5
"No, I think things are pretty well covered" Greene agreed as he loked at the map on the wall and the little pins to sow the placement of the discs, four different colours for different objects scattered around the town to help protect. The black ones in a circle around the outskirts were all regulation distance and there was clearly no missed gap between then but still… Ianto had a niggle.
"I might take those old books and town maps home tonight, the early construction ones for this place in case there is something I missed underground" Ianto frowned and the Mayor started to laugh.
"Damn boy… I doubt they will burrow in here like fucking mole men!" he chortled as he made a motion with his hands to show that he was quite happy for Ianto to take what he wanted from the mayoral office.
After all… Ianto owned the fucking place.
Had cost a pretty penny to buy the mining rights, the available land and make sure that the place was fully and totally in the hands of locals. Like he had said already…. All his.
But still… he didn't like niggles.
They never boded well.
.
.
It was late and Ianto was sitting on the back porch with several maps on the floor around his feet, a little pot of colour here and there on the corners of the maps in case of a breeze. He held an apple cutting the sections to be slowly munched as he poured over them looking for an inconsistency.
He could find none but still….
Niggles.
.
.
"Mole men"
Jack loked over at Ianto as they stood at one of the Sunday market stalls, Ianto seemingly frozen in place with the jar of preserves clasped in one hand, his other hand rising slowly in the air like he was looking at a big screen.
He was.
In his mind, Ianto was finally seeing what had been niggling at him and he turned to look at Jack with wide eyes, the fear real as he whispered "Mole men."
"Ianto?"
Ianto placed the jar down and then said to the elderly lady behind the stall table "Whitney. When the town was built, there were tunnels."
"Yes. Of course, this town is built on an old mining system. Coal, gold… even stores of some diamonds but I think that one was crap" the elderly lady chucked.
Ianto turned to look back at Jack. "Like moles."
"Ah shit" Jack groaned as he finally got the thing Ianto was trying to say. The tunnels were not regulated, not governed and sure as fuck were not monitored in any way, shape or form.
If Ianto had thought of them…
.
.
"Well fuck me. I was being sarcastic" Greene spluttered as he watched Ianto pull out old maps from behind the filing cabinet and dust flew through the air like a magician's abracadabra as Ianto flicked the old map open on the desk.
"There. Look. The opening here by the old caving system that we thought went nowhere near us. A divergence… they just have to head in through here… along here…" Ianto's finger tracked a line on the map "… then just place charges here where it is shallowest… boom. Mole Men."
"Fuckers" Greene snarled "What do we do?"
"Too big for us to just plonk a cement truck on and hope it falls in and crushes their arse?" John sked.
"Nice analogy but… no. Fuck."
"Then… how about three?"
"John. Not… well. Wait. Not bad… but not right. Um. Well… how about a version?" Ianto asked him and John canted his head.
"Well fuck, I was being sarcastic."
Ianto grinned "And I love it."
.
.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Greene yell dover the sound of construction, the car park beside the inner being turned into an ice rink, complete with high sides.
"It's cold enough… we let each layer freeze overnight, then apply more water… until it's heavy, thick and nasty. We will let everyone have a day or two of skating on it and then it's off-limits." Ianto folded his arms "Then we fill the rest of the thing to the line… they have not only the weight of water, but the sold weight of ice. The kids will not skate on it when the water is there, I would hate for them to get swallowed like a sink hole. The fuckers might try to come up here and they will get a cold nasty wash back out of the caves."
"OK… you is nasty" Greene said in a silly voice, then laughed "What do you think Eddie man?"
Eddie blinked slowly and then leaned over the side of the pool that he could barely see over "All?"
"All. Yeah… we freeze the bottom and use heavy water to fill the rest."
"Like… icy cubes? All of it?"
"Shit... I like the boy's mind. If we use the ice maker? For the ice rink?"
Everyone turned to look at Eugene "Ice Rink? We don't have an ice rink."
"No sir… but Galversterd has one in his garage… just in case we ever do get one."
"OK… do I even need to ask how Sterd the Nerd came by… no. No. Don't tell me". The mayor waved his hands around and turned to Ianto "I didn't know."
"But it is good thinking" Ianto grinned "In case… we want one."
"OK… tell him he can have a skate on it once it's all solid but no one else! We don't want the weight to cause a collapse" John said with glee, sauntering over to stand by Eddie and peer into the pool "Cool."
"Skate?"
"Ah buddy… you will love it. Everyone will be complete retards" John laughed, hugging the little man.
Ianto went back to the map.
Looking for another breach site.
He knew there had to be more.