by Gary Barnes
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CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Crash Site
At the impact crater where the alien space craft had crashed, fifty men and several service vehicles surrounded the hole in the cave roof. Extension ladders protruded from the opening. Small groups of men, each wearing hard hats and work clothes, gathered around the ladders awaiting their turn to descend into the darkness below. A crane truck from the lumber yard off-loaded ATV's and utility trailers from a half dozen flatbed trucks and lowered them through the cave opening. Additionally, hundreds of 55-gallon drums of the ANFO fertilizer/diesel explosive mixture and pallets containing the buckets of the homemade napalm were similarly lowered to the cave.
Inside the tunnel leading from the crater, workers positioned drums of the explosives using electric forklifts and placed them at one-hundred-foot intervals along the bank of the underground river. The line of explosives stretched from the impact crater all along the one-mile tunnel to Blue Spring. Interspersed between the barrels on the riverbank were other barrels of explosives that were secured underwater in the deep river that flowed through the tunnel. Kegs or boxes of nails were strapped to the barrels with duct tape and bailing wire. A blasting cap detonator was attached to each drum, creating an array of concussion and shrapnel bombs.
Another ATV drove down the cave tunnel paying out a wiring harness. A team of quarry workers connected the wiring harness to the blasting caps so that all the barrels could be detonated simultaneously. As each blasting cap was connected it was tested with low voltage to insure a proper connection to the master wiring harness. Each grouping of ten barrels was wired to a different circuit. That way, each circuit was independent of the others. Failure of one circuit would not prevent the others from being detonated.
Two other ATV’s shuttled down the tunnel hauling 5-gallon buckets of the homemade napalm. When they stopped, a team of eight men grabbed the buckets, one at a time, like an old-fashioned bucket brigade, and handed them down the line, man after man. The last man poured a thick stream of the gooey, inflammable material along the seam where the cave wall and floor met.
Though the men were meticulously careful in attending to the specific jobs they had been assigned, they tried not to think too much about the overall picture of what they were doing. They were building two independent bombs that overlapped each other; one was highly explosive and the other was extremely incendiary. Each bomb was over a mile in length and thirty-to-sixty feet wide, containing enough material to destroy their entire town many times over. The men were working inside the bombs. One false move and the entire cave could explode. The drivers of the ATV’s were careful to keep their vehicles close to the riverbank so that there was no danger of muffler sparks igniting the napalm along the cave wall.
In addition to the bomb builders, another group of men erected supports for loud speakers, both along the riverbank and underwater. They payed out spools of speaker wire to connect each speaker to a master control panel located in the Blue Spring nesting chamber.
*
A mile away, at Blue Spring, several teams had assembled around the perimeter of the spring’s lagoon. One team stretched a fine mesh nylon webbing across the outlet river to serve as a strainer net. Though the water in the spring branch was only a few feet deep, they took great care to ensure that the webbing hugged the floor of the riverbed by burying the bottom edge of the mesh in the gravel and then securing it with large rocks spaced every few feet. They did not want anything to escape under, or around the webbing. Above the strainer net they stretched metal chain-link fencing. Two high voltage, welder’s electric generators were connected in parallel circuitry to the chain-link fencing, creating an electrified net that would spell instant death to anything that touched it.
Members of the Volunteer Fire Department fastened lengths of half-inch rubber tubing to couplers connected to 5-gallon barbecue propane tanks. The other end of the tubing was connected by way of several step-down adapters to two-foot lengths of three-inch diameter metal pipe. Near the connection point they installed a pinch valve for a trigger. A pilot light was fashioned at the other end.
One of the firemen grasped a completely assembled unit and held it in both hands like he would a fire hose. “Okay, let's see how good this thing works,” he said as he aimed the metal pipe out over the spring and squeezed the pinch valve. Immediately a twenty-foot flame jumped from the end of the pipe’s nozzle. “Woah! Now that's what I call an alien barbequer.”
“You got that right!” exclaimed another fireman.
The Sheriff's office was setting up a communications command post fifty feet from the edge of the spring. All the communications and detonation control panels built by the high school Radio Club, as well as the communications equipment from the Sheriff’s Department and the Search and Rescue teams were routed through the Sheriff’s spring-side command post. This gave the Sheriff both audio and visual communications. The president of the Radio Club was determining and assigning communications frequencies for each of the teams that would be working inside the cave.
Additionally, the wiring for all detonation equipment was being routed to the Sheriff’s command center. He alone would have detonation authority and direct access to the detonation controls.
Larry and Tina backed a trailer into the spring and off-loaded the two scuba planes. Welton assisted in loading sound equipment, wiring harnesses, underwater speakers and canisters of pheromones onto one of the scuba planes. Tina had successfully synthesized the alien’s pheromone and had prepared a large quantity of it to congregate the creatures where they wanted them.
Search and Rescue personnel began loading the homemade explosives and incendiaries onto the other scuba plane.
One of the Search and Rescue deputies picked up an automatic shotgun and sealed it in a plastic bag before loading it onto the scuba plane. “Fully automatic twelve gauge shotgun with a forty round barrel type magazine loaded with rounds alternating between "000" shot and slugs.”
“That should stop a rhino!” observed his companion.
“My point exactly! I just hope I get to bag me an alien with one of these babies.”
When all of the equipment was loaded, Larry, Tina and the Search and Rescue divers entered the spring, submerged and steered the scuba planes toward the underwater cave opening.
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CHAPTER FIFTY
Time Bomb
Clayton had been up working all night for the second night in a row, sequestered in his portable lab parked at the Alley Springs Camp Ground. His appearance was disheveled, his hair was mussed up and his eyes were extremely bloodshot. Mass producing the mutated Chytrid organism had become an obsession for Clayton, driving him throughout the night - ironically grateful that he had not been successful in his previous attempts to kill the fungus.
He poured the contents of hundreds of Petri dishes and glass jars into a red 5-gallon plastic bucket. The fungus he had cultured in those dishes was the secret that insured their ultimate victory over the ravenous aliens rampaging through the town, in case the rest of his plan should fail.
“Pollution!” he muttered. “Who would’ve ever thought . . .”
The vivid image of the slaughter of Major Reid and his detachment was burned deep into Clayton’s mind, though it only added to the other images that haunted him. The ghastly memories of Ellie Jo and the others made him sick. He would do anything to prevent that horror from happening anywhere else. I of all people, he thought, I should have realized the viciousness of these aliens and the danger they posed. Unfoundedly, he blamed himself for the loss of so many lives. His feelings of guilt were a relentless taskmaster as he slaved through the night.
As he worked, Clayton mumbled sarcastically. “I came to the Ozarks to save our planet from the logging industry's pollution. Now their pollution is the key to saving the world from man-eating alien monsters.” He shook his head in disbelief and then released a deep sigh. “And the only way I can stop them is by deliberately proliferatin
g the results of their pollution. Now that's poetic justice for you!”
He placed a lid on the plastic bucket and pounded it on tight with the heel of his hand. Grasping it by the wire handle he headed for the Hummer. “I just hope I’m not too late.”
*
In the Blue Spring nesting chamber Larry and the other Search and Rescue divers surfaced in the subterranean lagoon. They cautiously searched the interior of the cavern with powerful handheld searchlights before nudging the scuba planes to the shore and climbing out of the water.
They began unloading their equipment onto the dry riverbank of the cavern. There was a lot of equipment to transport. Larry, Tina and most of the Search and Rescue team members started unpacking and setting up the equipment already delivered. Two of the team members returned with the scuba planes to the vehicles at the edge of the spring to reload. They made several trips before all of the equipment had been successfully transported.
On their last trip they pulled a long power cable from the Sheriff’s command center through the water and into the subterranean nesting chamber. Connected to a 25-kilowatt generator located near the supply vehicles, the cable would supply sufficient current to power all of the equipment inside of the cave.
With the arrival of the final pieces of equipment Larry began directing the placement of loudspeakers throughout that section of the cave, as well as the placement of underwater speakers along the bank of the subterranean river.
One of the Search and Rescue team members timidly approached Larry seeking reassurance. “Are you sure that there won’t be any aliens around here?”
“No, not entirely. But it’s a gamble we’ve got to take. Tina and I released some of the pheromone into the water in the Great Cavern Room at Meramec Caverns about one o’clock this morning. We think it should attract most of the aliens and keep them there for several hours. But nothing works perfectly. There could possibly be a few aliens that either aren’t attracted by the pheromone, don’t smell it, or for other reasons simply choose to ignore it. That’s why we’ve still got to be extremely vigilant while we work,” Larry explained.
“So how much time will that give us?”
“It’s hard to say. We figured the pheromone would continue to be dispensed for about four hours. Then it would linger in the water for a few more hours before it completely dissipates.” Larry glanced at his wrist watch. “By now its effects should be gone and the aliens should be leaving that area. When we release the pheromone here it will probably take a couple of hours to attract them to our trap. So we should be fairly safe while we work.”
Fifty feet away, Tina was inspecting the canisters she had transported. Satisfied that everything was in proper working condition, she hastily completed the preparations for releasing the synthesized pheromone into the Blue Spring nesting cavern.
For water disbursal she had prepared a concentrated liquid version. A half-gallon container of the concentrate was placed by the edge of the lagoon. Protruding from a hole punctured in the lid was a small, quarter-inch-in-diameter plastic tube which ran to a battery-powered pump Tina had gotten from the paramedics. The pump was normally used to administer small quantities of medication to I.V. patients by pumping extremely minute quantities into their I.V.’s. at predetermined time intervals. A computer chip imbedded into its circuitry allowed the pump to self-activate every fifteen seconds, forcing just six drops of the pheromone to drip into the underground river from the tip of the tube dangling above it.
A little farther downstream she and two of the team members erected a four-foot-in-diameter electric fan. Tina had borrowed that from the high school’s football department. They used it to blow misted air onto the players along the sidelines. It kept them cool when playing early season games when summer temperatures were still high.
In front of the large fan she placed an aerosol canister of pheromone. It had been equipped with a battery-powered plunger that would spray a short spurt every fifteen seconds as well. She then positioned the fan so that it would blow the airborne pheromone down into the long tunnel.
Search and Rescue personnel poured napalm from the pour spouts of 5-gallon plastic buckets onto the egg clusters that completely covered the numerous cows, horses, dogs and other animals that the aliens had brought into the cavern. Each egg cluster was thoroughly saturating with the flammable jelly. They then poured connecting trails of napalm from cluster to cluster. Finally, they ran the wiring harness to each cluster and connected it to the Nichrome wire detonators that had been inserted into the clusters. Once connected to the master control box receiver near the edge of the lagoon, the Nichrome detonators were tested with low voltage to ensure a proper connection.
Other team members positioned drums of the ANFO explosives with nail kegs strapped to them and inserted blasting caps. Wire was run from each drum to the same master control box receiver near the riverbank to which the Nichrome detonators had been attached. Motion sensors and remote video cameras were also set up to broadcast the alien’s arrival to the Sheriff's command center beside Blue Spring.
*
At the portable communications and command center Sheriff Akers stared at the control panel which was covered with multiple lights and switches. He was discussing them with the console operator. Three television monitors showed the interior of the cave. A fourth monitor showed the exterior of the impact crater. The operator explained the console’s functions.
“Each of the green lights in this bank represents the electrical circuit for ten barrels of explosives. When the green light is lit it means that the circuit has been properly connected and ready for arming. Above each green light is an orange light that glows only when that circuit is armed and ready for detonation.” The operator ran his finger across the bank of orange lights. “As you can see, all of the circuits have now been successfully installed, tested and are armed awaiting your command.” He then pointed to two master control switches that were locked in the “safety” position by double keys. “This switch detonates the napalm and this one detonates the ANFO,” explained the operator. “They send a radio signal to the master control receiver inside the cave, which in turn activates the detonation circuits.”
“It appears that everything’s ready. Hand me the mic,” said the Sheriff.
The operator handed the radio’s microphone to the Sheriff.
“This is Frogamander Nest Command. Come in Salamog-1 and Salamog-2, report your status,” barked the Sheriff into the microphone.
The Sheriff’s radio cracked in response. “This is Salamog-1,” reported the captain of Search and Rescue Team 1, located at the original crash site. “All clear and standing by - Over.”
“This is Salamog-2,” replied the captain of the second team from inside the Blue Spring Nesting Chamber. “Our preparations are complete. We await your command - Over.”
“All stations have reported status as armed and ready,” the Sheriff spoke into the mic. “Commence operation Whale Songs, Frogamander Nest Command, out.”
*
In the Blue Spring nesting chamber Larry pressed the play button on his portable MP-3 player and instantly whale songs resonated throughout the mile-long section of cave, extending from the Blue Spring Nesting Chamber to the Impact Crater.
Simultaneously, Tina, who was standing at Larry’s side, pressed the button releasing the pheromone into the water and threw the switch, turning on the blower fan which dissipated the aerosol version down the tunnel. “Do you really think this will work?” she asked.
“I shudder to think about the consequences if it doesn't,” answered Larry.
“How long do you think we'll have before they start arriving?”
“Probably at least an hour or two. But something's bothering me,” Larry confessed.
“What's that?”
“After seeing the hoards of aliens that attacked the military yesterday, this nesting chamber just isn't large enough to account for all of them. And there certainly aren’t enough cows and horses in he
re to account for the number that have been reported as missing. There's got to be another, larger nesting chamber somewhere.”
“Then let’s hope the other team finds it.”
*
Their placement tasks completed, two of the Search and Rescue team members, along with Tina and Larry, began suiting up for the swim out. Three other members of the team arrived from the tunnel and began preparing to exit as well. The balance of the team members would be arriving shortly as they completed the evacuation process. They all knew only too well the dangers of remaining in the cave any longer than necessary. Once out of the cavern and safely on the shore by the Sheriff’s command post they would begin the tedious game of waiting.
Then, from deep in the tunnel, the distinctive blast of a 12-gauge shotgun was heard. The Captain of the Search and Rescue Team-2 yelled into his radio, “Miller, report!” But the radio remained silent. “Miller, report!” Silence was the only report the Captain received.
After a few seconds more shotgun blasts were heard from deep in the cave, then the cavern again lapsed into silence.
The Captain addressed one of the deputies standing beside him, “Honneycut, take two men and check out that tunnel!”
“You two, let's go,” said Honneycut as he pointed to two men standing nearby.
“And keep your eyes open!” barked the Captain.
“That's got to be a rogue,” Larry said to Tina. “There hasn’t been enough time for the pheromone to attract the aliens from Meramec Caverns yet.”
With concern for their safety the Search and Rescue captain turned to Larry and Tina, “You two had better head for the command center.”
“You don't need to tell me twice,” Tina replied.
Tina and Larry donned their scuba gear and started for the water's edge. Just then four adult aliens surfaced near the lagoon’s edge and started climbing out. Tina gasped. As the creatures climbed onto the riverbank they trampled and destroyed the video communications equipment. They also trampled the detonation wire, ripping the connections out of the control box.