“What's up, Connor?”
“You guys are about to be walking around in the dark,” Connor said.
“What's wrong?”
“You got two circuit breakers that are about to blow near the Containment Chamber.” Connor removed two large breakers from his belt. “These have to go in or that 440 line is going to burn up and you'll be using flashlights.”
Barley straightened. “Are you sure?”
“What do you mean?”
“I just mean, are you sure? We've got a new commander down here, Connor. Somebody named Blake. A real hard case. And he's got a bunch of doofus CIA MPs with him. He says nobody goes in, out, whatever. We got kind of a bad situation.”
Connor wondered about Chesterton but let it pass. “Well, you're about to have a bad situation in the dark,” he said, lifting the line again. He turned away. “You can tell that to Blake.”
“Hold on, hold on,” Barley said quickly. He paused, concentrating. “All right. Go on. But I'll have to tell Blake about it, Connor. Those are the orders. It's a tight situation down here. Even for us.”
“Whatever, Barley. But I gotta change those breakers pretty quick. They're not going to stand the strain much longer.”
Moving wide to the side, Barley replied, “Yeah, all right. But you be careful down there. And you need to stay away from the cavern, man. It's totally off-limits.”
“I don't even need to go near the cavern,” Connor replied as he moved forward. “The breaker box is up in Beta Passage. That's over two hundred yards from the cavern.”
“All right.” Barley said. “But be careful, Connor. If you run into a squad of Blake's MPs just have them raise me on the A-unit. I'll deal with them.”
Connor waved, walking away. In ten minutes he was at the breaker box to put his real plan in action. He haphazardly scattered electrical tools on the steel walkway. Then he reached into the breaker box, hesitated, and shut off the main power switch.
Instantly total darkness descended through the cavern, and panicked shouts echoed along the hallways. Connor ran fast, knowing his way even in the dark. He took a hundred strides to get close to the Containment Cavern's steel door and then he dropped beside a wall, watching the activity.
Military flashlights bounced, piercing the liquid blackness as soldiers took aim on a single defensive spot. It took Connor only three seconds to determine their point of concern.
Then he quickly spun and ran back up the tunnel as the pager system boomed with a call for emergency electrical assistance. He reached the box and hit the switch, and the corridor was flooded with light. He heard boots clattering on the walkway, approaching, and began the last phase of his act, dropping to the ground and rolling.
Barley and two soldiers came charging down the corridor. They were carrying flashlights and rifles, moving with purpose. Connor waved to them and shouted, grimacing theatrically in an expression of extreme pain. Frantically he lifted a hand, signaling.
“It's hot!” he screamed. “Don't come any closer!”
“What!” Barley shouted, stopping in place along with the entire team. They stood more than twenty feet away.
Face twisted, Connor rose, bending to one side. Making a great and dramatic display of trembling hands, he took out a high-powered circuit tester, a formidable black box that had been the scariest thing he could come up with for the stunt. Then he glanced ominously at the soldiers, the steel walkway. “If you get hit with the current, try to reach the calcite,” he warned. “If you get off quick enough, it might not kill you.”
Choosing not to wait for that, two of the soldiers jumped onto the calcite. But Barley nervously held his ground. “What is it?” he whispered.
Connor answered, “A wire grounded out.”
Tentatively, he reached into the box, touching a circuit.
“Don't kill yourself, Connor!”
“The circuit grounded into the walkway,” Connor gasped, moving with infinite caution. “I got hit pretty bad. I don't know if this new breaker is going to be enough ... or not!”
Connor felt in the box, narrowly watching Barley shift. The lieutenant's hands were tight on the M-16. Finally, Connor released a breath. “It's gonna hold,” Connor said, turning and leaning against the wall as Barley ran up, grabbing his arm. The lieutenant's muscular face glistened with sweat.
“You gonna be okay, Connor?”
“Yeah, I got off it pretty quick. I've been hit with a 440 before ... but ... but I think it hurt me this time.”
Barley glanced with cautious distance into the box. Looked back at Connor. “Is it fixed?”
“Yeah. I think so.”
“Thank God,” Barley said, “I thought that...” He cast an angry glance toward the Containment Cavern before looking abruptly at Connor, but Connor ignored it. He left the coil of wire lying on the ground, walked away.