Fury Over Nuke Plant Plan

Where the fuck was that guy Wally, the boss?

Gus grinned when he looked on the ground and saw Wally crawling away on his belly. Guys were running around shouting while others came out of their mobile homes with rifles and began shooting indiscriminately.

Gus then settled back to business and planted five shots low down and well apart in the water supply tank and through the telescopic sights saw five spouts of water flowing. Guys everyone where racing to hide believing they were under fire.

He'd fired six shots and so scratched around until he'd pocketed six empty cartridges cases and retreated down the hill, aware the guys below would be looking at the holes in the tank and working out the direction from where those projectiles had come from. As the ground flattened out he loped to the coast where he'd left his RIB and quickly motored back into his water cave that ran up steeply from 20 feet in to finish well above high water. Near the rear it connected a higher cave that opened out almost at the top of the cliff face. He slept up there because it was dryer and it offered an emergency exit involving a short cliff climb or a dive into the sea.

The tide was well in and so Gus spent time fishing out of the mouth of the lower cave and landed two good-size fish and another larger one snapped the line and got away. He didn't mind because he preferred eating smaller fish but there always was the desire to see the fish before it escaped. If it was big then how big was big?

Next morning Gus was climbing up the cliff face from a cove on the far side of the lagoons at dawn, having rowed past the outlet of the larger lagoon in flattened out land between the cliffs quietly to avoid making noise that would carry in the still air.

At the top of the northern cliff he checked using his binoculars and could see the camp was stirring. The sun rose behind him and he liked that because he'd be very difficult to spot.

Gus settled in and popped a piece of gum into his mouth and waited patiently. Well he had nothing else pressing to do.

He though Jennifer was improving at fucking, although would she'd never be as energized as Kitty because with all her road cycling and punch-bag training Kitty was very fit and ate foods that promoted high energy release. Even so Jennifer was a lovely woman and a pleasure to chat to and really loved to talk after sex instead of rolling over to sleep liked most women do. He liked that.

Gus stiffened and used his binoculars. He watched the drilling boss Wally giving orders and pointing in the general direction of the hill where he'd fired to scare the shit out of Wally yesterday.

The guys strolled off and climbed to the top of the two neighboring hills overlooking the hill he'd used yesterday and they both settled into a prone position.

"You bastard Wally," Gus grinned. "Setting them up to ambush me should I return today."

Well he'd have to be careful. They were almost 1000 yards away.

He waited till the guys in the camp were having breakfast and then settled into a prone position and then fired, sending a bullet into the ground on the left-hand side of the guy on the left and then pumped another one to the right of that guy who jumped up, turned and held his hands high into the air.

The guys at the breakfast table were probably scattering but there was no time to look. Gus pumped a bullet into the ground a yard to the right of the head of the other guy who threw his gun to one side and remained prone, hands behind his head.

Gus sensed he wasn't safe so pumped two shots near the base of two big drums of gasoline and loping and keeping low down headed to the cliff top. He'd just got to the RIB when he heard a chopper coming in fast so started the motor and headed up to the northern end of the island and went into a sea cave.

He heard the chopper circling and although he never saw it guessed the doors would be off and two guys attached to safety harness would be leaning out and looking, rifles at the ready. They would probably be ex-army, hired security guys who were marksmen.

So things were hotting up.

He chose to remain in that cave all day and was glad he'd packed a loaf of bread and a packet of cheese from Jennifer's kitchen as well as a big bottle of water and two bottles of beer.

At 10:00 he rowed to the southwestern side of the outlet of the lagoon and beached on gravel so there would be no signs left to suggest the saboteur had come by boat. He went stealthily past the camp that was set back a bit to escape some of the noise of drilling to the two gas drums and smiled. The two bullet holes had been bunged. Standing in ground saturated with gasoline, he pulled out the bungs with some difficulty and with a big smile placed them carefully on top of the drums where they would be easily seen in the morning. It was better than a calling card.

He then fiddled around with the big Detroit diesel pulling off bits of wiring and wrenched off four bits that hopefully were vital for the running of the engine. On the way back tossed those bits at intervals well out into the lagoon. He got back to his boat undetected, keeping on hard ground all the way in the hope of not leaving footprints and rowed off until he considered it was far enough away to start the motor and cruise quietly.

Guy knew he'd now had to take a break for a few days so went to the entrance of Gunship Bay and rowed in and left his boat with other RIBs and lugged the motor up to Jennifer's cottage. It was 1:15 and he felt he could eat a horse. But he was unable to wake Jennifer and decided against making enough racket to wake the dead as neighbors might think she was being molested.

He put the outboard motor under cover and in Jennifer's shed placed his covered rifle on the potting bench and sat in her big armchair she used for resting and went to sleep.

In the morning about 8:00 he awoke to soft kisses and the smell of coffee.

"Hi, food please," he croaked.

"You stole my last loaf of bread and my cheese," she accused.

He smiled at her guiltily and yawned.

"Bad boy, very bad boy," she said, and he wondered where he'd heard that line before.

"Oh no," she said smiling. "The boy is an unsung hero. It was reported on late news on TV last night and a group of self-appointed vigilantes had attacked the drilling camp yesterday morning, almost killing two workers with gunfire that fortunately missed them, and their supply of gasoline had been shot at and then last night the big engine of their drilling rig had been vandalized in a daring raid and it could be up to a week before some of those parts could be replaced. My god, you are amazing."

They were having breakfast when a neighbor came over with the morning newspaper.

Gus slipped off to the bedroom.

"Hi Kim."

"Hi Jennifer. I brought the newspaper over for you to read about what our so-called Ghostly Action Hero has done to the enemy. The investigators are being driven near insane by his disruptive tactics and even had armed security guys up in a helicopter yesterday looking for him. The helicopter had to put down in rough terrain when returning to base when running low on fuel. Several thousand dollars of damage occurred during that landing when the rotor hit as tree when the helicopter lurched when part of the landing gear dug into a fissure and collapsed."

"Oh we didn't know that."

"We?"

Jennifer said weakly, "I meant I hadn't known that."

She avoided looking at Kim who pounced.

"Omigod he's here with you isn't he? You're a great friend of Kitty's. Royce was peeing off our balcony just after 1:00 this morning when he saw someone coming into the bay rowing a RIB and then lug the outboard up the beach. Royce checked on the RIB this morning and reckoned it was Gus Marks' smallest RIB. Gus is the vigilante isn't he and he's hiding out with you?"

"Oh Jesus Kim, you better come in."

A little distressed Jennifer called, " Gus come out."

Gus emerged and said, "Hi Mrs Arnold."

"Good morning you handsome hero. People are coming to the conclusion that the Ghostly Action Hero as the media is now calling it, must be you because it is being carried out so professionally. Some of us were aware you were in the military abroad in covert activity."

"Do the authorities know I am the guy doing damage?"

"So you're not denying it?"

"No but in telling you that is the identity of action man safe?"

"You should know people in this region like and respect you. Why would they rat on you?"

"Well it probably doesn't matter. I'm meeting increasingly stronger counter-attacks. The bastards attempted to set up a cross-fire trap for me yesterday morning so it's likely they'll get me soon, dead or alive."

"So that attempted entrapment is why you ran amok?"

"Mrs Arnold if you want to keep the enemy on the left foot you keep turning the screws to apply psychological pressure. Um can I trust you?"

"Or what? Hold me hostage or cut my throat?"

"Mrs Arnold you obviously watch too much bad TV. I just want to feel Jennifer is safe, that's all and I'm running low of outboard fuel."

"Of course she is safe from finger-pointing to the authorities or those vile drilling people and their security thugs and yes your identity is safe. I'll only tell my husband and get him to set up some sort of signaling system to allow you to know it's considered safe to enter the bay."

"Oh excellent. Perhaps he could switch on a shielded red light when he knows I'm out there somewhere if he believes no suspicious people are lurking?"

"Could it be a blue or orange light? I have no wish to have a red light displayed on my house for obvious reasons."

They laughed.

"So young man, you asked if I could be trusted? For almost a year after the tragic drowning of your mother, I supplied your father with all the sex he needed. Your father and I and now you two are the only people who know that secret. Obviously I trusted you guys enough to tell you that secret to demonstrate my ability to keep my mouth shut."

"You're A1 with me Mrs A."

"Thank you Gus."

"And me Kim."

"Thanks Jennifer. I'll get my husband Jimmy to talk to you about fuel Gus. Perhaps he and you could hide a reserve fuel supply down at the beach away from the boats and next day he could top up the container you leave behind?"

"You seem suited for a career in crime planning Mrs A."

Jennifer could see that Kim, who was nine years younger than her husband, really liked Gus. Well didn't most people? She invited Kim and Jimmy over to dinner that evening.

CHAPTER 3

Returning to his cave just after dawn, Gus checked the knee-high black cotton threat he'd stretched between the cave walls three days ago just above high water mark.

It was intact.

Well so far so good. This was probably the last time he'd use this cave and would be his last mission and most dangerous one. It would be deemed the worst criminal act against the drillers to date and that would probably lead to the Government calling in the military to guard the drilling operation.

He was in position because he thought the drilling company might now have a coastal watch operating and just then heard a low flying chopper. Gus ran up the cave and into the other cave and looked out at the top entrance and saw an Army chopper go by with an observer with binoculars inspecting cave entrances and probably another would be looking out the sea.

Exactly an hour later the chopper returned making a similar sweep and then there were no more. So when would the next sweep occur? He grinned and thought psychological tactics.

He ate the meat loaf salad Jennifer had made for his lunch and drank the half-size bottle of red wine and then slept till evening. He warmed the Irish stew Mrs A had made for him and had that with more salad and packed everything back into the IRB and removed all signs of habitation including the two ends of the cotton line he'd broken when entering the cave. Working backwards he used his thick hunting jacket to sweep the sand clear of footprints. If he were captured alive he didn't want the prosecuting team finding evidence to use against him to argue he'd planned all of these harassment attacks. Gus believed Judges didn't take kindly to planned crime.

Just as he was about to leave to land just short of the lagoon outlet the fucking chopper came by low again.

Well that probably meant it was the safest time of all to go and he hared after it, leaving the tide to wash out his boat launching marks.

The way the guys in the chopper were positioned meant they didn't have rear vision. Although he couldn't match the chopper for speed he was zooming along within cover of its wretched noise and so wouldn't be heard on land. He landed on the stony beach under reduced power because the noise of the helicopter was fading.

The plan was to blow up the rig, making an emphatic statement of local opposition to building of a nuclear power plant on Okahu Island, an act of extreme civil disobedience that would receive huge publicity, if successful, going right to the heart of Government.

The opportunity to do this had come by a sheer stroke of luck.

Jimmy Arnold, Mrs A's husband, was an ex-Navy diver and had trained in use of underwater explosives that included training to use of available materials when stocks of primed explosives ran out or had been captured.

Jimmy had made Gus a bomb without having to buy actual explosives that could have led to Jimmy coming under investigation. One of the principle ingredients purchased was a particular common garden fertilizer Mrs A got for Jimmy when in the supermarket over at Townsend.

The packaged was handed over to Gus very carefully, Jimmy warning that home-make explosive devices were notorious unstable and many failed or performed very poorly. He'd spent time drilling Gus of how to proceed with care and how to give the device the best chance of doing its job effectively.

"You have four main tasks ahead of you," Jimmy finished by summarizing. "Place the device successfully, denoted it, get the hell out of there and hide successfully."

"Yes sir."

"What's happened to Jimmy?"

"Sorry I was acting like I was back taking orders."

"Yeah well I can't think of a better guy to send in with this package. Don't get yourself killed."

* * *

Gus went along the side of the lagoon outlet, keeping on hard ground to try to avoid leaving incriminating footprints.

Reaching an observation spot he casually tossed the explosive device to the ground and froze, mouthing oh shit.

There was no explosion. Not as unstable as Jimmy suggested they could be eh? Perhaps it was a dud? Still the guy who found it unexploded in the morning would probably come close to cardiac arrest and send a panic signal to everyone in the camp.

He lay beside the explosive device, ignoring it, and looked at the camp through his night glasses.

They obviously had eaten and looked cozily relaxed, probably exchanging filthy jokes that they had no opportunity to indulge in at home.

He turned to pick out the drilling rig and his mouth fell open.

It wasn't there!

He felt cheated.

All this for nothing.

He checked around for sentries and spotted none and on the final sweep to take in the far side of the smaller lagoon breathed "Gotcha."

The rig was over there. But why?

Well he didn't have to know.

He walked back to the IRB with the explosive device, wondering what the effect would be if someone shot him. He launched the boat and rowed to the outside of the lagoon outlet and walked into the rig after checking and finding no sign of guards.

Working carefully, knowing noise would carry in the stillness, he opened the drainage valve of the big fuel tank supplying the big Detroit engine and the foul smell of diesel spilling on to the ground hit his nostrils. He tipped over and opened the two reserve drums of gasoline used on the water pump motor and another two motors under the drilling platform. Gus then set the package he was carrying in a gap under the big engine and then got out of there, the fumes from spilling gasoline and diesel making him feel queasy.

Gus put to sea in the RIB and leaving the motor idling stood and opened the crude safety cap over the button and pressed it to transmit the radio signal.

It worked.

There was a huge explosion, lighting the area for a hundred feet around the rig and he saw pieces around it flying off in all directions and then the tower toppled and hit the ground with a thump.

He sat, gunned the motor and fled southwest.

No shots were fired at him. He imagined the camp was in bedlam.

Speeding along in just enough moonlight that he'd waiting two nights to be in the right position, Gus was able to keep sight of the cliffs and that helped him to maintain his course through the sea that in this area was riddled with rocky shoals.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, came the thunder of a powerful motor and a searchlight switched on.

"Fuck where did you come from?" he shouted aloud.

The first sweep of the light was stupidly high above him.

He spotted the second coming and ducked flat and it just went over him.

"Oh-oh. It's probably a naval patrol boat. I don't stand much of a chance and certainly only with a slight chance of out-running them."

The third sweep of searchlight caught him, continued to arc around and then returned and fixed on him.

"Oh shit."

A stern voice over a loudspeaker called, "Sailor in the RIB. Heave too. You are under Naval investigation."

"What the fuck is that," Gus yelled, knowing he wouldn't be heard.

He turned out to sea, anticipating the patrol boat would change course to keep the fugitive between it and land.

"This is your final warning. Heave to or we'll ram you."

Gus was relieved. That was preferable to being shot at.

There was no breaking water, just the sudden rocky uplift that often caught boats he would be asked to repair. It would be shown on the charts on that naval vessel and they could have some underwater sonar detection gear. But in a chase anything could happen and right then he heard the vessel's motor or motors rev much higher and looking back saw nothing of the big bastard, being temporarily blinded by the searchlight.

A light gun was fired and tracer bullets arched over it and then CRASH! The patrol boat hit Taylor's Mistake as the uprise was named on charts from ancient days. Captain Taylor probably holed his big sailing ship at that very location.

The searchlight was beamed high into the sky. Lights went on all over the patrol boat and an alarm hooter sounded.

As Gus raced away he wondered that would be a lovely mess to repair but it was unlikely he'd be given the contract for a number of reasons.

A red light was showing on Arnold's front deck and Jimmy was waiting on the beach for Gus.

Surprised, Gus asked, "Did you hear the explosion?"

"Did we what?" Jimmy grinned. "I reckon it would have been heard twenty miles away. House alarms were set off here around the bay and I guess over at Townsend alarms are also going off. The sole night cop will be pissing himself thinking pirates are invading us."

Gus carried his outboard motor up to the grass and then he and Jimmy unloaded the RIB and he and Jimmy carried it up to place alongside the RIB with the nameplate taped on a pontoon: Jimmy Arnold. They carried the craft rather than drag it and leave telltale marks. Jimmy then taped a nameplate on the pontoon of Gus's RIB: Kim Arnold, to foil any investigators.

They took everything to Jimmy's house and the motor was placed beside Jimmy's.

Jennifer kissed Gus deeply and said she was so pleased he was safe and then Kim kissed him and handed him a cup of coffee and said she was so pleased he was safe. Gus kissed her and she looked ever so pleased.

"There's your bicycle," Jimmy said. Gus pedaled through the sleeping spread-out community at 2:15 am and the tide was low as he rode across the sandbar whistling.