A few seconds later Mark confirmed his was ready.
“Turn on your helmet cams.”
The two men flipped on the cameras and lights cut through the darkness.
“Turn right. Good. Turn left. Down. Up. Good. Everything is working as it should. Jones, take hold of the manipulator arm controls. I’ll give you a series of commands, just follow along,” Buck said over the earpiece.
“Ready to rock-n-roll,” Jones replied.
“Lower the arm and extend it all the way. Okay. When the gondola is over the hole you will be able to extend it approximately six feet. Now raise it. Extend. Good. See what I mean?”
“Yeah, we did this already.”
“You bet and we are doing it again. I’m going to haul the gondola up off the floor and attach it to the guideline.”
A few seconds later the gondola was suspended in mid-air, rocking slightly. Buck was busy checking hydraulic pressures, temperature gauges and checking bearings. He lowered the gondola back down to the floor of the mine.
“Okay, now, exit.”
The two men went about removing the safety harnesses. They had to help each other disconnect the re-breathers. It was simply too difficult to disengage the fittings in the cramped space.
A few seconds later the two men stepped out.
“Okay, not bad. I’ll run through all the equipment and check the hydraulic fluid levels and we should be good to go.”
“How long?” Jones asked.
“An hour at most.”
“I’ll be ready,” Jones said and went and climbed in the truck and closed his eyes.
“Need a hand?” Mark asked.
“Well, it would go a little faster. Sure.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
“Wow, It’s bigger than I imagined it would be,” Frank said as they lay on the knoll overlooking the containment facility.
“Yeah, see those buildings over there. They used to be hangers for repairing airplanes. Now they take the men to that one,” she said pointing, “And women to that one.”
“So they are separated. Even if they are from the same family?”
“Absolutely. If they have kids they go with the mother. I guess they keep them together but I don’t know that for a fact,” Jane told them.
“So the trucks come in at that gate. Once they are inside they are taken out of the truck and then what?” Jimmy whispered.
“Guards surround them. They are divided into men, women and kids and taken to the buildings.”
“Then what happens?”
“I don’t really know. I assume they do some kind of testing and then determine if they have to stay or get released.”
“So what happens to the ones that have to stay?” Jimmy asked.
“From what I can tell. They stay in the hangers until they start to deteriorate too far. Then they are taken to that large building over there,” she said indicating a large white building in the center of the complex.
“Can you get some pictures that show the camp along with the razor wire? I need to prove the place is totally locked down.”
“Yeah, I can get it. You want the sign in the frame too? I can just get it in. This camera can take panorama shots.”
“Totally cool. Yeah, get as much as you possibly...crap, get down. Get down. I see a patrolman looking up this way,” she said pulling Frank down.
They watched, hardly breathing. The man stood there a long time before he finally turned and headed back the way he came.
“Let’s wait a few minutes longer,” Jimmy said, taking a deep breath.
“You can count on it,” Frank replied.
They lay there for a good ten minutes before Jane finally looked back down on the facility. Everything looked normal.
“I think it’s good,” she said, “Get your pictures and let’s get the heck out of here.”
“I am all for that,” Jimmy said.
Frank got up on his knees and started panning the camera to get the full facility. He stopped suddenly and dropped back down.
“Oh God. Oh, Oh,” he stammered.
“What?” Jimmy and Jane said in unison.
“They are coming. Three of those big Hummers are headed right for us,” he said and bound up and took off running toward the car.
“Oh crap,” Frank said and ran after him.
Jimmy was a good forty yards in front of him as they ran. Jane pushed deeper into the weeds and slid a few feet down the berm. She could hear the Hummers racing toward their position. Two broke off and headed for the two running men. The third one slowed down and crept past where she lay. She buried her face as far in the earth as she could. She could smell the ground and grass as she lay there.
“Any more?” someone suddenly yelled nearby.
She could hear someone yell something back but she couldn’t make out what they were saying.
“Hold them, I’ll be right there,” the voice said.
She could hear the Hummer as it roared off across the field. She didn’t move. They could have left someone behind waiting for her to give up her position. Off in the distance she could hear voices and suddenly two gunshots rang out. She wanted to raise her head but she forced herself to stay still.
She wasn’t sure how long she lay like that. It seemed like hours. The sun was starting to set and still she didn’t move. She had to go to the bathroom and was considering how she could pull it off when she heard someone cough. She was right; they had left someone to wait for her to move. All she could do was lay there and pee in her pants.
She was getting colder as she lay there. The wetness that had been warm earlier was now making her cold as well.
She must have drifted off because suddenly she heard someone say, “Well this is stupid. No one else is here. How much longer do they want us to wait?”
“I don’t know jackass. Why don’t you call the captain and ask him?” another voice said.
“This is stupid,” the guy repeated but the other man didn’t say anything.
It was an hour later when she heard a Hummer coming her way. The headlights played over the berm and then it was dark again.
“Come on dorks,” someone said, “The captain said we could call it a night.”
She heard the doors shut then listened as it drove off. It seemed even colder now and she finally decided to peek over the rise and see if they had left someone to try to catch her. She stared into the darkness and finally decided she was going to risk it. She was stiff as she got up and crawled over the top of the hill.
She slowly got to her knees and finally stood up stooped over. She started across the field. She was sure someone would sound the alarm but as she got to the trees on the other side of the field she stood up and leaned against one of the trees, trembling.
Jimmy. Frank. Did they shoot them? Are they dead? What had she done?
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
The gondola was sitting over the hole while Buck went through the checklist one last time. He fiddled with a gauge a few moments and then, satisfied, he pressed the intercom button.
“Everything looks good, All ready?”
“Let’s do it,” Jones said.
“Ready Buck,” Mark replied.
He glanced over at Randal who gave him a thumbs-up. Buck turned the dial and the gondola began its descent. In mere moments it was no longer visible.
“Doing okay?”
“Smooth as glass,” Jones replied.
“I’m going to increase the descent speed a little. They could see the walls of the shaft sliding by illuminated by their helmets headlights.
“Not as bad as I imagined,” Mark said.
“Piece of cake,” Jones said.
He tried laying his head back to see the top of shaft but it was to no avail.
“You're about half way,” Buck said in their earpiece.
“Copy that. We’re showing 13,200 feet,” Mark acknowledged.
“I’ll keep it at this speed until you are two hundred feet from the bottom
then I’ll slow you down again.”
“Copy that Buck,” Mark replied.
“It’s gone pretty fast,” Jones said.
“Yeah, you kind of lose perspective when you don’t have a fixed reference point,” Mark said.
“Okay, once we get down, we unstrap and check our hoses one more time, then we move out,” Jones said.
“Yep, that’s the plan.”
They waited, not saying anything as they sped closer and closer to the bottom.
“Bill, Mark. I’m going to slow you down some,” Buck told them and they could feel it slowing but it was gradual.
“Two hundred feet. Look down through the floor glass and see if you can make out the BARD.
Both men leaned as far forward as their harnesses allowed trying to see through the porthole in the bottom of the gondola.
“Is that it?” Jones asked.
“Wow. I think that may be what’s left of it. Those are some pretty big chunks of metal. That must be it. Buck, we can some kind of wreckage. It’s washed out with the bright lights but I looks like it may have been yellow.”
“That’s it. I want pictures. Not much left huh?”
“Some big pieces of metal sticking up, nothing really discernible,” Mark radioed back.
“Okay, keep a sharp look out I’m going to start your slowdown. The exact depth is unknown because of those metal pieces. I don’t want you to smash into them.”
“I vote for that,” Mark said.
Buck lowered them a little at a time until they were hanging just a few inches above the massive steel protrusion sticking up. A light mist was hovering someplace just below and they couldn’t really see the bottom of the pit.
“Well, we have a dilemma. We can’t go any lower and the bottom of the pit is still someplace below us,” Mark told Buck.
“No way for the gondola to squeeze by?”
“Not possible,” Jones said.
“Any chance you can climb down the BARD? I know it’s not ideal and if you feel it is too risky, I’ll haul you up and we will go about it a different way. At least we know what we’re up against now.”
“I’m pretty sure I can make it down. There are all kinds of hand holds that I can get a purchase on,” Jones replied.
“Mark?”
“I guess. It is kind of leaning to one side and Bill is right, it does have a lot of external pipes and paraphernalia. The big question is what is under the layer of mist?”
“I say we go find out,” Jones put in.
“Mark. It’s your call.”
“I guess we can try. If it looks too dangerous I’ll call it off and we can regroup.”
“Alright boys but don’t take any big risks. It isn’t worth it. I can figure out a new design now that you have seen firsthand what we’re up against.
“Roger that,” Mark said.
**
Jane looked around, trying to figure out where they had left the van. She stopped suddenly and listened. Hummers. She peeked out from behind the trees and saw three Hummers racing toward where she had come from. Suddenly it dawned on her. Her foot prints were visible from the dew on the grass. She could see exactly where she had run from to the tree line.
She spun around, frantically trying to decide which way to go. Without thinking she started running through the sparse trees, trying to get to where it was denser. Branches scraped at her arms and legs as ran.
She suddenly went down hard. She had tripped over a half buried log. She scrambled to her feet and took off running again. She could feel the branches stinging her face as he blindly ran, trying to put distance between her and the pursuers.
She stopped. Dogs. She could hear them barking. Oh God, they were going to let the dogs track her down. She changed directions slightly and took off running as fast as she could. She stepped in a small creek and started running along in the water. She was hoping the water would throw them off but the barking seemed to be growing steadily louder.
She could hear shouting voices further away but her real concern was the dogs. They may tear her to shreds before the handlers could stop them. She stumbled and fell face first in the creek but jumped up and kept going. Her lungs felt like they were on fire and she could feel the lactic acid building up in her legs. She wouldn’t be able to go much longer.
Almost as a miracle she burst into a clearing and stopped dead in her tracks. It was the van. She ran to the door and yanked on it. It was locked. The dogs were getting closer she knew she didn’t have much time. She remembered the spare key under the front fender. She hadn’t checked to see if it was still there for years.
Frantically she reached under the fender and ran her hands along the inside of the fender well. She found the metal box and pulled it free. It was rusted and she had to push with all her remaining strength to get the top to slide enough for her to get the key out.
The dogs were breaking into the clearing as she shoved the key in the door. She unlocked it and jumped in the van slamming the door just as one of the dogs jumped for the window. His nose hit the window leaving a slimy streak. Three dogs were jumping and trying to get in the van.
She didn’t have time to worry about anything except getting out of there. She stuck the key in the ignition and looked out the window. The three dogs had stopped and were trotting back to the trees. She let out a big sigh. They must have given up. She turned the ignition key.
The explosion could be heard as it ripped through the clearing and down into the valley below. The van was nothing more than a fireball of twisted metal.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
“Okay, we’re opening the door. Bill is going to go first and I have hold of his lifeline in case the BARD isn’t stable.”
“Be very careful,” he could hear Buck say.
Jones carefully made his way down and put his foot on the broken wreck. He put his other foot down and bounced up and down.
“It’s good. I think it’s wedged in here,” he said.
“Okay, I’m coming down,” Mark said and emulated the way Bill had gone down.
“Feels pretty solid, what do you think?” Mark asked.
“Seem good to me. I’ll go first. Just follow where I go.”
“Got it.”
“Okay, here we go,” Jones said and started backing down the side of the machine.
There were pipes and pieces of metal along the side and he had no trouble finding a hand or foot hold. Mark followed along, staying to the same spots he had seen Jones use.
“I’m at the top of the mist layer,” Jones informed him.
“Can you see anything below?”
“No way. I’m going to start down.”
“Slow and easy. There could be a sharp object that could snag your suit,” Mark warned.
“I’ll be slow and easy,” Jones said and started making his way down.
Mark watched as his body slowly disappeared beneath the layer of mist. It looked like he had simply vanished.
“You okay?” Mark asked.
“Man, it’s really thick. It’s kind of hard to see but if I wave my hand I can get a glimpse of my feet.”
“Maybe we should hold up and try a different way,” Mark suggested.
“No, it’s okay, just that one spot is tricky. It’s getting lighter. I can make out shapes and things now. Come one down. I’ll guide you,” Jones said.
Mark was hesitant but decided he had come this far, stopping now would be unproductive. Besides it would make him look bad. He took a deep breath and started down. Once the mist closed over him he almost panicked.
“Looking good,” he heard Jones say.
He relaxed and kept going. He felt Jones place his hand on his leg.
“Got ya. You’re almost there,” Jones said.
“Thanks,” Mark said as he was ready to take his last step. Suddenly his leg was yanked back and he fell forward, his face shield bouncing off the side of the BARD.
Jones shoved him off balance and he fell hard to the floor.
Instinctively Mark swatted his hand away and lashed out with his foot. It caught Jones in the knee and caused him to lose his footing. He crashed to the floor trying to claw his way to Mark.
“Stop. What the hell. Are you crazy,” Mark screamed.
He could hear Buck yelling in his ear but he didn’t have time to answer. Jones had produced a knife from someplace and was crouched down ready to leap. Mark knew he couldn’t fight a man with a knife. All he had to do was slice his suit and he was as good as dead. He backed up and tried to slide around the side of the BARD but there wasn’t enough room.”
“Why are you doing this? What’s the point? No matter if you do kill me, you will never get out of here alive. Buck will never raise the gondola.”
“I’m dying anyway,” he finally said, “I’ve only got a few weeks to live. If I have to die I might as well do it for my country,” Jones said, swaying back-and-forth.
“Dying? How do you know? Did you have a doctor check you out? Is this just what they told you?”
He could see Jones frown through his faceplate.
“You didn’t, did you? You took their word for it. What did they tell you that you had? What kind of symptoms?” Mark pushed.
“I don’t know. Some big long name. It gets in your body all over and screws with your inner-ear. People die of it all the time.”
“And you just believed them. They wanted you to go down in this shaft, kill me and what? Just sit here and die? Wow, that’s some plan.”
“Not exactly," he said reaching into another hidden pocket and pulling out a small device.
“What the hell is it?”
“Semtex. Just this much will blow this place to hell and back. The blast will reverberate off the walls and collapse a big part of the shaft.”
“I see. So this master plan is to blow yourself up? Kind of like the Islamic fanatics? Strap a bomb on and just blow yourself to little pieces of goo. That is some plan. Well it’s a good thing you had yourself checked out. Oh, by the way, it sounds like they told you that you have Pneumococcal Disease.”
CHIMERA Page 15