To Be Worthy

Note: ("Milker Five" is a code name for a criminal who is trying to eliminate the Police Captain in the following story segment.) The blasting crew member known as "Milker Five" (one of Gunderson’s men hiding near the cave entrance) turned off his radio because he didn’t want to tip off the approaching visitors that he was there, but he wasn’t quite sure what Thompson wanted him to do. He knew he meant to wait fifteen seconds but he didn’t know whether he was supposed to shut the cave door, trapping them inside before he blasted the opening shut, or if he was to wait fifteen seconds, then blast. He decided to do both; he would wait fifteen seconds, run to the cave opening and slam the door shut, then get back to his control unit and set off the blast. He looked around the clump of bushes that was his hiding place, noticing that the snow had almost, but not quite, covered his foot tracks. He settled down behind his control unit, double-checking to make sure everything was hooked up properly, and energized. Soon he heard the crunching of footsteps in the snow, and the voices of Phillips, Lyle and Dennis. Dennis was running up ahead, still trying to follow the disappearing tracks, then waiting for Lyle and Phillips to catch up, then running on again. As he rounded a turn he came to a little dry creek bed that looked like it came out of the hillside. He stopped short. There before his eyes was a heavy wooden door. A large hasp and padlock was hanging from the door, but the lock was open and the door was slightly ajar. "Lyle, Captain Phillips. Come look!" The two men hurried to catch up to Dennis. Phillips examined the heavy door and felt air rushing into the opening. "This seems to be some kind of a cave, and there must be another outlet somewhere, probably higher. This air has to be going somewhere." He pulled the door open, letting light into the space beyond. "This really is a cave—or a tunnel." He instinctively pulled his powerful flashlight out of the satchel hanging at his side and turned it on. The two men cautiously entered the cave, but Dennis in his excitement, ran as far as the light penetrated into the darkness. "Dennis!" Phillips yelled sharply, "you get back here this instant!! We shouldn’t be in here!" The two men took a step back toward the door as Dennis obediently turned around and began to return. Just then Phillips saw the figure of a man flash past the door opening. "Too late now," a voice said as the door slammed shut. He heard the metallic click of the padlock being inserted and locked into the clasp. Outside the door, Milker Five heard the heavy thud of his two captives lunging against the door, but was satisfied that nothing short of a bulldozer would accomplish anything against that door. He started to run downhill to his control box, but as he rounded the corner next to his hiding place, he slipped and slid several feet downhill. As he fell through the bushes, a small branch whipped across his face, sending his glasses flying into the snow. Milker Five had difficulty seeing without his glasses and it took him a couple of minutes to locate, clean, and replace them before he could return to his hiding place. He scrambled on his hands and knees back up the hill, brushed the snow from the control box and reached for the switch to detonate the explosives. Inside the cave, Phillips, realizing that their attempts to break down the door were futile, said, "I guess we'd better see what we’ve gotten ourselves into." He panned his flashlight around and spotted the footlocker where Charlie and Spud kept their materials and tools. As Phillips held the light, Lyle opened the box and, along with a lot of other stuff, found several flashlights. Leaving the lid open, he picked out two useable flashlights, giving one to Dennis and keeping one for himself. Although Dennis's excitement had turned to panic, his "wanna be" detective inclinations instantly had him examining his immediate surroundings. He was the first to discover a wire coming from under the door, partially buried in the dirt, running along the base of the cave wall for several yards, then up the wall of the tunnel. "Look," screamed Dennis. Phillips followed the pair of wires up the wall into a cluster of large rocks precariously jammed together to form the ceiling of the cave. The wires disappeared into a patch of fresh mud plastered into one of the cracks, obviously covering an explosive charge. "You guys get away from here B quick," yelled Phillips. "Away," allowed only one direction, and that was deeper into the cave. As Lyle and Dennis hurriedly moved down the cave, Phillips, searching in the footlocker, spotted a pair of wire cutters. Maybe this will make this safe, he thought. Just as he was about to cut the pair of wires running along the wall, Milker Five's finger snapped the switch detonating the charge he had placed in the loose rock. "Run, Dennis, run," screamed Lyle the instant the explosion occurred. Dennis was slightly ahead as Lyle shined his light at the ceiling of the cave and saw several yards of loose rock coming down, above and ahead of them. Lyle, running as fast as he could, caught up with Dennis, placed his hand in the middle of his back, and with all his might, shoved Dennis, sending him careening forward, running, stumbling and rolling along the cave floor. Bright flashes went through Dennis's brain as his head hit a rock. As the dust settled, Dennis lay there, momentarily dazed.