The idea occurs to you that the cave may have some kind of significance, and this is why the Wobans are here — perhaps they are guarding it. This piques your curiosity. Of course, all of this is just a theory and you have no real idea who those Wobans are or what their purpose is, but with no maps to follow — and with a personal taste for adventure that is about a mile wide — you feel compelled to explore the cave.


The irony is that if the Wobans are here to guard the cave, they're doing a poor job of it. The cave's entrance is turned slightly away from the clearing, so they cannot even see it from where they are playing their little game of tiddlywinks or whatever. A growth of grass and small brushy plants provides just enough cover for you to crouch low and step softly between your boulder and the clear-water stream flowing out of the cave.


"He aha kela kani?" says one of the Wobans to his companions.


"'O kau e lohe nei, 'o wau ke lanakila nei i keia pa'ani. E kiola i kou pohaku a pani i kou waha," someone responds.


"Aole. Lohe wau i kekahi mea e ne'e ana."


"He mea li'ili'i paha kahi holoholona e 'uwu ana i ka mau'u. Pono 'oe e pa'ani i ka pa'ani a ha'alele i ke kama'ilio 'ana."


The mouth of the cave is wide, and you can feel its coolness before you even step inside. Immediately you are glad you came here, as you are now surrounded by moisture and hidden from the harsh sun — the exact opposite conditions from where you just were. You pause for a moment as your eyes adjust to the dim light, and then you continue on; you may have just snuck past the Woban guards successfully, but you would still prefer to put some distance between you.


You quickly realize that this cave is a lava tube — a tunnel-like passage carved through the hillside during an ancient eruption. It angles gently upward, with the stream fanning out across the rock floor. Up ahead is nothing but darkness, so just before you lose sight of the little bit of daylight coming in through the entrance, you stop to fish out Captain Mark's palm-sized plastic flashlight from the backpack.


Except for the uphill grade, following the lava tube is like exploring an abandoned subway. The arched ceiling maintains almost consistent dimensions as the passageway snakes its way through the rocky core of the island, giving it a man-made appearance. But where is it leading? You have no idea how good the batteries are in the flashlight, and you'd hate to be stranded here in the dark. Excitement propels you forward; anxiety has you hoping an exit appears soon.


What you do find is a fork, with passages branching to the left and right. So now what? Both are equally dark, and your first impression is that there is no difference between them, other than direction. You step into the space between the twin tunnels, lick your fingertip, and stick it into the air. Although it's subtle, there is a draft of air coming from the left tunnel, and heat coming from the right — would that be heat from outdoors, maybe? The stream that you have been following has dwindled to just a trickle, but you can see now that it flows from the left-hand tunnel.


This is all very interesting, but in a moment of sobriety you realize that Walter Berringer didn't send you here to go spelunking. Maybe you should go back the way you came, hoping that the Wobans have left so that you can resume your hike along the trail.


__________________________________________________

You take the right tunnel.

The heat coming from the right tunnel convinces you that this must be the way back to the surface, where the air was blisteringly hot earlier today as you hiked across the ridgeline. These lava tubes are interesting, and it looks like coming here was an ingenious way to get past those three Wobans down below, but your real purpose is to find the island's highest mountain. It's time to resume that journey, so if the right-hand tunnel is going to lead you back up to ground level then that is the smartest way to go.


But the tunnel does not seem to lead anywhere quickly; you follow it for more than fifteen minutes without seeing much of anything different compared to the previous lava tube. The one distinction is that this branch does less climbing, as if it were leading you deeper inside one of the island's small mountains rather than paralleling the slope. It is indeed warmer here, but the source of that heat is not evident; with no stream trickling past your feet the entire place seems less enchanting and more desolate.


You are torn between the competing thoughts of going forward and turning back. You've come so far already that the idea of giving up now seems distasteful; for all you know the exit to the surface may be just around the next bend, or the next. If that turns out to be the case, it means that it would be longer to go back than it would to go forward. But at the same time, that nagging sense that you've been wasting your time here won't go away. The simple fact is that you have no way of knowing which way is best, thus putting your tortured brain into a state of paralysis due to insufficient information.


Hold on — what's that sound?


All this time that you've been exploring the lava tube, the sounds of your footsteps have been echoing off the rock walls surrounding you. But when you stopped a moment ago to ponder your options, the "echoes" made two extra steps. Could it be that someone has been following you all this time?


The idea of encountering a Woban deep in this endless lava tube is terrifying. Where is your escape route? Who will find your remains? You feel as though you have been unwittingly walking deeper and deeper into a trap, all the while congratulating yourself for evading the three Wobans standing guard at the entrance. You are such a fool.


Flicking off the flashlight in your hand, you wait quietly in the utter darkness for further sounds that someone is behind you. It is not a long wait — and not only do you hear the other person approaching, but soon you see the glow of another flashlight on the tunnel walls. It's not a Woban following you, but one of the other collectors! It remains to be seen which is more dangerous.


You remember the pistol that Berringer pressed into your hand this morning; it's been in your pack ever since you left the Big Papi, where you've forgotten all about it. Normally you'd want nothing to do with a firearm, on the theory that if you shoot at someone first and miss, they'll just shoot at you back, thus making a bad situation worse. But here you feel trapped and vulnerable, and that little handgun may be your only way out of this predicament.


By the time the other person comes into view around the last bend in the lava tube, Berringer's pistol is in your hands, and your finger is hooked around the trigger. Your shadow has not spoken a word, and perhaps doesn't even know yet that you're standing right in front of them. Whoever it is, they are wearing a headlamp; the light they have been using to find their way emanates from their forehead like an LED halo, partially blinding you and leaving the person wearing it in the shadows.


"Who are you, and why have you been following me?" you say. Your voice echoes weirdly off the walls, to the point where you hardly recognize the way you sound.


The other person says nothing, but comes to a dead stop. You see the headlamp beam sweeping up and settling on your location, leaving you to assume that the person wearing it had been focusing on where they were stepping, and hadn't seen you until just now.


When there is no response, you hold up the gun in front of you. "Don't come any closer, or I'll shoot."


"Fat chance. We all know you don't carry." The other person's voice echoes just as much as yours; it sounds familiar, but all you can determine through the reverberation is that your shadow is a woman.


Behind the glare of her headlamp, you are sure you see the person reaching for a gun of her own. So before this turns into a standoff in the dark, you impulsively fire the first shot…


…and the results are exactly what you've always feared they would be. Your shot doesn't miss its target, but all it does is graze her as she jumps to safety. Her shot, on the other hand, finds its mark with no problem. You collapse to the ground, darkness overtaking you before you ever learn the identity of who it was who has just bested you.


THE END