Chapter 18 (Gordon)
So Ax and I had to do the water tower. Sounds easy enough, but what the hell was I supposed to do? I didn't know what the properties of the kandrona was, either.
So I had an alternative. I decided to use bombs. Sam had a stash of C-4 in the house. He once taught me how to trigger a bomb. It was pretty useful, taking a page out of Sam's book. The only problem was that Ax and I didn't have any morphs that would carry the C-4 and the detonator.
So Ax and I decided to sneak into Cassie's barn before the mission. We both understood the possible ramifications, but were ready to deal with them appropriately.
{Are you sure this is a good idea?} Ax asked. He was in his real form in the barn. Tobias was not around, so Ax was keeping sure nobody unwanted came into the barn. He kinda had one eye out the door.
Meanwhile, I was looking for a bird big enough to carry the stuff. Golden eagle, bald eagle, anything big. A condor would be ideal, but there was not a big chance there would be any in this area.
But I did manage to find a bald eagle with a broken wing and a golden eagle with one less leg. That was a bad one, especially in a bird that big. "Come here, I have us some interesting birds." I said, waving him over.
So he acquired the bald eagle and I acquired the golden eagle. {Can we leave now? We are expected to start in less than an hour. And if I understand your plan correctly, then we will need time to properly plan.} Ax said. He was paranoid.
"Ax-man, just morph. We have got what we came here to do, let's just go and do what we have to do." I said. So we both morphed our previous raptor morphs and flew out through the hayloft into the night. It was only like 8:15, so we had at least 45 minutes before anything happened.
The thing was that we weren't supposed to meet, just go to the respected locations. Tobias was supposes to be our eyes and ears. Right then, he was probably with Cassie. Cassie and Rachel were going for the EGS Tower, so they would have the most problems, with security and all.
I still didn't see how Marco and Jake were supposed to destroy the Radio tower. I hoped they would figure it out. Either way, I had plenty of ways to screw up my own, I didn't need to be thinking about that.
So back to the house I went, to get the C-4 I placed there earlier. But when I got there, I noticed some were gone. Where they were, I wasn't sure, but it was probably Sam. Oh, great, he was getting involved.
But it was too late to think about it. I gathered up the C-4 and threw it outside so I could get it when I was ready.
{Are we not going to get prepared?} Ax asked inquisitively.
"We are as prepared as we are going to get." I said. It was dark, so I would have to be the Golden eagle, even though owl would be better. I did, however, know where the water tower was anyway. We would be fine.
{How do you plan on attaching the explosives?} Ax asked.
"With care." I answered. "I can use telekinesis, so I can dangle over the edge and do it that way. Igniting them can be done via a timer. As long as we are far away, we will be fine."
{That does indeed sound farfetched. Are you sure you are confident enough to use the power to that degree?} he asked.
I shrugged. "I guess we will find out soon enough."
{I am not sure if I trust your plan.} he said curtly. And I could understand why. Hell, if I was him, I wouldn't trust me either. But oh well, I knew it would work. I was perfect and everything I did was perfect.
You know, except getting me, Sam, and Tobias a trip to social death. Will was now a huge liability, and nobody trusted me. Yet I was perfect. Oh well, who says is isn's all for the better? If I hadn't screwed up, Sam wouldn't be here and we would never have understood what he could do.
But at the same time, he wouldn't be this powerful and maybe he wouldn't get to be where the future was anyway...oh well. Man, time truly was tricky. Thank god I actually didn't have to comprehend it all.
{Hello, are you there?} Ax was asking. I guess I dozed off.
I shook out of my stupor and answered, "yeah, I am here."
{Because it is about time to leave.} he said. What? There was no way I dazed of that easily and for that long. Oh well.
"Well then, let's get going." I said. I started to morph to golden eagle. Ax began to morph to bald eagle. Just like Whit and Rachel. Let's just hope nobody confuses us.
When I completed my morph, I walked over to the C-4. {Ax, get the detonator and the wires.} I said. He did without saying a word.
But there was a problem. Sure, bald eagles and golden eagles often grabbed very heavy stuff, like ten pound salmon, but we were having trouble lifting a few pounds of equipment. {Ax-man, I think we need to be moving before we try to pick these up. We need momentum.}
{I believe that would be necessary.} he answered.
So we both let go of the stuff and flew into the air, which was difficult enough in the night air. When we finally got high enough, I told Ax I would go first.
Down I went into the clearing, picking up the C-4. Ax was soon to follow. I was happy to see that I was right. It was easier to pick up when moving. So we went off into the night,
On the way there, I saw the town in the distance was lit up by large buildings and cars. I couldn't even se stars over the city. Too much smog and light pollution. But we were on the edge of the town, so I could see the water tower and stars above us.
{Is this the place?} Ax asked as I began to circle. We were not far from the water tower.
{Yeah.} I said. {But you wait here. I am going to try and land on the top of the water tower, to make sure there isn't some sort of shield.} I explained.
Without waiting for a response, I flew down. When I landed I was, well, pleasantly surprised to fall right through and onto a floor not too far down.. The top of the water tower was a hologram. {You can come in, Ax.} I called.
{I'm coming.} he said. A second later, he came in quite a bit more gracefully than I did.
I looked around. There was nobody here. Just us two birds. So I began do demorph. I noticed there was a huge cylindrical tank, flat sides up and down. It had glowing green rings around the edges. Actually, when I looked at it as a human, I could tell the outer black actually was made of a thick, cloudy clear substance. The black was almost glowing under it, but there was no light coming from it. It was weird.
{This is the kandrona.} Ax said suddenly. I turned to see he was finished morphing too. His stalk eyes were scanning the walls. {There isn't any water in this water tower, so if we blow it up with your primitive explosives, then it will need to fall to be destroyed.}
"Water would have shorted it?" I asked.
{Any foreign liquid in the device would have basically thrown off the radiation wavelength it is emitting. An explosion would have cracked it and the water would have basically destroyed it instantly. But now we need to properly place the explosives to have it fall, or it will be savaged and it will all be in vain.}
"Well, I think we can handle it. We just need to put the stuff in the right place." I said. "And it won't be outside. I didn't expect to be able to get inside. It would be better to do in here."
{I agree, the explosion would be more confined and it would have more pressure.} he said. Usually, Marco would stop him and tell him to not to go on about all the techno babble, but it didn't bother me.
But instead, I walked over to the side, where there was a hole in the ground. I assumed it led to the ladder that was supposed to take us down. When I looked down it, I could see that it was only a tunnel with some windows in it. I could see the water inside. This meant there was water. Come to think of it, why would they build a water tower just for a kandrona. The whole thing must be a hologram. Cool.
"Ax-man, I think we have a solution." I said. He was right beside me, looking down as well. "Will this be enough water?"
{Yes, if the bombs are placed in the right locations.} he answered.
So we got to work. Putting the C-4 against the bottom of the kandrona equally around. But since it was up against the wall, we couldn't get it around that corner, but we were fine. Instead, we used the leftover to put on the floor on the other side of the wall.
"You know.....I wonder where Sam gets ahold of this stuff. I mean....it is really rare, and hard to find." I said to Ax as I pushed the metal into the C-4. "I mean....this is military and covert stuff."
{Sam does seem to be devoted.} Ax said.
So we continued to place the stuff. When it finally came time to set the timer, I had to ask him, "So, how long do you think it will take to get out of here?" I asked.
{Five of your earth minutes.} he said.
So I began to set it for ten of our earth minutes. In case something went wrong. Hey, anything could happen. "Get morphing, I will be there in a minute." I said. And that he did. He began to morph to northern harrier as I checked the wires and connections.
When I was sure everything was in place, I got up, dusted off my hands, and began to morph. {Ax-man, look at the time, I want to be able to tell the exact time when it is done.} I said.
{There are 9 earth minutes and three earth seconds left.} he said.
{Good, keep track of it like you always do. Now let's go.} Ax and I both flew off. I was a peregrine falcon and he was a northern harrier. And we were off! Through the hologram and into the night air. We flew as far away as we could without losing vision. Would be pretty far if it was day, but we ended up at the nearest house's roof.
So we stood there, perched on the peak, waiting. After some time waiting, Ax informed me of the one earth minute countdown. Then the thirty second one, and the ten, nine eight, seven, six, five....
I watched and my eyes opened with suspense. I couldn't wait to see the fireworks.
Four, three, two, one.....
BOOOM!!
The night sky rumbled as the mid section of the water tower exploded and shot outwards. The water was blasted like a waterfall, soaking the nearby area. The top of the tower started to slip, and another explosion of green light erupted from inside.
{That is the kandrona malfunctioning.} Ax confirmed.
But I wasn't paying complete attention. My eyes were watching as the top of the tower just disappeared. It flickered and went out of existence. The hologram projector must have been destroyed.
But then the last of the explosion took it's toll, the top of the tower finally fell the hundred feet to the ground. As we looked, I could see people coming out of the tower and looking around. They were now soaked and barely missed being crushed.
As the water cascaded over the people, they went back in for shelter. There was no fire, just a big wreck of a water tower and a lot of water. Luckily, the water tower was in the middle of a huge field that sloped into the forest and into a creek. So there was no severe damage as the huge amounts of water covered the area.
I spread my wings, but did not take off.{Ha!} I shouted, not actually directing it to anyone. {Take that!}
{I do believe we should maybe see how the rest are working.} Ax suggested.
But then I heard Tobias. {Wow!} he said as he flapped toward us. {That is great, and thank god I found you1} he huffed.
{What?} I asked.
{We need your help.} he said as he began to circle.
{Who's 'we'?} I asked.
Rachel and Cassie. The EGS Tower is heavily guarded and they can't go in unless they get backup. They need your help now that you are done, and make it choppy.} he said, then turned around ad flew away.
{Well, let's go.} I said to Ax. We spread our wings and flew off.
So Ax and I had to do the water tower. Sounds easy enough, but what the hell was I supposed to do? I didn't know what the properties of the kandrona was, either.
So I had an alternative. I decided to use bombs. Sam had a stash of C-4 in the house. He once taught me how to trigger a bomb. It was pretty useful, taking a page out of Sam's book. The only problem was that Ax and I didn't have any morphs that would carry the C-4 and the detonator.
So Ax and I decided to sneak into Cassie's barn before the mission. We both understood the possible ramifications, but were ready to deal with them appropriately.
{Are you sure this is a good idea?} Ax asked. He was in his real form in the barn. Tobias was not around, so Ax was keeping sure nobody unwanted came into the barn. He kinda had one eye out the door.
Meanwhile, I was looking for a bird big enough to carry the stuff. Golden eagle, bald eagle, anything big. A condor would be ideal, but there was not a big chance there would be any in this area.
But I did manage to find a bald eagle with a broken wing and a golden eagle with one less leg. That was a bad one, especially in a bird that big. "Come here, I have us some interesting birds." I said, waving him over.
So he acquired the bald eagle and I acquired the golden eagle. {Can we leave now? We are expected to start in less than an hour. And if I understand your plan correctly, then we will need time to properly plan.} Ax said. He was paranoid.
"Ax-man, just morph. We have got what we came here to do, let's just go and do what we have to do." I said. So we both morphed our previous raptor morphs and flew out through the hayloft into the night. It was only like 8:15, so we had at least 45 minutes before anything happened.
The thing was that we weren't supposed to meet, just go to the respected locations. Tobias was supposes to be our eyes and ears. Right then, he was probably with Cassie. Cassie and Rachel were going for the EGS Tower, so they would have the most problems, with security and all.
I still didn't see how Marco and Jake were supposed to destroy the Radio tower. I hoped they would figure it out. Either way, I had plenty of ways to screw up my own, I didn't need to be thinking about that.
So back to the house I went, to get the C-4 I placed there earlier. But when I got there, I noticed some were gone. Where they were, I wasn't sure, but it was probably Sam. Oh, great, he was getting involved.
But it was too late to think about it. I gathered up the C-4 and threw it outside so I could get it when I was ready.
{Are we not going to get prepared?} Ax asked inquisitively.
"We are as prepared as we are going to get." I said. It was dark, so I would have to be the Golden eagle, even though owl would be better. I did, however, know where the water tower was anyway. We would be fine.
{How do you plan on attaching the explosives?} Ax asked.
"With care." I answered. "I can use telekinesis, so I can dangle over the edge and do it that way. Igniting them can be done via a timer. As long as we are far away, we will be fine."
{That does indeed sound farfetched. Are you sure you are confident enough to use the power to that degree?} he asked.
I shrugged. "I guess we will find out soon enough."
{I am not sure if I trust your plan.} he said curtly. And I could understand why. Hell, if I was him, I wouldn't trust me either. But oh well, I knew it would work. I was perfect and everything I did was perfect.
You know, except getting me, Sam, and Tobias a trip to social death. Will was now a huge liability, and nobody trusted me. Yet I was perfect. Oh well, who says is isn's all for the better? If I hadn't screwed up, Sam wouldn't be here and we would never have understood what he could do.
But at the same time, he wouldn't be this powerful and maybe he wouldn't get to be where the future was anyway...oh well. Man, time truly was tricky. Thank god I actually didn't have to comprehend it all.
{Hello, are you there?} Ax was asking. I guess I dozed off.
I shook out of my stupor and answered, "yeah, I am here."
{Because it is about time to leave.} he said. What? There was no way I dazed of that easily and for that long. Oh well.
"Well then, let's get going." I said. I started to morph to golden eagle. Ax began to morph to bald eagle. Just like Whit and Rachel. Let's just hope nobody confuses us.
When I completed my morph, I walked over to the C-4. {Ax, get the detonator and the wires.} I said. He did without saying a word.
But there was a problem. Sure, bald eagles and golden eagles often grabbed very heavy stuff, like ten pound salmon, but we were having trouble lifting a few pounds of equipment. {Ax-man, I think we need to be moving before we try to pick these up. We need momentum.}
{I believe that would be necessary.} he answered.
So we both let go of the stuff and flew into the air, which was difficult enough in the night air. When we finally got high enough, I told Ax I would go first.
Down I went into the clearing, picking up the C-4. Ax was soon to follow. I was happy to see that I was right. It was easier to pick up when moving. So we went off into the night,
On the way there, I saw the town in the distance was lit up by large buildings and cars. I couldn't even se stars over the city. Too much smog and light pollution. But we were on the edge of the town, so I could see the water tower and stars above us.
{Is this the place?} Ax asked as I began to circle. We were not far from the water tower.
{Yeah.} I said. {But you wait here. I am going to try and land on the top of the water tower, to make sure there isn't some sort of shield.} I explained.
Without waiting for a response, I flew down. When I landed I was, well, pleasantly surprised to fall right through and onto a floor not too far down.. The top of the water tower was a hologram. {You can come in, Ax.} I called.
{I'm coming.} he said. A second later, he came in quite a bit more gracefully than I did.
I looked around. There was nobody here. Just us two birds. So I began do demorph. I noticed there was a huge cylindrical tank, flat sides up and down. It had glowing green rings around the edges. Actually, when I looked at it as a human, I could tell the outer black actually was made of a thick, cloudy clear substance. The black was almost glowing under it, but there was no light coming from it. It was weird.
{This is the kandrona.} Ax said suddenly. I turned to see he was finished morphing too. His stalk eyes were scanning the walls. {There isn't any water in this water tower, so if we blow it up with your primitive explosives, then it will need to fall to be destroyed.}
"Water would have shorted it?" I asked.
{Any foreign liquid in the device would have basically thrown off the radiation wavelength it is emitting. An explosion would have cracked it and the water would have basically destroyed it instantly. But now we need to properly place the explosives to have it fall, or it will be savaged and it will all be in vain.}
"Well, I think we can handle it. We just need to put the stuff in the right place." I said. "And it won't be outside. I didn't expect to be able to get inside. It would be better to do in here."
{I agree, the explosion would be more confined and it would have more pressure.} he said. Usually, Marco would stop him and tell him to not to go on about all the techno babble, but it didn't bother me.
But instead, I walked over to the side, where there was a hole in the ground. I assumed it led to the ladder that was supposed to take us down. When I looked down it, I could see that it was only a tunnel with some windows in it. I could see the water inside. This meant there was water. Come to think of it, why would they build a water tower just for a kandrona. The whole thing must be a hologram. Cool.
"Ax-man, I think we have a solution." I said. He was right beside me, looking down as well. "Will this be enough water?"
{Yes, if the bombs are placed in the right locations.} he answered.
So we got to work. Putting the C-4 against the bottom of the kandrona equally around. But since it was up against the wall, we couldn't get it around that corner, but we were fine. Instead, we used the leftover to put on the floor on the other side of the wall.
"You know.....I wonder where Sam gets ahold of this stuff. I mean....it is really rare, and hard to find." I said to Ax as I pushed the metal into the C-4. "I mean....this is military and covert stuff."
{Sam does seem to be devoted.} Ax said.
So we continued to place the stuff. When it finally came time to set the timer, I had to ask him, "So, how long do you think it will take to get out of here?" I asked.
{Five of your earth minutes.} he said.
So I began to set it for ten of our earth minutes. In case something went wrong. Hey, anything could happen. "Get morphing, I will be there in a minute." I said. And that he did. He began to morph to northern harrier as I checked the wires and connections.
When I was sure everything was in place, I got up, dusted off my hands, and began to morph. {Ax-man, look at the time, I want to be able to tell the exact time when it is done.} I said.
{There are 9 earth minutes and three earth seconds left.} he said.
{Good, keep track of it like you always do. Now let's go.} Ax and I both flew off. I was a peregrine falcon and he was a northern harrier. And we were off! Through the hologram and into the night air. We flew as far away as we could without losing vision. Would be pretty far if it was day, but we ended up at the nearest house's roof.
So we stood there, perched on the peak, waiting. After some time waiting, Ax informed me of the one earth minute countdown. Then the thirty second one, and the ten, nine eight, seven, six, five....
I watched and my eyes opened with suspense. I couldn't wait to see the fireworks.
Four, three, two, one.....
BOOOM!!
The night sky rumbled as the mid section of the water tower exploded and shot outwards. The water was blasted like a waterfall, soaking the nearby area. The top of the tower started to slip, and another explosion of green light erupted from inside.
{That is the kandrona malfunctioning.} Ax confirmed.
But I wasn't paying complete attention. My eyes were watching as the top of the tower just disappeared. It flickered and went out of existence. The hologram projector must have been destroyed.
But then the last of the explosion took it's toll, the top of the tower finally fell the hundred feet to the ground. As we looked, I could see people coming out of the tower and looking around. They were now soaked and barely missed being crushed.
As the water cascaded over the people, they went back in for shelter. There was no fire, just a big wreck of a water tower and a lot of water. Luckily, the water tower was in the middle of a huge field that sloped into the forest and into a creek. So there was no severe damage as the huge amounts of water covered the area.
I spread my wings, but did not take off.{Ha!} I shouted, not actually directing it to anyone. {Take that!}
{I do believe we should maybe see how the rest are working.} Ax suggested.
But then I heard Tobias. {Wow!} he said as he flapped toward us. {That is great, and thank god I found you1} he huffed.
{What?} I asked.
{We need your help.} he said as he began to circle.
{Who's 'we'?} I asked.
Rachel and Cassie. The EGS Tower is heavily guarded and they can't go in unless they get backup. They need your help now that you are done, and make it choppy.} he said, then turned around ad flew away.
{Well, let's go.} I said to Ax. We spread our wings and flew off.