AT BASE CAMP THAT NIGHT they watched the recordings from the expedition five weeks previously, when Tedeschi had disappeared. There he was, familiar to them all now. A small man. A good size for a caver. Lean but fit, carrying a ton of gear without it seeming much effort. No amateur. He moved over the rock at a measured pace, wasting no energy.
They watched him disappear into a sump, then fast-forwarded the recording to the point when he reappeared, grinning, giving a thumbs up, a sign he had found a way through. The delight on his face was what killed Collins a little. He knew that feeling. All the recovery team did. Tedeschi was one of them. He had come here for the same reasons they were all here. The same reasons they did the crazily dangerous things they loved to do. And now he was d
