Beyond Top Secret: A Zach Taylor Adventure

by Brian Anderson

  Shawn was sure they could build the locking device, but thirty-five hours might not be enough time to work out the kinks. Zach had another concern. To get a three-foot length of explosive material on the bottom of a crate would require the sheet to be wound around a roller three or four times. The issue wasn’t wrapping them around the roller. Phil had said the adhesive would need to be active so the end of the sheet would grab onto the crate. With the adhesive activated on the roller, Zach likened it to wrapping presents and ending up with wads of tape where the tape stuck together, not an outcome that would work for this type of application.

  Zach looked at his watch, and said, “I have some reservations with that solution, and we only have twenty-four hours to figure this out. I want ten hours for the trip to Guayana and prep work once we get there. We need some other ideas fast.”

  Another idea was to drape a tarp at the end of the roller system and hide behind it to feed the sheets. Getting behind the tarp unseen and relying on a lack of soldiers guarding both sides of the plane eliminated the idea. But the idea caused Zach to think of a slightly modified approach.

  “What if we built a box, an enclosure, that covered the bottom half of the rollers? We put someone inside lying on their back so we can keep the profile of the enclosure smaller. Headquarters can make them from weathered steel so they won’t look out of place. Phil, how many of the roller systems does the airport have?

  “Four that we saw.”

  “Okay, so we’ll have four enclosures built. That way if the soldiers see one of the other roller systems it will look identical to ours. No need to raise unwanted suspicion. Shawn, come up with a quick way to mount the enclosures. Chris, you, as the smallest man, get the honor of being inside. Let’s throw together a mockup and see if it’s even feasible. For the mockup, we can hang a board below the rollers and adjust the ropes to see how slim we can make it and still give Chris enough room to work. I need to call Jake and see how long it will take to build and deliver the enclosures to the airport in Guayana. You all know what to do.”

  Flying around like bees in a meadow full of wildflowers the team hastily gathered lumber, ropes, and tools to throw together the mockup. Their haste proved to be counterproductive and wasted a considerable amount of time. The first attempt was a rope on each corner of the lumber tied two feet below the frame. The wood platform moved around like a marble on a ship’s deck. They added four more ropes that ran horizontally to the structure. Pulled tight and tied to each end of the roller system, they had solved the end to end swing of the platform.

  Chris climbed onto the platform and made his first attempt at feeding a sheet through the rollers. At first, they thought they had a working prototype, but the side to side motion remained, and it was causing the explosive strip to pull away from the test crate. To solve the side to side motion, they decided to secure the frame to poles.

  A flurry of activity ensued, tossing aside items that wouldn’t work, they located two potential supports and a ladder. Climbing to the top of the ladder Clay swung the sledgehammer with tremendous force, as if trying to ring the bell at the county fair’s strongman attraction, and rammed the rod into the ground. It took only three swings before the pole was firmly planted. Repeating the process on the other side of the frame, they now had side supports in place. After attaching ropes, the platform exhibited a lack of movement in any direction.

  Chris got back onto the platform and tried for a second time to feed the sheet through the rollers. This time the sheet was pressed against the crate as it moved down the rollers. Inspecting the result, they uncovered a new problem. At the tail end of the container, a piece of the sheet was protruding from the side. What Chris realized was that even the slightest angle at the contact point got exaggerated over a three-foot length. That meant he needed a better way to maneuver the sheets when feeding them through the rollers. The explosive strips just lying on top of him would limit how precise he could be.

  At the same time, Shawn calculated the measurements for the mounting brackets and drew up a schematic. Finished with the mounting bracket design, he looked over and became concerned with the distance between the rollers and the platform. Shawn thought that if an enclosure sat as low as the platform, it would be too large. To reduce the size, he asked the team to move it to eighteen inches from the rollers. After adjusting the platform, Chris made another attempt to feed the sheet. The reduced space made the task even more difficult. Shawn watched Chris struggle and had an idea. He removed a roller from the top of the ramp.

  Extending from each end of the roller was a rod that attached the roller to the frame. Shawn's idea was to build a feeder stand that would hold a roller. He rummaged through the pile of discarded items and found two pieces of wood that would work for his prototype. Shawn cut notches into the end of the wood then placed each end of the rod into the grooves. He called Barry over to hold the wood stands, and with his hand on the roller and a flick of the wrist, Shawn watched the roller spin freely between his makeshift holder. The only problem Shawn observed was the two stand pieces could move independently. An easy problem to solve, Shawn took another piece of wood and nailed it between the two stands.

  Shawn placed the prototype over Chris’s stomach, wrapped a sheet around the roller and set it into the notches, With some instructions from Phil on feeding the explosive strip, Chris was ready to try again. As the crate passed overhead, he pushed the sheet between a pair of rollers. Now that he wasn’t dealing with guiding a three-foot flat sheet the task became straightforward. By the time the crate reached the end of the ramp a wholly concealed sheet was underneath the box, creating their two-ply solution. After he saw the results, Shawn drew up the specifications for the feeder stand.

  Zach walked from the house, and said, “Its been three hours, where are we?”

  “Give me a fuckin’ hour, and I will have the instructions for building the enclosure and feeder stand completed,” Shawn said.

  “That works, the fabrication team said they need sixteen hours to build and deliver the enclosures to the Guayana airport.”

  Zach watched Chris practice feeding sheets time and again, with almost a ninety percent success rate. While that was a good number, Zach wanted closer to one hundred percent. There was no room for error. “Looking good Chris, but keep practicing, let’s see how close to a hundred percent you can get in the next eight hours.”

  “Will do,” Chris replied.

  Zach headed back into the house, he was in a somber mood and needed more time to process the rest of his conversation with Jake. The discussion on building the enclosures had only taken a few minutes, but he was on the phone with Jake for more than an hour. It seems Jake’s initial dismissal of the laser weapon’s recovery was not completely resolved. Based on information Jake had received from the team in China, he wanted to know if there was any chance Zach’s team could still try to retrieve the weapon. The exchange between the two men became quite heated at times and ended without resolution.

  Linda followed Zach inside, and said, “What’s wrong? I can tell by your body language something is bothering you.”

  “Just something I need to work out,” Zach said.

  “Well, I’m here for you if you want to talk about it.”

  Linda moved close to Zach and gave him a hug that was more than what two friends hugging would entail. Looking into his eyes, she gave him a long lingering kiss that spoke volumes. At first, Zach welcomed the affection, but then pushed Linda an arm’s length away and said, “I know what you wanted to tell me earlier. I have feelings for you too, but this isn’t the time or place.”

  Resigned to the reality of the situation Linda quietly said, “I know.”

  To suppress the feelings surging inside both of them, they agreed to start dinner for the rest of the team. They silently prepared a meal without uttering a word. When dinner was ready, Linda went outside and beckoned the men to join them inside. As the men piled around the table a sense of tension was the predominant atmosphe
re. While they ate, the discussion focused on Chris’s confidence level at feeding the sheets correctly. There were few concerns outside of this critical element that came up as a topic of conversation. The issue of the laser weapon was not even mentioned. Zach decided the team didn’t need the added distraction until this aspect of the mission was complete.

  With dinner winding down, Zach said, “Relax, get some sleep, do whatever, we head out in eight hours.”

  Chris was in no mood to relax and recruited some of the men to help him continue feeding sheets through the rollers. Once Chris had reached a ninety-eight percent success rate they all agreed being well rested was also essential and headed to their rooms.

  Chapter 20

  Venezuela

  In front of the Guayana airport, Phil and Linda hopped out of the SUV and headed straight for Alejo’s office. This time Linda wore a short black skirt and a sheer cream colored top tied at the waist. Beneath the top was a flesh colored bra that gave the illusion her breasts were exposed. Alejo stood in front of his desk and greeted the two. Linda saw he must get aroused easily based on the evidence before her. Alejo retreated behind his desk, made the necessary adjustment to his manhood and sat down.

  Phil opened his briefcase revealing four bundles of money worth a total of one hundred thousand dollars. As before, the only way to get Alejo’s attention, in the presence of a beautiful and provocatively dressed woman, was to show him the money. With a nod and a smile, Alejo opened his desk drawer and pulled out six airport credentials attached to lanyards. Phil pulled a large manila envelope from the briefcase, took the credentials and stuffed them inside. He handed the envelope to Linda, and said, “Be a dear,” he expected grief for that later, “and take care of these.”

  Alejo watched with disappointment as Linda got up and left the office. Outside the airport, Linda handed the envelope to Zach and said, “Good luck. I have to get back to being eye candy for Alejo.”

  “As enchanting as you look, I’m sure you are getting his undivided attention,” Zach said, in a feeble attempt at a compliment.

  As Linda walked back towards the airport entrance, she looked over her shoulder to respond jokingly, and said, “With all this,” she paused to brush the back of her hands down from her armpits to her waist, “you would think so, but it seems money is more enticing.”

  Once Linda had disappeared inside the doors, the two SUV’s drove off and pulled into an employee parking area where they used their newly acquired credentials. Barry and Ray each grabbed an oversized suitcase from the rear of the green SUV. The seven men headed for the hanger Alejo had arranged for the team to use. Inside the building, they found the four shipping containers that had arrived earlier that day and one of the roller systems. Shawn opened the first container and was delighted when he saw the skills of the fabrication group. Made precisely to his specifications, a roller system enclosure sat inside the box.

  The inside of the enclosure was a solid matte black, the outside looked like it had been exposed to tropical weather for at least ten years. Along the top edge, were four U-shaped mounting brackets on each side. While the enclosure wasn’t excessively heavy for six men, the length made it cumbersome to position the unit beneath the roller system. With Shawn overseeing the operation, the men lifted the enclosure and Shawn guided the mounting brackets onto the frame. Bolts were threaded through holes in the brackets, and within an hour the first system had an open top enclosure securely attached below the rollers.

  Justin and Clay pushed the system outside and parked it next to the other three roller systems. The two men maneuvered the second system inside the hanger, and the process of mounting an enclosure was repeated. The process was repeated again for the third roller system. When they were ready to install the final assembly, Shawn inspected the enclosure’s unique feature. This unit had a sliding panel that acted as the end cap. Inside was the feeder stand assembly. Shawn wanted to verify its functionality, so he stood the device on its legs and pressed a button on the support rod. The spring-loaded rod pushed the legs against the sides of the enclosure creating a stationary stand. Then when another button on the inside of the unit was pushed the top notched section tipped forward. Shawn took a black roller from the shipping container, slid it into the notches and pushed the assembly back into an upright position.

  Chris watched Shawn’s test with unwavering intensity, knowing, in the end, it all came down to him. Looking at the inside of the enclosure, which reminded him of a coffin, Chris became concerned with how confining the space appeared. He had practiced on a wooden platform that tested his ability to perform at a given depth from the rollers, but they had not put sides on his test platform. Apprehension took hold of Chris as he realized his arms had not experienced limited side to side movement. Before mounting the enclosure onto the roller system, Chris wanted to do his own tests.

  There were several things Chris wanted to verify while the enclosure was still on the floor. He positioned himself inside, his first test was to determine how difficult it would be to ensure the feeder stand was in exact alignment with the rollers. He was relieved to discover the design of the device made this an easy task. If he felt any gap at all between the wall of the enclosure and the stand’s leg he knew he was out of alignment. It only took a few attempts before Chris was comfortable with setting up the unit.

  The second test he conducted did nothing to relieve his anxiety. Trying to place a feeder roller in the notches proved to be a real challenge. What Chris discovered was his elbows had a tendency to move outward when he tried to install a roller. Banging his elbows into the walls of the enclosure created more noise than what he considered acceptable. With no way to know how close the soldiers would be, there was no way to determine if they would hear him.

  The clock was ticking as Chris tried over and over to silently and consistently place a roller into the feeder stand. An hour had passed before he was comfortable with setting up the device and installing the rollers. With three hours before the plane’s arrival, Chris’s apprehension had been alleviated by his successful results. That was until he attempted the final test, feeding a sheet within the confined space. Again his arms did not want to cooperate. Correctly feeding a sheet upwards required the same lateral motion in his arms as installing the roller on the feeder stand. Chris realized additional testing was meaningless without the enclosure installed on the roller system, he suggested it was time to mount his ‘coffin.’

  Another hour went by while they mounted the enclosure. Chris now had less than two hours for his final preparation. Before going any further, Chris felt it was time to assume an environment required for the mission. He changed into all black clothing, put on a black hood that had see-through material to hide his eyes, and skin-tight black gloves to conceal his hands. Shawn removed the end panel from the enclosure. As Chris looked inside, the reality of the confines of an eighteen inch deep and thirty-inch wide box maximized his disquiet. Zach sensed Chris’s unease, wanted to say something but refrained. He knew canned platitudes would not help the situation. In light of that, Zach pulled Shawn, Ray, and Barry aside to review their final preparations for the plane’s arrival.

  As the four men huddled to discuss their roles, Clay and Justin helped Chris get inside the enclosure. Once inside Chris was grateful he wasn’t claustrophobic. With his movement severely restricted, Chris struggled to make his way to the far end of the enclosure. He pulled his feet up under his knees, planted his feet and pushed off scooting his back across the bottom of his cocoon. Finally, at the designated location, Chris tried to get the stand in position. Every miscue was exaggerated inside the shell, and it took more effort than he expected, based on the mockup practice runs.

  With several successful trials at feeding a sheet through the rollers, he regained a certain amount of confidence in his ability to complete his assignment. The real question Chris was facing was whether to get out of the enclosure for now or just stay there and wait for the hour to pass. He decided to just stay in
place and played word games with Clay and Justin standing outside. What Clay and Justin could see when they looked through the rollers was blackness. All three men were elated with Chris’s apparent invisibility inside the enclosure. If Chris hadn’t been talking to them, they wouldn’t know Chris was there.

  Meanwhile, Zach, once again, reviewed the responsibilities of the rest of the team. Stationed on the roof, Ray was assigned the helicopter and Barry was assigned to cover the area immediately surrounding the roller system. Both men had a Barrett M82A1 sniper rifle, a large caliber weapon that produces maximum damage. If anything went wrong, Ray was to shoot the fuel tank on the helicopter. The resulting explosion should cause enough chaos to give the team an advantage. They knew, based on Rafael’s helicopter, there could be no more than six soldiers on board if they planned on hauling the weapons in the chopper. With Zach and Shawn roaming the area around the airplane pretending to appear as ground crew workers, they would have a jump on the remaining soldiers when the helicopter blew up. But, Zach reminded them, he didn’t expect a single shot needed to be fired.

  With just a half hour left before the plane’s arrival, Clay and Justin pushed the roller system out of the hanger and positioned it next to where the aircraft would park. As they were setting the brake to keep the unit from rolling away, the thumping of an approaching helicopter could be heard. Staring towards the origin of the sound they could see Rafael’s helicopter heading straight for them. Within minutes the chopper began to hover, then descend throwing dirt and loose papers flying in every which direction. A noticeable whining was heard indicating the pilot had shut down the rotors. Watching from the rooftop Ray radioed the others and said, “Four bad guys departed, setting up points at the corners of the bird.”