"All right, who's not dead? Sound off."

Rourke was answered with various grunts and groans. Someone turned on headlights and light filled the cave once again. Eleanor sat up in pain. Her hands were still balled in fists, but she was no longer gripping Milo's shirt. She didn't see him anywhere. Audrey was already standing and scanning the area with a flashlight.

"What's the damage?" Helga asked. Only the slight tightness in her voice indicated that she'd been hurt. She was up and looking around as quickly as Audrey while others still lay sprawled out around the upturned vehicles and scattered supplies. Eleanor stood up and looked around her for Milo. There was no trace of him. She carefully stepped around the wreckage littering the cave floor and continued to search.

"Not as bad as it could have been. We totaled rigs two and seven, but the digger looks like it'll still run," Audrey reported. "We lost a few good men."

"And women," Dr. Sweet added. "Sylvia didn't make it."

Eleanor froze. She felt as though she had been kicked in the stomach. Not Sylvia, her first friend made on this expedition. Just last night, they had eaten around the same campfire and learned about each other's past. How could her short life be over already?

What about Milo? she asked herself. What if he was killed in the fall? She couldn't bear the thought of it. Sylvia had been kind, but she was still practically a stranger. But Milo…

"Lucky for us we landed on something soft," Audrey continued, interrupting Eleanor's thoughts.

"Pumice ash," Mole supplied. "We are standing at the base of a dormant volcano."

Eleanor blinked back tears and searched the faces of those around her. Other than her, no one seemed to be affected by the losses.

"Lucky for us?" she heard herself snap. "What about Sylvia? What about everyone else that didn't make it? We're just going start thinking about ourselves?"

"They knew the risk when they joined this crew," Helga replied coldly. "Things like this happen. We owe it to them to keep pressing on." She raised a flare gun to the sky and fired it. The light and trail of smoke spiraled as it rose. "It just keeps going," she mused. It was as if she hadn't addressed Eleanor at all.

"Things like this happen?" Eleanor repeated to herself. She continued to look for Milo and had to pause a few times to clear her vision from the tears. Where are you, Milo?

"Are you saying this whole volcano can blow at any time?" Dr. Sweet was asking Mole. The others murmured to each other with panic.

"No, no, no," Mole assured them. "That would take an explosive force of great magnitude."

"If we could blow the top off of that thing, we'd have a straight shot to the surface," Rourke observed, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Mr. Thatch, what do you think? Mr. Thatch?" He noticed for the first time that Milo was no longer with them.

Eleanor found the Shepherd's Journal among the rubble as the others began to call out for Milo with alarm. She dusted off the cover and remembered Rourke's words from earlier.

Looks like all our chances for survival rest with you, Mr. Thatch. You and that little book.

She hugged the book to her chest and added her voice to the calls of the others.

"Milo?"

Milo awoke to three sets of glowing eyes peering at him. He thought that they must be people, but they were hard to identify in their floor-length masks. Each of them held a spear. Although their weapons were crude, Milo had no doubt that the strangers could seriously injure him if they wanted. He scrambled back as far as he could, but winced in pain as his shoulder struck a rock behind him. Reflexively, he clutched his shoulder. When he pulled away, his palm was bloodied.

The nearest mask-wearer sidled up to Milo. He was so preoccupied by his wound that he didn't notice her raise her mask. Milo looked up and was startled to see a young woman's face. Although she appeared to be close to Milo's age, her hair was white. Her skin was light brown and she had what appeared to be a blue tattoo under her left eye. She wore an expression of concern as she eyed his wound.

Milo looked at his shoulder and then back up at her. She wore a strange glowing crystal around her neck and held it out toward Milo. Delicately, she touched the cut with the tip of the crystal and then immediately pressed her hand against the spot. Milo gasped in pain for a second, but realized that something was happening. The area around her hand glowed with the same electric blue as her necklace and Milo's skin felt warm. When the woman pulled her hand away, the blue handprint remained briefly and then disappeared, taking the wound and the pain with it. Milo couldn't believe his eyes. The woman simply smirked at her handiwork and lowered her mask again. The eyes glowed once again, presumably from that crystal.

"Milo?!"

Milo turned his head at the sound of Eleanor's voice. As soon as he did, Milo's rescuer and the other two people bounded away hastily.

"Wait!" he called to them. They didn't stop or even slow down.

Eleanor rushed to Milo's side and put her hand to her mouth.

"I'm so glad you're alive!" she exclaimed. "Are you hurt?"

"Not anymore," he said distractedly. "I'm so sorry, but we have to follow those people."

Eleanor followed his finger and saw 3 faint figures clambering over rocks in the distance. She grabbed his hand and lead him back to the others. Before they could say much, Milo announced, "follow those people."

Obediently, Mole fired up the digger and began drilling through the rocks that now stood between the crew and the mysterious people. Was it too much to hope that they might know something about Atlantis?

The drill broke through and daylight poured into the cave. It was the first natural light anyone had seen since the dive. After their eyes adjusted, the crew laid eyes on an island in the distance. It sat in the center of a raised pool with waterfalls surrounding it. It was as though the island were on a floating bowl and the excess water poured constantly over the sides.

"It's beautiful," Audrey breathed.

Eleanor squeezed Milo's hand and they exchanged excited grins.

"Milo, I gotta hand it to you," Sweet said with a slap on the back. "You really came through."

Suddenly, the people from before re-appeared, but there were even more of them. They leaped down from above and around the cave. All of them wore the glowing masks. Unlike before when they had helped Milo, they had their spears raised threateningly.

"Uh, I take that back."