging up past his knees A current was beginning to form He had to take a wider stance to remain upright in the swirling water Six five Cruz yanked the buckles tight on the bottom of each sleeve then jerked the zipper on the front of his jacket up so hard he was sure he’d broken it Two one said Fanchon PFD activation commencing The hem of Cruz’s jacket tightened against his hips His cuffs and collar were sealing too A sudden rush of air down his back sent a chill through him Cruz watched his sleeves slowly swell As they did his arms rose from his sides His chest was puffing up too His jacket took less than 15 seconds to fully inflate He felt like a giant marshmallow The water was still rising up to his hips his stomach his ribs Once the water level reached his chest Cruz lifted his feet to test if the float could hold him It did He was buoyant As the floodwaters inched upward they took Cruz with them It was strange to be going back up the very hole that had brought him down here but at least he was moving in a better direction Cruz wasn’t sure how far he had fallen into the shaft He strained looking for the gap in the rock he had fallen through Uh-oh Trouble ahead Cruz was heading for an opening on the opposite opposite side of the cave wall No He needed to go up not down Kicking he thrashed his arms to steer away from the hole but the current was too strong He was going in The force of the tide spun him through 11
the opening tipping him to one side Water went up his nose and down his throat Cruz came up coughing trying to spit out water while gulping in air When he could see again Cruz realized he was riding the rapids through a narrow tunnel Of course This must be a lava tube Once the water had risen to the level of the tube he’d been dumped into the passage passage like a helpless spider down a bathtub drain The river was powerful and choppy It was like rafting on the wildest white water imaginable except Cruz was the raft The swift flow tossed him from one side of the tube to the other Bouncing from wall to wall Cruz quickly saw he wasn’t out of the woods yet About 30 yards ahead there was a fork in the tube The river was propelling him straight toward the wall of rock between the two paths Which way should he go Cruz kicked hard with his right foot and tried to row with his right arm shooting for the left fork This was going to be close Turning his head Cruz braced for impact His shoulder smashed into a corner but he made it into the left fork Almost immediately immediately he felt the force of the water easing up Was he slowing Yes The water level was dropping too A few hundred yards downstream Cruz was able to touch bottom Dragging his soles he skidded to a stop on a sandbar Exhausted Cruz could only lie on the wet gravel heaving Deactivate PFD Confirmed PFD deflating came Fanchon’s muffled voice from inside his puffed jacket Cruz shivered as air escaped from vents in his collar cuffs and coattail Warning said Fanchon Organic Synchronization band detecting elevated heart rate elevated body temperature inadequate inadequate caloric intake inadequate hydration electrolyte imbalance Yeah yeah groaned Cruz OS band switch to data readout Confirmed Cruz usually kept his OS band stats on readout rather than spoken In all of the jostling he must have hit the command on his touch screen His coat returning to its original form Cruz rolled onto his side His legs felt like concrete blocks His arms too Even his eyes were sore 13
