Craig Kreident #2 Fallout Read Online Free PDF Page B

bombs,” the first EOD man called out.   “Actually more than two — this pair of explosives is hardwired to the timer, but there’s also a transmitter, maybe to broadcast when the timer goes off.   I’ve got to work on disconnecting both of them, and we’re running down to the wire.”
    “Please leave,” the second EOD man said again.   “We’ve got to concentrate.”   Then he turned, ignoring the FBI agents.
    “You heard the man,” Craig said.   He and Goldfarb and Jackson strode outside to the narrow access road below the dam, next to the rushing water where the militia man had plunged to his death.   The park ranger and the first Hoover Dam policeman had already climbed into one vehicle and started their engine.
    Jackson raced for the front seat of the car, with Goldfarb following close behind.   “Come on, Craig!”   Craig paused, though, as he stood beside the transformer towers and high-tension lines extending across the canyon.
    Garcia’s words echoed in his head about blowing up the turbines, how generators on the Arizona side or other turbines on the Nevada side could easily pick up the slack.   However, if all the towers were destroyed and the power cables severed, electricity would certainly be cut off.   Enough to black out major portions of several states.
    Adjusting his sunglasses, he scanned the base of the metal towers; a rugged handhold and foothold path led to where the steel support beams had been anchored to the rock.
    Then he spotted the block of grayish-blue substance affixed to the base of a power transmission tower.  
    Another bomb.   Crude and simple — but still destructive.
    A naked wire strung to the next tower and the next one down the cliffside.   Craig drew in a breath.   There were three of them.   That must be where the detonation signal inside the dam would be transmitted.   “Oh, great!” he whispered.
    Climbing over the concrete barrier, Craig wildly began to scramble up the rocks, painfully aware of how little time remained.   His tie and jacket flapped as he bent over, clambering up the incline.
    “Hey!” Goldfarb shouted, hanging onto the car door.   “We’ve got to get out of here.”   Then he too noticed the claylike blocks of plastic explosive.
    Craig reached the base of the first support tower, and then his foot slipped from the granite outcropping.   He reached out with his left hand and grabbed the metal support of the high-powered transmission tower — hoping too late that the metal itself wasn’t electrified.   He held on, swinging himself up, scrambling with his feet for purchase.  
    He saw the plastic explosive.   Words had been scrawled on its side with a black magic marker.   FOR VICTORY AND FREEDOM ON OCTOBER 24!
    Craig had less than a minute remaining, perhaps only a few seconds.   If the EOD people didn’t prevent the detonator signal, this explosive and the others linked to it would blow up.  
    He didn’t have time to call the other EOD man.   He didn’t have time even to get out of the way.   Craig gritted his teeth, swallowed hard.   Simple plastic explosives didn’t have complex machinery.   He just needed to remove the initiator.   If he disconnected the detonator, it would not trigger the bomb.   Probably not.
    Sure, it would be simple.
    He reached out to grab the wires.   The first lead came out with a pop , severing the electrical connections thrust into the soft explosive.   He tugged on the other wire, pulling the connections from the next block at the second power-transmission tower.   The others were just part of a series circuit.  
    Craig stood looking at the detonator in his fist, his heart pounding.   Then he tossed it away from him as if it had turned into a snake — even the detonator cap would take off his hand if he was holding it when it went off.
    Finally, slumping, he saw Jackson and Goldfarb hurrying up to the cliff wall, calling to see if he was all right.  
    The EOD men emerged