~ * ~ * ~ * ~
“How are we going to stand this forty foot tower upright Sam?” Bill asked looking down at the structure Sam had welded together.
“I poured a concrete pad in the ground as an anchor point. We put the first two bolts into the base and that will act as a pivot point. If we put a block and tackle in this tree and get a few men together we can pull it up to a standing position.”
“I see how you’re going to do it now. I can climb the tree with the pulley and you toss me the rope when I’m up there.”
“I think you’re high enough Bill. Here’s the rope, catch,” Sam said as he tossed up the end of the coiled rope. “Just feed it thru the pulley and come on back down.”
Bill dropped down from the tree and grabbed the rope with six other men. Together they pulled the tower into a standing upright position. Sam installed the last two bolts and the tower was secured.
“Now all we have to do is put the antennae on top of the tower,” Sam said looking up.
“Why the hell didn’t you do it while it was lying here on the ground?” Bill asked crossly.
“I didn’t want to take a chance of it snapping off when we pulled it thru the trees,” Sam explained. “It’s the only one we’ve got.”
“I did the climbing last time, it’s your turn now,” Bill explained to Sam. “I don’t want to take all of the fun away from you.”
“It’s easier for you to climb,” Sam grunted as he started his climb. “You’re built more like a monkey than I am.”
“Now how do you figure that out?” Bill asked, looking up at Sam as he made his way to the top of the forty foot tower.
“You’re small and compact like a monkey. I’m built more for operating at ground level.” Sam reached the top and started pulling up the antennae.
“Looks to me like you’re doing alright,” Bill said with a half a grin on his face. “There are all different sizes of monkeys. I’m built like a spider monkey you’re more like an overgrown baboon. That makes me sleek and fast and you big and clumsy.”
“There that should do it,” Sam said ignoring his friend’s jabs. “Go into the radio shack and check out the signal strength.”
Bill entered the shack and looked the gauges over. “We are up and operational Sam, come on down.”
Doc and Brian lay in the underbrush at the edge of the clearing waiting for total darkness to arrive. They’d brought along C4 plastic explosives, blasting caps and remote detonators for the job.
“We have enough C4 along to level the fort Brian, why so much?” Doc asked his friend while swatting at a mosquito.
“We have to do more than just knock the poles over. We need to make sure the phone and power lines are completely severed. It wouldn’t do to find out the poles were down but they could still communicate with the outside world.”
“You got that right; LT would have our asses if we had to scrub the mission because of a screw up like that.”
“Yeah, he wouldn’t be a happy man if that happened,” Brian agreed as he swatted at another mosquito.
“Is that why you brought the spikes and climbing belt along with us?” Doc asked.
“I want to attach the explosives as close to the power cables as possible. I want the cables to get the full power of the blast.”
“Have you ever climbed with spikes before?” Doc asked. “I used to watch guys working on the power lines when I was a kid and it didn’t look exactly easy to master.”
“This will be my first time. I don’t think climbing will be the problem. I think coming back down will be the hardest part.”
“Just don’t fall with all of that C4 on you. If you kill me there won’t be anyone to fix you up again,” Doc whispered his warning.
“Hell, If I fall with this C4 in my pack I’ll be at the heavenly gates waiting for your arrival,” Brian said as he started his climb.
Brian got close to the wires easier than he thought he would. Taking out a full block of C4 he ducted taped it to the pole and then stuck in the blasting cap. Next he taped the remote detonator to the block of C4 and connected the blasting cap to it. Brian started his climb down using the spikes clumsily. The further down he got the more comfortable he was using the spikes. Before long he was standing on the ground next to Doc.
“One down three to go,” Doc said slapping Brian on the back. “Are we going to have to baby sit these explosives tonight?”
“I don’t know, LT never said if we had to stick around and keep an eye on things tonight. You’d better give him a call and find out,” Brian said.
“Let’s wait until we’re done. I don’t want the light from my phone to be spotted by a sentry.”
“Alright, give me another block of C4,” Brian said, slinging his heavy leather climbing belt around the telephone pole.
In a couple of hours they were all done and back in the safety of the trees.
Doc finally felt they were safe enough to risk calling Rick on the satellite phone. “LT, this is Doc. Do we need to stay out here tonight and keep an eye on these explosives?”
“They haven’t been patrolling outside the fort so I think we’ll be alright for the night. Come on back in and get some sleep. Just make sure your in position at day break for when the fireworks start.”
“One more thing LT. We already have it figured out they can’t get reception on cell phones because of how remote the area is. But what’s to keep them from having a satellite phone like we do?”
“We have them out of need. It’s the only way we can communicate. They on the other hand have the radio and land lines to use to communicate with the outside world. I don’t think they’ll feel they have a need for one.”
Doc looked at the luminous dial of his watch. “I think we’re going to sack out by the radio shack LT. By the time we hike nine clicks to camp and another nine clicks back we won’t have more than a couple of hours to sleep.”
“Alright, just make sure you’re up and on station by daylight. I’d hate for you to sleep thru El Diablo’s special wake up call.”