"Dad!" Nikko called out.

His father was beside him in an instant helping to support the collapsed girl who had lost consciousness. She moaned softly as the men lowered her to lay flat on the rock floor. His father checked the girl's pulse and smoothed her hair back away from her face, then pointed toward a box of equipment sitting near one of the pillars several meters away.

"Nikko, get me the thermal blanket from that medic-kit, we need to keep her warm in case she goes into shock."

The teenager went to the box, opening the cover and pulling out gear until he found the blanket. A small trickle of sand falling onto his hand and an ominous rumble was all the warning Nikko got before the tremor hit.

Nikko was thrown backward over the equipment pack and hard against the pillar behind him, before falling face-first to the ground, the breath knocked from him. He coughed, fighting for air and tried to get up. The ground was still heaving and shaking beneath him when he made it to his feet, and Nikko had to concentrate on keeping his balance. He heard his father shout his name then a moment later felt a hard body hit his from behind. Again he was thrown to the ground, this time his body was sent rolling several feet across the ground. Rocks and soil rained down, smashing into the ground and striking soft flesh indiscriminately, Nikko covered his head and neck as best he could with his hands. Then as suddenly as it began the shaking stopped. Dust and small stones still fell from above for a few minutes, but the worst seemed to be over, and eventually even the smaller debris stopped falling.

Nikko raised his head to survey the damage; it wasn't as bad as he'd thought it would be. Although several sections of the cavern roof had fallen in most of the support pillars were still standing, and apart from the choking dust filling the air the cavern seemed to be basically intact. The worst of the rock fall had been around his area. Through the dust the teenager could make out Vincent's shadowy form hovering over Juliet, and close by, sitting near the computer equipment, Calvin nursed his right wrist against his chest.

"Calvin, you okay?"

"Yeah, just banged my wrist, I'm fine. How's Dr. Zond?" Calvin asked looking past Nikko. Nikko turned and saw his father lying crumpled on his side and not moving, surrounded by a number of rocks.

"Dad!" Nikko cried, going to the older man's side.

His father was unconscious, a wide dark patch of blood matting his hair to the left side of his head. Nikko resisted the urge to move him, from the modest amount he knew of first aid, the teenager was aware that shifting a patient could be a dangerous thing to do; instead he pressed his fingers against his father's neck to check for a pulse. Nikko was relieved to feel the slow but steady pulse beat beneath his fingertips.

Vincent joined him and began to expertly check over the unconscious man's vital signs. "Is he okay?" Nikko asked, trying to keep the fear he felt from sounding in his voice.

Vincent's movements were swift and efficient. "He has a head injury, probable concussion, and damage to his left shoulder… a broken clavicle, but apart from that I can't tell. The sooner we get help for him the better." Vincent took the emergency blanket that Nikko still held and spread it over the still form.

Nikko couldn't believe it, his father never got hurt, the man was just about indestructible… but then Nikko remembered he had thought the same thing about his mother when as a child, and he'd been wrong then.

Calvin joined them and seeing the damage to his wrist, Vincent began to treat the injury.

"How's Juliet?" Calvin asked, wincing with the pain of Vincent's ministrations.

"Still unconscious but she seems to have not been hurt by the tremor. Our equipment?"

Calvin shrugged. "I tried both radios but I'm not getting a signal, I couldn't reach Maggie. They look undamaged; it could be a transmitter problem. We lost one computer, half our lights and the portable analyzer but we still have everything else, and we still have our data. Our gear's in better shape than we are."

A few feet away Juliet stirred and mumbled but didn't wake.

Juliet opened her eyes and climbed to her feet. She wasn't in the cavern anymore; she seemed to be standing in an open-air Central American market area. The sun shone brightly overhead and everywhere people tended to their business. Familiar sights, sounds and smells that she recognised from a dozen trips to similar places surrounded her but Juliet couldn't recognise the actual city, and she had no idea where the rest of the team were.

"Dr. Zond?… Calvin?... Nikko?... Vincent?" there was no answer from any of the team.

The young woman approached a maternal looking woman selling fruits at one of the near by stalls. "Excuse me, have you seen my friends?" Juliet got no response so tried her question in Spanish, when that didn't work she tried a number of other languages. The older woman went about her business with no recognition or sign that she had even heard Juliet's question. Throwing her arms upward in frustration, Juliet spun around and shouted. "Can anyone hear me?"

"I can," said a shadowy figure leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the road.

Juliet felt a wave of relief at the thought that someone could hear her and began to approach the figure, but something about him made her stop before she got too close. She couldn't see his face but a strange prickling sensation warned her that the man was dangerous.

"Who are you?"

The figure laughed softly, it wasn't a pleasant sound. "A predictable question. I have provided this place so that we may talk, do you like it?"

"You didn't answer me," Juliet stated, refusing to be distracted.

The figure laughed harshly again. "No… you are intelligent… for a woman. I didn't answer and nor is it important. What is important is the message I have to teach you. If you must have an answer, you may know me as the messenger."

Suddenly the figure vanished from the wall and materialized beside her. The transition frightened her but she refused to let herself appear intimidated. It was then that Juliet noticed all the other people from the market had disappeared. She was alone with the messenger and that realisation worried her even more.

"It is important you not be blinded by fear, in fear there is no hope." The stranger raised his hands to his cowl and lowered it back away from his face.

"Dr. Zond?" Juliet asked looking up in shock into the familiar features of her mentor and employer.

The messenger shook his head. "No. Although I know Solomon Zond… perhaps better than he knows himself. Come, there is much for you to see before you can understand my message."

The Solomon figure took her arm and pulled her away from the market; Juliet resisted at first but was powerless to stop him and was forced to go where he led.