Ecomafia Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6: Weber Dam
The sunrise was bright, reflecting off the lake. One sun was enough this early in the morning. After a late night gambling at the El Capitan Casino, he just wanted to sleep. Jason leaned up to a semi-sitting position in his sleeping bag, craning his neck to see if anyone else was awake. No movement from George or Mel. He closed his eyes and leaned back again. This was big. They were going to do it. It was about time.
Five hours later, they all were waiting just north of Shurz for Charlie. He said he’d meet them at this spot, and bring enough explosive with him. They had never seen the dam before, so they weren’t sure how big it was, but Charlie said that if you placed one charge in the right spot you could do more than if you had a dozen charges in the wrong places. They believed him
Charlie pulled up in a Ryder Truck and stopped in a cloud of dust. He got out and said, “Let’s take your van to scout things out. We can leave the truck on a side road somewhere.” He got back in and said, “follow me.”
The two vehicles traveled north, and after they left the Ryder Truck in an inconspicuous spot, not visible from the highway, they all piled in the van and headed for the dam. A breeze was picking up. There was a winter storm watch for elevations above 6,000 feet tonight. Gusty winds buffeted the van, occasionally hard enough to affect the steering.
“Turn here” Charlie said about a dirt road on the right. George did as instructed. He drove down the dirt road until they reached the dam. There were no other cars around. “Right now is the perfect time to do this,” said Charlie. “There is no water in the reservoir. They can’t fill it due to seismic concerns. This way we won’t be washing out Schurz, 5 miles downstream.”
“Well, the coast looks clear,” said George. “When do we go back and get your Ryder Truck full of explosives?”
“We don’t,” said Charlie. “I’ve got all I need right here.” He unzipped a backpack to reveal a metal box. “There is something in here that will do the trick just fine. Stay here and keep anyone that shows up away from the dam.” He zipped up the backpack again and ran up to the dam.
“That little thing is enough to blow up this big dam?” George asked. Jason shrugged.
A few minutes later, Charlie returned. “Back to the truck.” They all got in the van and drove out the way they came. When they got to the van, George said, “Okay, so now we are a few miles away again. What’s going on? Is it timed? How long is it going to be?”
“Wait and see.” George jumped in the Ryder Truck and started it up, watched by three slightly puzzled faces. He started to turn, then straightened, and went back and forth as if he was having trouble paralell parking. He finally got it just where he wanted it and shut off the engine. “Get ready to get the heck out of here,” he said as he got out. He walked around to the back and unlocked the sliding door, then rolled it up.
“What the...” began Mel.
“Wow, a missile launcher!” cried George.
“A guided missile.” said Charlie. “Guided right at that backpack I left at the dam.” He climbed in, and began flipping switches and pressing buttons, and checking wires. “I hope this thing works. Got it from a government surplus sale. You’d never believe what you find at those things. If it works, I can easily get more missiles for it.” Charlie climbed back out of the truck, bringing a cable with him. “Stand back.”
The others backed up as far as the van and watched, mouths agape. “This is big,” said Jason.
“I can’t believe this,” said Mel. “It is too big.”
“I’ll count down from 5,” called out Charlie. “You guys stay back!” He stood about 10 feet to the side of the rear of the truck, holding the control device at the end of a cable.
“5”
“4”
“3”
“2”
“1”
“Ready?” He paused for a second and a half before pressing the button.
A swish became a roar which became a cloud of smoke emerging from the back of the truck, and out of the cloud whisked a missile propelled by a 5-foot long flame. It zipped out so fast that it immediately became quiet again as the missile disappeared behind its trail of grey-black smoke. They stood, dumbfounded, as the smoke trail lengthened and began arcing down toward the canyon that held the dam.
“Let’s get out of here!” yelled Charlie as he threw the control in the back and pulled the back closed.
Everyone else just stood there, watching the trail of smoke get closer and closer to the ground. It disappeared at ground level as it entered the canyon. Moments later, they saw the explosion billowing up out of the canyon. As the smoke curled up, the sound soon reached the awestruck observers and rumbled the ground where they stood.
“How do we know it hit the target?” asked George.
“You can read about it in the paper tomorrow.”
The van carrying George, Mel, and Jason headed north on Hwy 95, to return to Bridgeport through Mason Valley. The Ryder Truck carrying Charlie headed back to Hawthorne. As they drove back to Hawthorne in their respective vehicles, emergency vehicles passed them in the other direction, traveling towards the spot where Weber Dam once stood.
By the time Charlie reached Hawthorne, he figured that the authorities had time to realize what had happened and begin looking for who was responsible. He parked the truck in his garage.
By the time the others reached Bridgeport, it was getting dark and snow flurries were beginning to fall. Jason had a third day off since he worked overtime that week, and spent the night with George and Mel. The next morning, 3 inches of snow blanketed the ground and George went out to get the paper. He came back in with the Reno Gazette-Journal, which featured the story on the cover.
He also came back in with a smile on his face. “We did it! We got the whole damn thing!”
“The whole damn dam?” Jason cracked, also smiling. The cover photo showed the dam in shambles.
“So what’s next?” queried Mel.
End Sneak Preview of Chapter 6
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Gregory J. Reis
