Globusz^® Publishing 

t was late in the afternoon and still hot outside but in the ministers office the air conditioning was working... courtesy of electricity provided by the generators at the dam. The irony of this was lost on the two conspirators as they sipped at their afternoon drinks.

“The whole problem appears to be the explosive,” Fidel was saying. “I thought at first we could pinch a couple of bombs from the Air Force and blow it up with those but he reckons that wouldn’t do it. He was saying we need to cut the ties between the two walls of the dam. That would reduce its strength by a lot more than half.”

“So one plus one equals three does it?”

Fidel scratched his head as he pondered over the minister’s reply. “It’s even more than that. One plus one as you say, in this case probably makes four. The dam has about four times the strength of a single dam wall when they are connected in this manner.”

“So these cross girders they multiply the strength of each wall.” But this uncharacteristic pun from Noberto went straight over Fidel’s head. “Does he have an idea how we may, disconnect them?”

“Anti tank mines and or semtex. But he insists the dam should be full or nearly so. It’s the pressure from the water that breaks it. The explosive weakens it enough for the water to do the rest.”

“Yes! Well the orders have already been given for them not to open the sluices and waste it. I raised the issue at a cabinet meeting. Said I was being cautious about letting it get full too quickly. As I thought, they overruled my caution. Close the sluices and not to waste any more water they said.”

“I trust the decision was entered in the minutes.”

“Oh yes. I insisted on that... So is that all, he just wants us to supply him with some anti tank mines. How would he blow them, and how do you propose getting them into the dam?”

“Noberto we haven’t devised a plan, this was just a preliminary look at things and to make some wild suggestions.”

“What wild suggestions?”

“Well one of the ways he proposed was to fill the void with gas then make a spark.”

“What! Hell fire! Fidel have you any idea how big that void is between the dam walls, it’s enormous; you could hide an army in there.”

“This was one of his suggestions, using gas I mean. However it does have one certain advantage. If we were able to use natural gas it could just possibly be blamed on natural causes.”

“We don’t have any natural gas on this side of the continent, let alone in this country. But it is a very tempting idea.”

Fidel waited letting the minister absorb the idea and think about it a little before he said some more and told him of the problem. “The problem is the amount of gas required.”

“Hmm! How much would you need? Enough to fill a cathedral I should think.”

“A very rough estimate was five lorry loads of 20 large cylinders... All along that road. I don’t think I could hide that much traffic.”

The Minister of the Interior got up from his chair and began pacing the office. Six strides this way then six strides back again. Fidel left him to it and made him self as comfortable as possible whilst sitting in the chair that was not designed for comfort. He took another sip of his drink and debated weather or not to refill it whilst Noberto was playing the big thinker.

The Minister stopped his pacing and looked straight at Fidel. “Can you acquire one or two anti tank mines? Not from our army but from abroad, Mexico perhaps.”

“Two! Yes I could get them flown in from Mexico in a plain wooden box... A coffin perhaps. But two wouldn’t be enough. There are a lot of connecting girders between the two walls. However if we pinched them from the Army the loss wouldn’t be noticed immediately, and in the confusion afterwards... well it may even flood the armoury.”

“No not that much from the Army. Too close to home.” The Minister turned on him. His were eyes alight with excitement as he started waving his arms for emphasis. “Fidel you are not thinking big enough. I have seen those girders and there are far too many too cut all of them, so why not do both things together?”

“Both things? ... I don’t follow.”

“Fill the void with gas and cut some of the girders to weaken it. The flash from the explosive would light the gas. Boom!”

“Si! But how do we get the gas into the void of the dam without someone noticing. The engineers at the dam would certainly object if five lorry loads of gas bottles arrived to be discharged into the void.”

“Bah! Engineers. What do they know? Where will they be when the dam breaks? It will land on top of them. Getting the gas to the dam that’s just logistics. How was it built in the first place? ... Along the railway line. One train can deliver the gas. Cover the wagons and nobody will be any wiser. And the cable car can deliver them to the top.”

“Yes! But not in wagons. If we put the gas bottles in containers and use flat beds to carry the containers. They wouldn’t even know what they were unloading at the port.”

“Yes that’s an idea Fidel. Can we get the gas and get it shipped here – quietly?”

“Where would we get it from? Venezuela I suppose, that is the obvious place. Perhaps I should take a flight across to Caracas and see what options there are. But first I must talk some more with this man Shaun. And I must also look into getting a train moving along that line.”

“Yes do that Fidel. Put this IRA man on to it. Let’s have a proper plan and some real figures. Then you can see if it is possible to get the gas into the void. I rather like the idea of a natural gas explosion. We could blame it on the engineers. Perhaps even win some compensation.”

“Now Fidel. That other matter, have you managed to find a suitable building below the dam to use as the kidnappers hideout and prison.”

“That is proving to be a little more difficult than I had anticipated. Two of my specials are out looking for a suitable place as I speak. Find a derelict building near the river and with no neighbours is their brief. Nothing so far, they’re using scramble bikes rather than use a four wheel vehicle.”

“No matter, it is not important we can always use a van parked up a track. If we work the ransom exchange at the very moment the dam goes. The result will be the same.”

“That would simplify matters considerably. I’ll call off the two soldiers when they report next. Now if you will excuse me Noberto I have a lot of work to do.”

* * *

It was the first working day at the prison for Peter and Helen, there was to be nothing very strenuous. Peter had a briefing from Drew the day before; they were to make the frames for bamboo furniture. Whilst the women, who were kept segregated, were put to work sewing and filling the cushions for the furniture. They were paid in credits and these they could exchange for extra food and toiletries. It was just a rip off for the guards, but it kept the prisoners busy without taxing their minds.

The ‘factory’ was in the part of the building that was occupied by the guards. Peter’s first priority was to find out how the tools were controlled and then how he could ‘confiscate’ one or two. Meanwhile, Miguel had somehow managed to find a requirement to visit the bamboo store enclosure and collected Peter to ‘help’ him. Before they went however they managed to coil several thin shavings of bamboo around their waist and under their shirts. It wasn’t difficult in the bamboo store area to remove the strands of bamboo from around their waist. Peter coiled them neatly and propped the coils against the wall in full view. When returning to their dormitory after finishing for the day they employed the same tactic of coiling several strands around their waist.

That evening the experiments started, first testing the strength of the strands, then twisting, weaving and soaking the strands in water. It appeared as long as the strands weren’t bent too sharply they retained their strength. But otherwise the strands would splinter even when soaked in water first. It soon became apparent that to make a 100 meter rope, strong enough to support a person was going to be a lengthy job. But they had plenty of time. Peter didn’t think it wise keep the pieces of bamboo that they had been experimenting with in the dormitory and so coiled it up and from the last window tossed it into the bamboo enclosure without the guards hearing it.

Now they could relax and soon Peter and Drew were talking. “Okay! Drew we can make a rope that will allow us to get out of here. It’ll be a long job but it is possible, what happens then?”

“What happens then? We’re out, travel at night and lay up during the day.”

“Well if we left as soon as it gets dark, say 9 o’clock. Roll call in the morning at work is at 8 o’clock that gives us eleven hours start. But it would take at least an hour to get down the rope so we are down to ten hours. We would have to leave the road at sunrise say 5 o’clock and then enter the forest. I don’t think we could travel more than thirty miles the first night. And that is being optimistic and with good footwear.”

“Thirty miles radius that’s a large area for them to search, say 100 square miles. And that would be expanding all the time.”

“True but it wouldn’t be a thirty mile radius. They would be bound to concentrate on the road. Especially when those damn dogs get on the sent and we can't avoid that.”

Peter paused, looking thoughtful. “Now if I were a guard the first thing I would do, would be to circle the prison with all four dogs trying to pick up the scent. If none of them picked up the scent, which they wouldn’t, I would send two down the road and do a wider circle on the plateau with the other two. Sooner or later the dogs would find the scent. Then using that jeep thing they have they leap frog the dogs two at a time down the road until they find where we entered the forest. I think by the first evening they would be snapping at our heels if we weren’t already caught.”

Drew looked crestfallen. “So what are you saying, we give up. Just sit back and do nothing? I thought you were made of stronger stuff than that.”

“Hell no! I’m not giving up, just working the options, now if we could do something about those dogs. Well it would give us a better chance. Though they may then bring in some dogs from the army. But that would all take time.”

“Couldn’t we lay a false trail...? No! Of course not. But we could use the river and that swamp at the base of the cliff. You don’t leave a scent in water.”

“Yes we could but that would slow us up quite a bit. The thirty miles would be more like ten. Nowhere near enough.”

“Pepper!”

“Pepper?

“That’s it Peter, we lay a trail of pepper, the dogs will start sneezing and won’t be able to follow the scent.”

“Yes... that would work, that would leave them in a right snafu. For a while. How long would it incapacitate a dog for? I suppose that would depend on how much of a whiff of the pepper it had... But anyhow that is just a delaying tactic, we need something more permanent.”

“You mean dead dawgs!”

“Yes or just making the dogs ill for a few days would do the trick... I think we will have to sleep on it. Tomorrow we need to get that short rope made and see if we can get into the roof void during the night.”

They sat deep in thought for a while before ‘Good Night’s’ were said and they turned in. Peter lay quietly on his back for some time plotting and thinking before sleep eventually captured him.

* * *

The next day began much like the previous one in the ‘factory’. Peter spent much of the time hiding in a corner plating rope out of the shavings from a piece of split bamboo. Despite being relieved by both Drew and Miguel his fingers were raw and sore by the evening. They had decided to make the rope in two lengths to enable them to hide it when carrying, then splice the two lengths together later. And now one length was finished and the second length nearly complete. The third day Peter finished work on the second length of rope and during the midday break took it back to the dormitory wound round the waist under his shirt. Early that evening he spliced the two lengths together which gave them a rope long enough to reach below the lower window. Later Peter was sitting down in the dust near to the fence. This had become the accepted way of communicating between the men and women. Someone sat near the fence and a person from the other side of the fence came along to talk. It was accepted by the guards as long as they didn’t stay too long. A few moments later Helen joined him. “How’s it going with you Peter, when are you going to try to get into the roof void?”

“I’m going to have a go tonight, after the guards change shift at midnight.”

“Well be careful. Sometimes the guards do a patrol soon after they change over shifts.”

“Yes I know; I plan to go after they have done one.”

“I have that knife that I promised, do you want it now?”

“Great! Yes, push it into the dust under the fence; it may come in useful tonight. What I wanted was, have a look round and see if you can get out of your building during the night.”

“What tonight?”

“No, not tonight Helen, but sometime soon. We may have to escape together, and that will mean joining up somehow.”

“Oh! Yes, I see. I’ll sort something out. Best if we part now, don’t forget the knife. And Peter please be careful tonight.” The rest of the evening passed slowly with a guard accompanied by a dog occasionally patrolling the end of the compound.

“It’s midnight!” Drew whispered. “I think it must be midnight when they change over.” They could see the guards building when they saw the hand over from one shift to another. Almost immediately a patrol started with a guard taking the dog for a walk around the fence. Ten minutes later and the guard returned. “Okay! Let’s go now Peter. We should have at least an hour before he decides to have another walk.”

They opened the window and carefully lowered the rope and inserting two slats from a bed through a loop in the end to hold it in place. After getting the okay from Miguel Peter climbed onto the sill and lowered him self outside. Carefully he put his weight on the rope which creaked with the strain, then went hand over hand down to the ground. The rope was exactly the right length and ended just over a meter from the ground. He shuffled quickly to the fence pulled the wire away at the corner and slid through the gap pulling the wire back behind him.

Drew pulled the rope in and coiled it neatly on the floor before partially closing the window. “Miguel!” He whispered. “Any movement.”

Miguel on the other side of the room was watching the guards hut. “Nothing Seņor Drew, he is still inside. Drew pushed open the window and gave Peter the thumbs up.

‘Next comes the critical point,’ thought Peter. He picked up a long length of bamboo and propped it against the flat roof at the gable end, then added a second piece. It looked precarious and they were almost vertical. Slowly he began to climb but they were too steep and he lowered him self back down. Pulling the base out a little he tried again. The bamboo creaked and his feet scrambled against the wall. Eventually he got his left foot onto the top of the fence post and felt more secure, enough so as to be able to look over at Drew who was leaning out of the window watching him from three meters away. “How am I doing do you think? I hope that guard is still sitting comfortably and doesn’t fancy another walk.”

Drew ducked back in and looked over at Miguel who was holding his thumb up. Next moment his head reappeared. “All Okay! Miguel is still giving the thumbs up. Your right hand is only about a meter from the roof edge, if you can climb a bit more and stretch you should be able to reach it.

Peter drew a deep breath then with infinite care pulled him self up the last stage. The two poles bent as he reached the top, stretching upwards to hook the fingers of his right hand over the edge of the flat roof. Then with a heave and more scrabbling from his feet he managed to get the upper part of his body onto the roof. A pause for breath before he swung his legs over onto the roof then he could rest and get his heart rate back to normal.

* * *

Helen was looking through the window and watched the guard walk along the fence with the dog only to return some minutes later. She looked up at the top floor window of the men's quarters and saw Drew’s face near the window. A few minutes later and the window opened and shortly she saw the rope being lowered. She walked to the end of her dormitory and checked through the window to see if she could see anything of the guards. All clear! A quick look to see how Peter was getting on and she saw him slide under the corner of the wire fence. Another check on the guards but there was no sign of them. ‘Hurry up Peter, hurry up and get on to that roof.’ She held her breath as she saw the bamboo poles bend when he climbed them and then at last he was on the roof. She looked down at her hand and found her fingers crossed and her hands were so tense that the muscles ached. Another quick look and still no sign of the guards as she walked back to her end of the room, gazing out of each window in turn. A moment later she saw a vague shadow disappear into the roof void. ‘Don’t forget the bamboo poles Peter, you’d best not leave them there.’

* * *

Peter lay there for a few moments before looking over the edge and down at Drew’s worried face at the window. “Right! I’m going to check the door in the gable end and see if I can get in. You can close the window for now.” He didn’t wait for an answer and crawled over to the door whilst testing the roof which fortunately felt firm. He couldn’t resist standing and looking above the edge of the pitched roof to see the guards hut near the gate.

Back to the door and a sigh of relief to see it was only a loop of bamboo with a toggle that held the door. A moment later with this removed he pushed the door open. A dark void greeted him. It was pitch black inside and smelt musty. The part of floor that he could see comprised four large pieces of split bamboo laid across the rafters and stretching away into the gloom. The entrance to the roof void was only just over a meter in height so on hands and knees he crawled forward but with his body blocking out even the miserable bit of starlight he couldn't see anything at all. Carefully he turned around on the four pieces of bamboo before feeling at the ceiling panels to find out how they were fastened in place.

‘Ah! Yes. Each side of the panel had two pegs which went into holes in the rafters and cross members. These would stop the panels lifting when the wind got up. Remove six of the pegs and lift one end then slide the panel out. Vole!’ Peter could now see Drew below him in the middle of the dormitory.

“What’s it like up there, is there plenty of room?”

“There’s a stack of room from what I can see. But only a little of the space has boards to walk on, I have to be careful not to step elsewhere.” Peter leant over to see where he was in relation to Drew’s bunk. “Hold on a moment, I’m going to move over and open the panel above your bunk Drew. Then I can drop down and get back up more easily.” His head disappeared inside and a few minutes later the panel above Drew’s bunk was removed.

“Right! Pass me my boots will you. I’ll have them up here, and the rope.”

After Drew had passed them up he stowed them nearby before having another word with Drew. “If the coast is still clear I’ll lift those two bamboo poles up onto the roof and stow them in here as well. I don’t think they will miss them and we don’t want to leave them propped up where they are.”

A few minutes later and Peter was outside, a quick look at the guard hut then he lifted first one then the other of the poles up onto the flat roof. Walking half crouched to the end of the roof he looked over. The night breeze had already begun and there was a fair draft curling up over the edge as he pocked his head over to admire the view. Some one hundred meters below the road could be seen in the starlight and even the odd glitter of stars reflected in the water on the valley floor. It was whilst looking over the edge he recalled lying on his back just a few days ago and watching that cotton bud blown up the cliff face. The updraft with this wind must be strong. ‘No time to dawdle, best get below and get those ceiling panels closed.’ 

Later with the two bamboo poles stowed in the roof void, the door in the gable end jammed shut and both ceiling panels replaced Peter, Drew and Miguel sat talking.

“The trouble is it’s so dark up there,” Peter was saying. “If we are to use that space effectively then we will need some light, but we must ensure that no light seeps out through the roof or else the guards would definitely notice it.”

“But what do we use for a light; there is no power to these buildings.”

“Si! But we can make candles.” Miguel commented. “They have fat left over from the cooking in the kitchen, a piece of string and we have a candle. But we must not let the guards see any light.”

“If I go up there in the day and close the ceiling panel behind me it should be so dark that any light seeping in will show up like a search light. It should be easy to plug the holes. Miguel if you can sort out candles for us that would be great.”

“You can’t go on climbing through that ceiling panel each time without eventually showing some marks on it,” Drew commented. “We have to sort that out as well.”

With that last comment the meeting broke up, each now had a job to do, Miguel to sort out candles, Drew to provide better access to the roof void and Peter to think about making the void light proof. He lay on his bunk and soon resolved this problem. What to block the holes with? Well dust and water made mud, push it in the holes where light showed through in daylight. But an answer to his other problem eluded him, how to stop the dogs from tracking their scent once they were free.

‘What are my options?’ He mused, whilst waiting for sleep to come. ‘One, remove the dogs, difficult and they could be replaced. Two, incapacitate the dogs, same answer as one. Three, lay a false trail, even more difficult. Confuse the dogs, change scent, do a circle, go through the river and swamp. Four, don’t let them find the start of the trail. But the trail must be on the road. If the trail is on the road what do they need the dogs for. Answer, because they won’t let me use the road. They will have guards at every choke point.’ He turned over, restless and unable to sleep as thoughts chased around in his head, the answer was there he was sure of it. ‘If we can’t use the road we will have to travel through the rain forest. But that would be slow and the dogs would catch us. How do I get past the dogs? Through them, killing or incapacitating. Round them, false trail. Hide from them, change scent. Under them... impractical. Over them, jump, fly, climb?’ Still it eluded him.

The last option intrigued him and he pushed this around in his head. ‘To climb along the cliff face because dogs can’t climb. To soar like a bird because dogs can’t fly. But neither can I without wings or a parachute.’ He suddenly went rigid lying in his bunk, a parachute or a paraglide. Jump off the roof of the wash-rooms, that updraft of air and the dogs would never find the scent trail. Yes!’ He was so excited at this idea he thought of waking Drew to discuss it further but relented at the last moment. It could wait until the morning.

‘A paraglide looks favourite, but how to make it. I’ve seen one or two floating around off the slopes in Derbyshire, but had not seen any close up. Could we get the material, could I design and make one? Hum! How does it work?’

Peter pushed this idea around in his head for some time but couldn’t think of how to design it. ‘I know how a parachute works but how do I make a parachute go forward, it’s something to do with making an airfoil shape with the cutting and stitching of the cloth. I’ll have to do it by trial and error, make a model and drop it. How about a hang-glider, now that may be a better idea, it’s more manoeuvrable. I remember seeing one on the ground. A few poles, bamboo poles would do that job nicely. Wires to string it together, well we have bamboo rope, that’s pretty strong. We can also use that rattan that we collected from lower down the valley on the way here. Have to work out a way of fastening things together. What to cover it with? The only cloth we have is that black canvas they use for the underside of the cushions for the furniture. Would that be strong enough? It’s a bit flimsy really.’ He tossed and turned as he mulled these ideas over in his head. ‘One thing I do need though is paper and pencil to sketch it. Now where do I get that from? I’ll have to ask Drew and get Helen to ask around the women, see if any of them have paper and pencil.’ At last after deciding to put everything of until the morning he eventually managed to get a few hours sleep.