The Rainmakers, ch 12
Down the Rabbit Hole

Gantner had a solemn look on his face as he handed MacGyver a two-way radio and watched as the man clipped it to his belt. "It's not too late," he insisted, braving a withering glare from Burke to add, "you don't have to go down there. We'd all understand if you changed your mind—"

MacGyver clapped him on the shoulder, and then applied gentle pressure to encourage Gantner forward so that they could follow their guides. "I've come all this way, Gant… the least I can do is take a closer look at things before I consider backing out."

"You don't fool me, Mac," Gantner said dryly. "You have taken a closer look… and you have no intention of backing out."

MacGyver chuckled. "I've got no intention of dying down there, either." Mac hoped that his voice carried well, and that his friend Pete could hear him clearly. "I've been in tighter spots, and we can't give up on those people down there. Not without digging a little deeper."

Gantner permitted MacGyver to steer him, wanting to accompany MacGyver for as long— and for as far— as he could. "Someone should go with you. I could …"

MacGyver made a curt gesture that cut him off. "No way, Gant. I need you up here. Besides, you know I do my best work alone."

"What can I do up here… besides worry and pace?" the little man grumbled.

"You can stay on that radio," Mac pointed to the spare unit in Gantner's hand. "I need someone up here to make sure nobody forgets that I'm down there!" Mac added in a confidential tone, "We've got a private scientific facility and a government concern working here… you've got to make sure nobody red-tapes me to death!"

"Of course, Mac… of course… but are you sure…"

"Absolutely." MacGyver's tone was confident and final.

"Here it is." Pete had stopped. He pressed a panel on the wall and a concealed door popped open nearby to reveal a small digital keypad and a release handle. MacGyver and Gantner watched as he punched in a code. "This is the access to the wiring duct. There's only one passage and it leads to the grate in the elevator shaft." Pete turned to regard MacGyver. "I don't need to remind you that if you should gain access to the shaft, you'll still have to deal with the car. It is stuck somewhere around the Second level, but if someone somehow manages to get inside it and get it going… "

"Don't worry, Colsen," MacGyver said wryly, shrugging out of his jacket. "This isn't my first barbeque."

"Right." Pete sighed. He thrust out a hand towards MacGyver. "I still think you're crazy, mister… but I wish you luck. We'll all be up here looking after you—"

Mac took his hand. Words were unnecessary. They had both been in situations like this before, and both knew by heart the words that could not now be spoken.

MacGyver handed over his jacket. "Hang this up in your office for me, will ya, Colsen? It's my favorite jacket. Don't want to get it scuffed up down there."

"Try not to get yourself scuffed up, either," Pete said tartly, screening the worry from his voice. Then he nodded to the engineer who had accompanied them; he grasped the release handle and gave it a hard turn. Gantner jumped back as a section of flooring he was standing near began to open upward like a metal lotus in bloom.

Inside there was a dogged hatch, such as one might see on a submarine. The engineer knelt and spun the wheel to unlock the hatch. He lifted the heavy thing easily, revealing a short drop to the top of a metal stair.

With a wink at his friends MacGyver hopped down through the hole, landing nimbly on the top of the ladder. Pete and Gantner both leaned out over the opening.

"MacGyver." Mac was already climbing down, but he paused and looked up as Pete spoke. "That mike is voice-activated. All you gotta do is talk. We'll be listening."

"Okey-doke." Mac shifted the microphone closer to his face. He glanced upward once more and saw the faces of two friends framed by the open hatch. They both wore expressions of concern, but Pete had a twinkle in his eyes that conveyed to MacGyver that he also had confidence in him.

The sight of them made MacGyver grin again. To worried Gantner he called up in a jaunty voice. "Ed… relax! Big date on Sunday! You're playing ball with my little brother!"

Mac's Voice-over:
And I was off and running! Well…crawling anyway. This tunnel reminded me of the movie I caught on 'The Late, Late Show' last night. 'The Great Escape' is one of the best movies ever made, in my humble opinion. Hopefully, I'm going to find a way to make my own 'great escape' from this place. And I pray it isn't going to be necessary for me to dig my way out.

No matter what Burke said, I still wasn't convinced that this explosion was an accident. I suppose Pete's presence kind of confirmed that feeling. I didn't have any evidence to indicate who might have been responsible… and if Pete knew, he probably would have found a way to let me know, too.

I would have given a lot for five minutes' private talk with him, but I knew that was impossible. If the person who orchestrated this disaster got wind of who Andy Colsen really was, it would likely cost us both our lives… and Steubens and Marlow and the other people trapped down here would die for sure.

The tunnel wasn't very long, and it appeared undamaged. A running dialogue was SOP in a situation like this. For the benefit of my guardian angels listening on the two-way radio, I whistled a tune so they'd know I was alive and kicking.

◘

In the computer control room, three men stood in the midst of the organized chaos, listening intently to MacGyver's progress. When the sound of whistling came out over the loudspeaker, one of them closed his eyes as if in regret or pain.

Gantner noticed the expression on Andy Colsen's face, but he assumed that it was because the Director of Operations did not believe that MacGyver could succeed in this dangerous undertaking. He glanced away, working hard to conceal his own despair.

Burke covered the microphone in his headset and asked, "What is that? Are we getting some kind of interference?"

Gantner shook his head. "It's called 'Cowboy's Lament'. It's from an old cowboy movie that Mac made me watch once."

Pete had seen that movie, too— 'Streets of Laredo'. MacGyver was a nut for old black and white shoot-'em-ups, and he often invited Pete over to his apartment to watch them.

MacGyver stopped whistling; he'd reached the grate. Pete shoved his fears into the back of his mind and focused on the job—people were counting on him.

MacGyver's voice came through the speakers clearly. "Well, I've reached the grate. Can't see any damage so far." The men listened closely to the sounds of MacGyver's movements, then suddenly Burke and Gantner recoiled at the noise that suddenly assaulted their ears; a rending and crash of metal followed by a series of sharp crackling explosions.

"What was that?" Pete asked. His steady voice calmed his nervous companions.

"Yeah. Well, there's nothin' wrong with your lasers," MacGyver announced.

Andy Colsen would be condescending, Pete thought. I can do that. "I told you, you couldn't get through."

MacGyver was not discouraged. "We-ell—then maybe it's time for a smoke." There came a rustle of paper and foil, and then they heard MacGyver mutter, "C'mon, pal. How 'bout a light." MacGyver coughed and made a spitting sound.

"Is he really taking the time for a smoke?"

Burke covered his mike again, and said, "For Pete's sake, Andy… give the man a break."

◘

Barbara felt like she could use a break. The ceiling had stopped collapsing, which was good… but the bio lab had suffered a lot of damage. All the exits were blocked by rubble. The air, pungent with smoke and the acrid odors of spilled chemicals, sweat, and fear, was growing stuffy. No fresh air was coming from the vents, and the intercoms were dead and irreparable. There was nothing anyone could do but get comfortable and wait.

Waiting was not one of the things that Barbara Spencer was good at. After taking a few moments to catch her breath and get hold of herself, she turned her attention to the other people in the room. Many were injured, though none worse than her friend Dobbson. The cut on his head was still bleeding. She found another, cleaner cloth in a cabinet and folded it into a bandage, wondering if the man was a hemophiliac.

A couple of the women in the room began to cry. One of the men moved toward them and tried to comfort them, but one woman became angry. "Don't lie to us," she snarled at him. "We're all gonna die! We're gonna suffocate! If we don't get crushed to death when the lab collapses!"

"There's no use in talk like that," Barbara said. "We should all try to stay calm until they come to rescue us."

"What do you know?" the woman demanded. Her tears leaked through her mascara and dripped from her jaw in blackish streaks. "What if they don't come? What if we're the last ones alive and nobody is coming? We should be doing something!"

"What is your name, my dear?" Dobbson asked suddenly.

"Charlotte."

"I have a suggestion, Charlotte," Dobbson said. "Shut up." The woman gaped at him in shock. "You're doing nothing but wasting what air we have, and I for one am confident that we shall be rescued." He smiled up at Barbara. "I was convinced I was going to die down on the third level… but an angel swept me up. And I haven't come this far to give up now."

Barbara smiled back at him. She was glad that Dobbson had been unable to see her own tears when she had broken down, and she was determined not to make such a display again. She found the women's panic distasteful.

"We'll all get out of this," she murmured to him, patting his shoulder gently. Somehow.

"We need a way to communicate with the surface," the man who had been pacing muttered aloud. He was trying to repair the intercom, but it was hopeless. He carefully approached the clogged hallway. A massive girder had come down with the ceiling and about a ton of dirt and debris. He picked up a rock and banged on the metal. It made a dull sound. He tossed the rock aside and picked up a metal pipe.

The pipe rang off of the surface of the girder with a clear PING! He struck the metal again, listening for an echo.

"That is very annoying," Charlotte said pointedly.

"It is also very smart," said Barbara. "Do it again. Keep doing it. Someone could hear it."

"I say," Dobbson added, "were you ever in the Scouts? Tap in groups of three… that is a distress signal."

"Great," muttered Charlotte cynically. "If there are any passing troupes of Boy Scouts… I'm sure we'll be rescued in no time!"

Everyone ignored her. They all took a bit of solace in the tapping sound, willing it with all their intent to carry upward to the surface and let someone know that there was life in the ruins… desperate life in need of help.