Jerry was rolling in with his prize. On the flatbed, he had two behemoths
of cement blocks stacked in the front, two more in the back and the backhoe
centered between them.
As he approached the site, he saw that Jeff was running towards the cherry
picker, Scott looking down at his sleeve, Brains running towards Jeff, and
Walt leaving the Cat. "What happened" he wondered. Upon seeing the scene,
the joy he had been feeling at bringing back the blocks was doused.
Walt and Bob locked their Cats in place. Walt got out and ran up to Jeff as he waited for the bucket to be lowered to him. Brains was running towards Jeff with his laser cutter. Scott was trying to reach John on the watch communicator. Gordon was just standing in shock looking up at the pod.
"WE'RE IN, WE BROKE THROUGH!!" came a cry from above.
Everyone looked up and over at the nose of TB2. Jeff had completely forgotten about the 5 men digging towards the windows. They had finally made it through to the cockpit. Scott, Jeff, Gordon, Brains and Walt all ran up the hill pulling themselves up the ropes that had been secured there the first time they climbed up to the nose of TB2. Two of the diggers were standing on the outside, but the other three were inside. They had made a significant sized tunnel. The men still had to crawl on their hands and knees to get into TB2, but it was fairly easy. Jeff was hoping that he could get into the pod the same way John and Virgil did. He slid through the window that was obviously already broken before the diggers got there, and down the dirt slide that covered the console and instrumentation panel. He stood up and looked at the carnage. It was weird standing on TB2's wall and not her floor. He saw that the pilot's chair was broken and no longer bolted to the floor, but one of the passenger seats was still ok. There were wires hanging all over, the instrumentation panel was covered with dirt and what wasn't covered was badly damaged. He looked towards the back to a huge gaping hole, ragged and sharp. That was how Virgil and John had gotten into the pod. But it is not how he is going to get in there. The pod had moved just enough that the hole on the pod side no longer aligned with the hole on the cockpit side.
Jeff's heart sank.
They crawled back out the window. Jeff said to the five diggers, "Nice job fellas." And climbed down the steep path. While the others were inside, Jerry had already started unloading the blocks. He had two of them off the flatbed and positioned just beside the pod. He couldn't position them under the pod because the pod was already too low for the backhoe to maneuver under it. As Jeff reached the bottom of the slope he headed back to the cherry picker. He picked up the laser cutter that Brains had dropped when they all bolted up the hill and proceeded to board the bucket. Jerry came over and asked Jeff, "What happened?"
Jeff replied, "I don't have time for details, but I have to get up there and cut a hole in the pod and get to my men. We lost communications when the pod bucked and slipped."
Jerry put his hand on Jeff's arm. "Jeff, we can have those blocks under the pod before you can cut into it. We can stabilize it and get in faster if we concentrate on getting the blocks under it and the pod down on top of them." Jeff looked at Jerry with sunken eyes. He knew Jerry was right. But he just had to get inside to see if his sons were ok. Then from behind him, Scott spoke, "Da. um. Jeff, Jerry is right. There isn't that much more distance that the pod needs to come down, should be a smooth quick ride all the way. And once is it blocked up, we can work with lightening speed to get John and Virgil out."
"Ok" Jeff said with a sigh, as he stepped out of the cherry picker. Walt standing nearby waved the cherry picker out of the way, while Jerry went back to the chore of getting the blocks under the pod. Before Jeff realized what was happening, two pickup trucks, one with a reinforced welded front end attacked one of the blocks. The bigger of the two, the Dodge Ram pushed the block under the pod so that the far front corner of the pod could rest on it. He could see that it was in four-wheel drive and could hear the engine strain against the weight. The second a Toyota Tundra, a full size pickup, but a tad smaller than the Dodge, would push from the side of the block to keep it aligned underneath the pod. When some of the onlookers saw their fellow townsmen basically trashing their trucks to help get two men out alive, two more jumped in their trucks, one a pickup, the other a huge SUV and proceeded to attack the second block that was on the ground. Within minutes both blocks sat in the perfect position to hold the far end of the pod both front and back. The four trucks got out of the way while the backhoe delivered the next two sets of blocks. Again the four trucks attacked the blocks with vigor and centered them perfectly on the near side of the pod, both front and back. Jeff couldn't believe his eyes as he watched four men severely damage their trucks just to save two others who may no longer even be alive.
Jerry cleared the backhoe away, then waved the trucks to move on. One truck died and needed to be pushed by one of the other still functioning pickups. When everyone was cleared out of the way Walt and Bob climbed back in their Cats and synchronized their task at hand. Once again, with a moan and a creak, the pod started on it's descending journey. What seemed liked forever, the deep sounding clunk of each corner hitting a block resounded around the onlookers. The Pod has landed.
The pod was still elevated but was now much closer to the ground and more stable. Jeff ran up to the hole the auger made and yelled into the pod, "John, John, are you ok?"
Silence.
Scott standing in front of the pod saw that the front bay door was completely cleared from TB2. He ran up the slope and crawled back into the cockpit of TB2. He was looking for the portable transmitter that opens the pod doors. TB2 has a permanent transmitter on the console in front of Virgil, but there is also one that is secured to the wall with clamps. Much to his delight, that was one of the few items still where it should have been. He unclamped it and grabbed it off the wall. Holding the transmitter Scott scrambled back out the tunnel, and without even climbing back down, he pointed the transmitter and pushed the button. With a moan and a grind, the pod door reluctantly started to open up. Protesting at every inch.
Not realizing that Scott did this, everyone quickly back up from the pod thinking it was falling over or breaking up. Jeff realized quickly that the pod doors were opening. It saved him from having to cut into the pod. Although the door stopped several feet above the ground because the pod was elevated several more feet above the ground, he could still hop up and clamor into the pod. The sight that greeted him would stun any man.
When John felt the second jolt, he could see debris from the mountain start to fall down in his and Virgil's direction. He instinctively covered Virgil with his own body. He started to yell for them to stop moving the pod, when he glanced over his shoulder, up at the laser box, just as it broke it's moorings.
Walt and Bob locked their Cats in place. Walt got out and ran up to Jeff as he waited for the bucket to be lowered to him. Brains was running towards Jeff with his laser cutter. Scott was trying to reach John on the watch communicator. Gordon was just standing in shock looking up at the pod.
"WE'RE IN, WE BROKE THROUGH!!" came a cry from above.
Everyone looked up and over at the nose of TB2. Jeff had completely forgotten about the 5 men digging towards the windows. They had finally made it through to the cockpit. Scott, Jeff, Gordon, Brains and Walt all ran up the hill pulling themselves up the ropes that had been secured there the first time they climbed up to the nose of TB2. Two of the diggers were standing on the outside, but the other three were inside. They had made a significant sized tunnel. The men still had to crawl on their hands and knees to get into TB2, but it was fairly easy. Jeff was hoping that he could get into the pod the same way John and Virgil did. He slid through the window that was obviously already broken before the diggers got there, and down the dirt slide that covered the console and instrumentation panel. He stood up and looked at the carnage. It was weird standing on TB2's wall and not her floor. He saw that the pilot's chair was broken and no longer bolted to the floor, but one of the passenger seats was still ok. There were wires hanging all over, the instrumentation panel was covered with dirt and what wasn't covered was badly damaged. He looked towards the back to a huge gaping hole, ragged and sharp. That was how Virgil and John had gotten into the pod. But it is not how he is going to get in there. The pod had moved just enough that the hole on the pod side no longer aligned with the hole on the cockpit side.
Jeff's heart sank.
They crawled back out the window. Jeff said to the five diggers, "Nice job fellas." And climbed down the steep path. While the others were inside, Jerry had already started unloading the blocks. He had two of them off the flatbed and positioned just beside the pod. He couldn't position them under the pod because the pod was already too low for the backhoe to maneuver under it. As Jeff reached the bottom of the slope he headed back to the cherry picker. He picked up the laser cutter that Brains had dropped when they all bolted up the hill and proceeded to board the bucket. Jerry came over and asked Jeff, "What happened?"
Jeff replied, "I don't have time for details, but I have to get up there and cut a hole in the pod and get to my men. We lost communications when the pod bucked and slipped."
Jerry put his hand on Jeff's arm. "Jeff, we can have those blocks under the pod before you can cut into it. We can stabilize it and get in faster if we concentrate on getting the blocks under it and the pod down on top of them." Jeff looked at Jerry with sunken eyes. He knew Jerry was right. But he just had to get inside to see if his sons were ok. Then from behind him, Scott spoke, "Da. um. Jeff, Jerry is right. There isn't that much more distance that the pod needs to come down, should be a smooth quick ride all the way. And once is it blocked up, we can work with lightening speed to get John and Virgil out."
"Ok" Jeff said with a sigh, as he stepped out of the cherry picker. Walt standing nearby waved the cherry picker out of the way, while Jerry went back to the chore of getting the blocks under the pod. Before Jeff realized what was happening, two pickup trucks, one with a reinforced welded front end attacked one of the blocks. The bigger of the two, the Dodge Ram pushed the block under the pod so that the far front corner of the pod could rest on it. He could see that it was in four-wheel drive and could hear the engine strain against the weight. The second a Toyota Tundra, a full size pickup, but a tad smaller than the Dodge, would push from the side of the block to keep it aligned underneath the pod. When some of the onlookers saw their fellow townsmen basically trashing their trucks to help get two men out alive, two more jumped in their trucks, one a pickup, the other a huge SUV and proceeded to attack the second block that was on the ground. Within minutes both blocks sat in the perfect position to hold the far end of the pod both front and back. The four trucks got out of the way while the backhoe delivered the next two sets of blocks. Again the four trucks attacked the blocks with vigor and centered them perfectly on the near side of the pod, both front and back. Jeff couldn't believe his eyes as he watched four men severely damage their trucks just to save two others who may no longer even be alive.
Jerry cleared the backhoe away, then waved the trucks to move on. One truck died and needed to be pushed by one of the other still functioning pickups. When everyone was cleared out of the way Walt and Bob climbed back in their Cats and synchronized their task at hand. Once again, with a moan and a creak, the pod started on it's descending journey. What seemed liked forever, the deep sounding clunk of each corner hitting a block resounded around the onlookers. The Pod has landed.
The pod was still elevated but was now much closer to the ground and more stable. Jeff ran up to the hole the auger made and yelled into the pod, "John, John, are you ok?"
Silence.
Scott standing in front of the pod saw that the front bay door was completely cleared from TB2. He ran up the slope and crawled back into the cockpit of TB2. He was looking for the portable transmitter that opens the pod doors. TB2 has a permanent transmitter on the console in front of Virgil, but there is also one that is secured to the wall with clamps. Much to his delight, that was one of the few items still where it should have been. He unclamped it and grabbed it off the wall. Holding the transmitter Scott scrambled back out the tunnel, and without even climbing back down, he pointed the transmitter and pushed the button. With a moan and a grind, the pod door reluctantly started to open up. Protesting at every inch.
Not realizing that Scott did this, everyone quickly back up from the pod thinking it was falling over or breaking up. Jeff realized quickly that the pod doors were opening. It saved him from having to cut into the pod. Although the door stopped several feet above the ground because the pod was elevated several more feet above the ground, he could still hop up and clamor into the pod. The sight that greeted him would stun any man.
When John felt the second jolt, he could see debris from the mountain start to fall down in his and Virgil's direction. He instinctively covered Virgil with his own body. He started to yell for them to stop moving the pod, when he glanced over his shoulder, up at the laser box, just as it broke it's moorings.