Running Toward Home

by M B Panichi

  One down. Four to go. She placed the rest of the charges at the intervals that Grey requested, and let the winch reel her back down to the ground. She lost her footing a couple times on the way down and was relieved to have solid ground beneath her feet as she released her climbing rig from the link on the winch gun. She twisted the barrel and pulled the trigger, releasing the grapnel at the top. She gave the line a solid jerk to pull it down.

  The rubber-coated prongs hit the ground a few meters away with a heavy thunk. Morgan made quick work of reeling the line back in.

  Shaine led the way toward the next cooling tower. This one would require both of them to go up. They crossed the grounds, careful to stay low and moving quickly between the clumps of high brush and small trees. Shaine kept an eye toward the main gate. Morgan looked that way a few times as well, but she’d seen no movement or lights in that direction. She was glad that the gate was more than a kilometer away from them. She hoped what little noise they made would be lost in the steady breeze that hissed across the site.

  They reached the next tower and moved around to the side facing away from the main gate. Grey wanted the charges on the inside of this tower. A satellite photo had shown a significant crack in the inner wall. Shaine and Morgan would both climb up. Morgan would again place the charges while Shaine kept watch.

  Shaine set both grapnels and they ascended side by side. When they reached the top, Shaine pulled herself onto the two-meter-wide rim before helping Morgan up. Morgan hooked a leg over the rim and shimmied onto it. She stayed on her belly and peered into the black gloom on the inside. She couldn’t see down more than a few meters. Shaine pulled out her night-vision binoculars and scanned the area.

  “Security is still sitting in their car,” she reported. “I don’t see Grey and Mia. They must be inside the containment facility.” She returned the binocs to her side pants pocket. “You ready?” she asked.

  Morgan nodded. “Sure.” The blackness inside the tower made her a little uneasy, but she shook it off. It was a little late to be afraid of the dark. She trusted the comp pad to tell her when to stop. She would also have to get past a heavy grate bisecting the tower about a quarter of the way down. She rechecked the clip holding the winch gun to her harness and wriggled to the inside edge of the wall.

  Shaine said, “Let me double-check the grapnel.” She crawled to where Morgan’s grapnel lodged into the cement, giving it a good tug. It held solid. “You should be okay.”

  Morgan scowled at her. “Gee, thanks,” she muttered.

  Shaine patted her leg. “You’ll be fine. Turn on your headlamp once you’re below the rim.”

  Morgan took a deep breath and checked the winch gun, letting out a short bit of line. She dropped her legs over the inside of the rim and hung for a couple seconds with her feet dangling and her torso still on top. Finally, she slid over the edge, hanging onto the top until the line was taut. She gave Shaine a grin. “Wish me luck.”

  “Be careful,” Shaine said softly.

  “I will.” One hand on the winch gun, the other gripping the line, she got her feet against the wall and started slowly descending. When she was a couple of meters below the top, she flipped on her headlamp. She blinked in the light, but was glad to be able to see the surface under her feet.

  The crack started about ten meters below the rim. It quickly opened into a meter-wide break that reached more than a meter into the surface. According to Grey’s aerial photos, it extended at least halfway down the tower. The cement around the edges was crumbly and rough. Morgan felt it scraping the palms of her gloved hands and it made her boots slip when it crumbled under her weight.

  Her comp pad GPS beeped softly when she’d descended about twenty meters.

  Morgan stopped and retrieved an explosive from her pouch, reaching into the crack to secure and arm it. She placed two more charges before her feet hit the metal grating stretching across the tower. Morgan stopped the winch and looked around.

  Shaine’s voice was a whisper in the transceiver in her ear. “You reached the grating, what are you seeing?”

  Morgan gave herself a little slack on the line and turned, balancing on the metal rungs, placing her boots carefully. The grating was made of steel wire perhaps six centimeters in diameter, woven into half-meter squares. The rusted metal seemed solid except for where it intersected the crack. Morgan could feel the give as she bounced a little bit where the cement had broken away from the rungs. She panned her light around and spoke softly.

  “The grating is intact here, and too small for me to get through with the pack on. I’ll have to cut a piece free. There’s a big fan below this.” She could see the shadowy outline of a monster-sized fan blade and shivered to think about what she’d have been up against if the damned thing was actually running. She’d be mincemeat if she fell into that. Ugh.

  “Okay. Still all quiet up here.”

  “Good. Gonna cut through now.”

  Morgan decided to take out a piece of the grate closest to the wall. She crouched and dug in her tool pouch for the laser cutter. She’d wielded one hundreds of times at work, so it wasn’t a stretch to do so now. She made the first cut, then hung onto the wire crosspiece as she made the second cut, not wanting the metal to go crashing and banging all the way to the bottom. She shoved the heavy piece of wire into her belt and replaced the cutter. “Heading down now.”

  “Roger that.”

  Morgan sat on the edge of the grating, resettled her harness, checked the clips, then dropped down through the hole she’d created. The winch reeled her past the rusting fan blade. She studied the broken cement as she walked down it. Spiders skittered out of the headlamp’s light. Webs glittered inside the crack.

  When her pad beeped again she jammed a charge into the crevice and armed it. One to go. She dropped down another ten meters to set the last charge then reversed the winch and let it haul her back up.

  She slowed as she approached the fan and the grating, careful as she passed the sharp blade. She wriggled back through the grate, feeling the rough wire catch at her clothing.

  Shaine’s voice rumbled quietly in her ear. “Make sure to turn off your headlamp and stay low when you get to the top. I’m seeing some movement by the guards’ car. Not sure what’s going on.”

  “Okay.”

  Shaine was lying flat on the surface when Morgan hauled herself to the rim. Shaine whispered, “Another car pulled up.”

  Morgan pulled herself onto the rim. Shaine had her night vision binocs focused on the gate. Morgan squinted through the darkness. A second set of headlights faced the gate. Shaine murmured, “Three guys standing out there, just talking. I alerted Grey.”

  “Think they can see us from there?”

  Shaine shrugged. “If they were using night vision binocs they might. They’re not even looking this way. Let’s wait a bit before we go down.”

  Morgan nodded. Shaine kept the binoculars focused on the security guards. Morgan didn’t bother to use her own, just silently scanned the darkness. She could smell dampness in the air. The light breeze brought the musty scent of old cement and dust from inside the huge tower. Morgan felt as though she were at the top of an ancient watchtower, keeping guard in a desolate, silent realm. The three towers and the containment facility were enormous. The security cars seemed like miniscule threats to the huge presence and bulk of the buildings.

  Shaine said, “They’re leaving.”

  Morgan saw the second rent-a-cop air car reverse and drive away. The headlights flicked off on the parked car. Shaine watched a while longer before pocketing her binocs. “Let’s go.”

  They rappelled back down, released the claws and reeled them back in, then headed for the final cooling tower. They needed to set a line of charges inside and outside of the third tower to try to create a break in the structure because there were no faults apparent. As they jogged through the brush and grass, Morgan asked, “How are we doing on time?”

  Shaine glanced at her chron. “We’re oka
y. No need to rush.”

  Morgan nodded. “Good. I don’t like to hurry when I work.”

  Shaine grinned. “Damn, I like your style.”

  Morgan swatted her backside playfully. “So, do you want me to take this one alone, or are you coming up too?”

  “Let’s both go. I’ll set the outer charges, you set the inner ones. Don’t wait for me when you get to the top, just head down and set yours. I’ll wait for you on top, and we’ll go back down together.”

  “Works for me.” Morgan smiled. “We make a good team.”

  “Yeah, we do.”

  They made fairly quick work of setting the charges on the third tower. In no time they were back on the ground. Morgan said, “I still have five charges left. Should we just set them all down here at the base, below the others? Seems a waste not to use them up.”

  Shaine laughed. “You’re getting way too into this demolition stuff. Let’s do it. I’ve got a couple too.”

  They attached all the remaining charges in a cluster a couple meters from the ground and set them. Shaine had no idea if it would do any real structural damage, but it would definitely make a big bang.

  When they finished, Shaine checked in with Grey.

  “We’re done here and on our way out. Meet you at the fence.”

  “Roger that. We’re out in about ten minutes.”

  Morgan and Shaine hurried across the overgrown property. They reached the cut in the fence and crouched in the darkness behind the brush and weeds. Grey and Mia jogged up about fifteen minutes later.

  Grey said, “We’re set. Let’s blow this joint.”

  They ducked through the opening and Shaine made quick work of resoldering the chain links. Grey took a small control unit from her pouch and held it up. “You guys ready?”

  Shaine nodded. “Do it, Master Destructor.”

  Grey flashed her a grinning salute. “Yes, sir, Captain Commando.” She pressed her thumb on the print-reader and the unit came alive. “Three, two, one.” She keyed the firing button. For about three seconds they held their breath.

  The explosions started as a low thundering of muffled whuffs and quickly expanded into a deafening roar of destruction. Debris flew. Clouds of white cement dust mushroomed up and out. Shards of building rubble started showering down on them.

  Morgan choked, “Holy fuck!”

  Shaine grabbed her arm. “Go, go, go!”

  Grey muttered, “Maybe I should have moved us out farther, huh?”

  “Where’s the fun in that?”

  “Ow! Fuck, cover your head!”

  They raced away from the site while debris and dust rained down. Shaine shouted to Grey, “Overestimate a little?”

  The tall blond woman just laughed. “Naw, sounds worse than it is—dry cement makes a damned mess!”

  The high grass whipped at their faces as they ran. Morgan stayed a step behind Shaine. She couldn’t decide if she felt like they’d just cut loose with the world’s greatest prank, or if she felt like a criminal running from the law. If they got caught, they were screwed. On the other hand, they had done this for a good cause. Besides, Morgan thought, blowing stuff up was fun. She stifled a crazy urge to laugh gleefully.

  “There’s the bikes!”

  They had two air bikes and doubled up on them, moving out of the area as fast as they dared. It was still fully dark and Shaine had disconnected the automatic headlights on the bikes. The riding was treacherous. Morgan gritted her teeth and held on as Shaine led the way through fields and back trails to the farm and straight into the equipment barn.

  “Holy shit,” Morgan muttered as they dismounted. Her legs were shaking and she leaned against the wall. Shaine came up beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Adrenaline crash.”

  Grey said, “Good job, you guys. That was flawless.”

  Mia gave her a raised brow. “Honey, you don’t even know what happened after we left.”

  Grey shrugged. “It sounded right,” she said.

  Shaine passed out wipes so that they could clean the black camouflage makeup off their faces. The wind from their ride had blown off the worst of the debris dust. Morgan looked around at the group. They all needed baths.

  Shaine said, “Let’s go inside and see if there’s anything on the news yet.”

  Morgan slid her arm around Shaine’s waist as they headed toward the house. Knowing what they’d just done, she felt like a guilty adolescent. Her hope that nobody would be home was dashed as they strode into the kitchen. Jeannette Ichiro stood at the counter, pouring herself a cup of coffee. She gave them a raised brow stare as they trooped into the house.

  Shaine smiled innocently. “Hi, Mom. What’s up?”

  “As if you need to ask me,” Jeannette said.

  Grey, Mia and Morgan all put on their best “who me?” looks, and Shaine smirked. “Is it on the news?” she asked.

  Her mother sighed. “I felt the explosions all the way over here, Shaine.”

  “Heh.”

  “They just broke into regular programming with the news alert that terrorists had attacked the nuclear reactor site.”

  The women exchanged glances.

  “Terrorists?” Morgan repeated.

  Grey scratched her head. “Little paranoid, huh?”

  Jeannette frowned at her. “We don’t often have buildings blowing up around here,” she said dryly.

  Shaine looked at Grey and Mia. “Hope nobody noticed you guys showing up in town.”

  Mia smiled. “We are practically invisible,” she said. “Nobody knew where we were going, and we didn’t stop anywhere on our way. Besides, who would think to worry about the comings and goings of the owners of a legitimate construction demolition company?”

  Jeannette sighed again. “Would anyone care for some coffee?”

  “All around, Mom.”

  Morgan said, “I’ll help.”

  Jeannette shooed them out of the room. “I’ve got it. You girls get comfortable and see what havoc you’ve created.” She shook her head at her daughter. “You’re lucky your father’s not home.”

  Shaine grinned. She dropped into the oversized recliner in the entertainment room and pulled Morgan down on her lap. Grey and Mia settled on the sofa, not quite as close, but comfortable nonetheless.

  “Oooh, we done good, ladies,” Grey said, studying the video on the screen. It was a panoramic view of the damage from a media helijet. The site was still thick with dust in the air, illuminated by the helijet’s floodlights. A gray blanket of snow covered the whole site and extended into the fields beyond. Fire suppression vehicles and law enforcement cars lined the road into the reactor site. A handful of police and firefighters scouted around inside the gate. Most of the fire troops loitered near their vehicles. With no electric and no power there was no fire at the site.

  The camera panned across the cooling towers. One had partially collapsed on one side, a whole span of the curved wall reduced to rubble. The second had a very visible open crack from top to nearly bottom. The third had a very large hole in the side at the base, and the wall above that was rent with a deep crack and fissures.

  The top of the reactor building had been blown from the inside out, leaving concentric piles of cement around the building. The dome was mostly gone. The worst of the debris field was mostly contained within the site grounds. Shaine nodded at that, satisfied. The intent hadn’t been to do damage to the surrounding area, and in that, Grey had done well. They had done plenty of damage to the site itself. Shaine hoped it was enough to scuttle the plan to restart the reactor plant.

  The comp pad in her pocket vibrated. She pulled it out and frowned. Shaine sighed and mouthed to Morgan, “Rogan.” She then held up the pad and said, “Got a call I need to take.”

  Morgan slid off her lap and Shaine pushed off the chair, taking the pad up the back stairs to her bedroom and closing the door before she answered it. Rogan’s dark visage glared at her from
the small screen.

  Without preamble, he demanded, “What the fuck are you doing up there?”

  Shaine looked blankly at him. “I was sitting with my girlfriend until you interrupted. What are you doing?”

  He actually growled at her. “Do not fuck with me, Wendt.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it, Rogan.”

  The door opened behind her and Morgan poked her head into the room.

  Rogan said, “If ANY of this comes back to you or Morgan, you are a dead woman walking. I will have you drawn and quartered and blown into minuscule bits!”

  Morgan’s eyes widened.

  Shaine managed to look bored. “You worry too much, Rogan. Bad for your heart.”

  He glared. “I am not joking,” he snapped, and the connection cut off.

  Shaine dropped the pad back into the pocket of her cargo pants. “Well, that was fun,” she said dryly.

  Morgan frowned. “How much trouble are we in?” she asked.

  Shaine shrugged. “None, technically.”

  “What if they figure out who did it?”

  “They won’t.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Nobody knows Grey and Mia are here. There is no reason for anyone to look at us for something like blowing up buildings. We’re just visiting my family. The explosives are all civilian-grade self-destruct and leave no evidence behind.”

  “But they know who you are, Shaine. It’s not that hard to find out what people do, that you have a background in Special Ops and security.”

  Shaine shook her head slowly. “Actually, they don’t know much at all about me. Because there isn’t anything about me out there. They can find my service record, but most of it is classified. Because we were Special Ops, our identities were wiped, all records of us cleared or rewritten. My time at Mann-Maru will show me working as a midlevel security manager at corporate before I became a mechanic. There’s no record of my real function.” She shrugged. “Essentially, I’m off the grid.”