Chapter 23

As John approached the location where Jose was waiting, he saw Jose and Ben standing at the ditch edge. Getting out, he walked up to them and said “It sounded like an emergency, what gives?”

Jose turned to him and said, “Remember that goat rope up in Montana?”

A dark shadow passed over John’s face. Montana has been his previous run in with ELF✦.

John faced the ditch looking in at that. He saw the pipe FME✦✦ cover cap on the ground, and one of the flags in the ditch.

Between them, they had been anal retentive about maintaining the cover since that incidence. Jose pulled out the FME log, and asked “I know you’re good, but I have to ask, did you or did you not put the cap on?”

John replied “I did, and signed for it that evening.”

John hopped into the ditch, pulled out his flashlight and looked up the bore of the pipe.

After getting a look, he said “Fucking pricks.” He turned, picked up the marker flag, and shoved it into the bore to gage the depth of the obstruction he saw. The flag hit just as it reached the flag material. John looked up and said, “We have to cut this piece out.”

John handed his keys to Jose, and said “Back up to the next root and hook me up with a cut off wheel.”

John then walked down to the middle of the piece where Ben waited.

Ben handed him a pipe strap which he wrapped the piece with. He then tossed the end back to Ben.

Getting to the previous weld location, Jose was there waiting on him. Jose passed him his grinder, hood, and drop cord, then started his welder.

A few minutes later, John had the pipe cut loose. Ben’s crew lifted it out, then dropped a replacement in.

Thinking about it, John said to Jose “Round up Mei and go check the rest of the loose pipe sticks for any obstructions after I tie this one in.”

Jose handed his leads and rods in. John then welded the root.

Crawling out of the ditch, John said “Ben, leave that piece on the ground where it is laying for now, but get me a block under the nearest end. He then installed a fresh FME cover on the new end, and filled out the log as Jose inspected the root.

John then took Jose’s gator back to the equipment yard where he picked up a ten-inch pipe cap that had an air fitting in the end. After he had returned, he saw the cut-out piece had been put up on block stands. He took out the pipe cap, clamped it in place on the nearest end, and proceeded to weld it on.

After he was done, he found Ben standing there.

“Ben, can you lay this piece up on the dirt pile pointing out into the desert?”

Ben nodded then and got it done.

Afterwards John said to Ben “I want all your people back at the job trailer before I put the pressure on this.”

John got on the radio “Pixy come up.”

“Go for Pixy” her voice came back.

John then said “I want you to cease welding and you, and anyone with you, to stay in the ditch until I give an all clear, understand?”

Her voice came back “Understood, stop welding, stay in the ditch until you give all clear.”

John then hooked his air hose up to the cap, and rolled his rig forward until the coil of hose was fully played out.

Starting his compressor, he watched the gage come up slowly.

At forty PSI on the gage, there was a sound that reminded John of a motor, and the pressure immediately dropped.

He turned to the pipe and saw it rolling off the dirt pile, and a rapidly fading object headed out into the desert.

When the object impacted the ground, there was a loud boom and a mini-mushroom cloud out in the desert.

Ben was quite quick witted. He turned to John, and said, “I think you got that wascally wabbit.”

John was in mild shock. The obstruction had been an explosive rather than Quikrete, like it had been in Montana.

John got out his phone and called Al. After hellos he said “Al do you have that mechanical inspection pig available?”

Al answered “I do, and it’s in my rig headed your way.”

John knew Al still came out off and on to go over Mary’s findings, but why was Al carrying around equipment like that he wondered?

John got on the radio and instructed all crews to return to the office. After rolling up his equipment, John did the same.

Rolling up to the office trailer, he saw Al, Carl, and Petra were standing outside. John thought to himself ‘Shit, this will get interesting.’ After greeting everyone, he asked the three guests to accompany him into his office.

Carl looked at John and asked, “Why is everyone standing around out there?” Judging by the faces, the other two wanted to know the same.

John looked at them and gave them a synopsis of the morning’s events.

Turning to Petra, he said, “If this project is to go forward, we need security out here at night. Otherwise, somebody is going to get killed if those bastards keep that crap up.”

He then reiterated what they had done up in Montana, and how the blockage of Quikrete had caused a pressure explosion killing three people.

Turning to Al, he said, “We need to get an eye inside that pipe before we continue. The last thing we want is to be welding near a bomb.”

All of the guests present paled at that thought.

Al replied, “The device I have with me can do that, but I suggest leaving the already buried segments to the ✦✦blow down and ✦✦✦pressure test, as this device is only good for three thousand feet.”

John replied, that would be enough for us to move forward. But we’ll definitely need a contingency for blow down and pressure test. There is no way to know if something is further back.

Everyone turned to Petra then. She controlled the funds, and therefore had final say.

Looking at John she asked “Why didn’t you call in the Feds on this?”

John replied “We’d be locked down for a week if we did. It’s not too late to do so; is that what you want to do?”

In answer, she pulled out her phone and made a call. When the first word was “Papa” John knew who she was talking to. After giving him a synopsis, the reply was short, at which she nodded her head.

After hanging up, she turned to them and said, “Papa said we have insurance and contract allowances for this contingency. Please make the call.”