Teddy regained consciousness in the midst of a deluge of water pouring over his shoulders and back as he was dragged down a gently sloping dirt-floored corridor. Joshua came crashing down on top of him and it was the best feeling in the world. Teddy gasped and sputtered taking in great gulps of stale air, but air nonetheless.
Joshua began to pull off his dive mask, but Teddy held Joshua's hands apart with weakened arms. He shook his head: no. Teddy wanted to breath this ancient air for awhile to see if it had any potentially negative affects. He motioned to Joshua to go back into the room to retrieve his own dive tanks.
He didn't want the boy to watch while he sorted himself out. He was very dizzy and he was hoping it was the prolonged lack of oxygen more than the stale air. From what he could see in the beam of his torch, the tunnel sloped down and leveled off after about fifty feet.
He guessed they had a long walk ahead of them. He hoped the stale air would be sufficient. If the passage was water tight, it was airtight as well. Maybe there was an air inlet at the other end that supplied fresh air?
Joshua returned with his tanks and Teddy quickly put his mask on and took a few gulps of modern air. It seemed to help a little, but it was not a dramatic change. That was good news. The air in the tunnel was breathable. Without thinking, Teddy motioned for Joshua to take off his mask as if they were still under water. Then he laughed.
"Take off your mask, Joshua, and let's shut the valves on all tanks to conserve the air. We may need it." Teddy laughed harder than the situation called for. He needed the relief the laughter provided. They weren't out of the woods yet, but God had answered their prayers: they were alive, together and breathing.
"What do we do now, Dad?" Joshua was holding back tears. Teddy took him in his arms and hugged him tightly, like he had wanted to do back in the room.
"We thank God for each other." Teddy squeezed him hard and they cried even harder. "I thank you for not abandoning me and then saving my life, and... you thank me for bringing you and your brother on this crazy trip!"
"Father God, we thank you for saving our lives. We pray you keep Bones and Caleb safe and that you reunite all of us soon!"
What do we do now, Dad? Truth from the mouth of babes—they were still stuck in an ancient structure one hundred feet under seawater with no idea whether help was coming or not. Add to that, no food, no fresh water, minimal air left in their tanks and flashlights that would run out at some point. We trust in God.
Teddy took a moment to answer, testing how steady he was by walking a few steps back and forth. Joshua waited and used the time to look around the tunnel they were in. Unlike the room behind them, which was made of dressed stone, the tunnel was hewn out of bedrock.
It sloped down for about fifty feet before it seemed to level off and the view forward was cutoff by the descending ceiling. All the way along it had a smooth floor of compacted soil that was not quite as hard as cement. Other than the normal undulations of hewn rock along the walls and ceiling, nothing stood out in his flashlight beam.
"Joshua?" Teddy queried, his light shining into the stone room. "How did you get us out of there?"
"I don't know, really. I just put my hand into the same depression I saw you pressing and the stone door slid into the floor." Joshua spoke slowly as he recalled his fear and wonder. "I actually thought I saw the stone glow under my hand for a moment."
"That was probably the gold dust that came off of my dive glove. Watching it scintillate and sparkle in the light is the last memory I have before I lost consciousness." Teddy spoke in the tones of a man who half remembered something he knew was important.
"No…." Joshua was trying to recall the color and shade of the light when his dad interrupted.
"Let's try it in reverse." Teddy carried his gear into the room and shined his light at the front door at a spot about sixteen feet off the floor. There it was, less pronounced than on the other doorpost, a slight fan shaped depression outlined by the beam of light. "Suit up and let's see if it will work again. Apparently it responded to your hand, not mine." Teddy opened his tank valves, shrugging into his gear.
"Should we put our fins on now?" Nervousness was betrayed in Joshua's voice.
"Yes. You are going to need them to have any hope of pushing through the water. It's going to be a deluge."
"Will we be able to swim out with all that water pouring in? It will be like swimming through a waterfall!" Joshua was beginning to think this wasn't such a great idea.
"I've thought of that. I think our best hope is to stand to the side behind the doorpost over here. It is thick enough to shield us from the brunt of the force and I think it may even create a little backwash eddy that will keep us in the corner. We will have to wait until the tunnel fills up and the force equalizes somewhat before trying to climb around the doorpost to the outside."
"Do you think the water force will equalize?"
"I don't know, but it has to work." Teddy didn't want to leave any time for doubts to creep in—a plan like this could easily be overcome by its many holes—but they had to try. "Let's put our masks on and then you will have to stand on my shoulders, lean against the stone and I will grab your feet and push you up as high as I can."
"What if I can't reach it?" Joshua was feeling fear return.
"You can do it, Son. You have saved our lives several times—and your brother Jonah's back at Tiwanaku. I am proud to be your father." Teddy donned his mask and cupped his hands in the form of a step.
"Please help me, Lord." Joshua slipped his own mask over his head, stepped into his father's arms and began the difficult and awkward ascent using his father's body as a ladder. It was made even more challenging by the heavy dive tanks, lines and tubes getting caught everywhere—slowly and painstakingly, he climbed until he was on his father's shoulders.
Looking down he saw his father's hand raised like a step. He leaned into the rocks in front of him trying to shift as much weight as possible to the rock, away from his father. Hand outstretched, flashlight highlighting the fan shaped indention, Joshua put his flipper into his father's hand. He placed his other foot and waited as his father shifted his stance under them like he was doing a clean and jerk weight lift. Imperceptibly, he could feel his father's arms shaking as he began to rise.
Stretching his right arm as far as it could go, Joshua watched as the distance decreased inch by inch. His fingertips crossed the ridge forming the bottom of the depression. His palm entered the depression.
Joshua's wrist had almost passed the lower line of the depression when his father slowed and stopped. The exertion of the military press was unimaginable on a man who had minutes before been unconscious from lack of oxygen.
Joshua stretched his fingertips as far as he dared, but his hand was not fully into the depression.
Suddenly, Teddy's body jerked a little and they both stretched to the limit. Joshua's hand slid fully into the depression and he pressed.
Nothing happened.
Teddy collapsed and Joshua slid down the wall into a heaping mess next to his father.