Chapter 28

Thursday: I tried to put it out of mind, but I had trouble sleeping during the night. When Lee woke me in the morning, I was not feeling fully rested. Not a good way to start out a day.

During breakfast, I mentioned the problem regarding the lack of security and the number of trucks we could recover. Bill said, "Judy can shoot. She has gone hunting with my Dad and me since she could pack a rifle all day."

"Then, if Judy agrees, she can go with us." I stated.

Judy said she was willing to help. Then Bill said, "By the way, did I mention that I too, am a qualified chopper pilot?"

"We served in the same unit during Nam." added Roy. That explained the greeting they given each other.

By seven we were in the air, headed south. We figured we needed to be headed back by 2 PM so we did not have any time to waste. Carol and Joy would leave a half hour after we did so that we would have time to secure a landing area and start gathering containers. We all thought that the odd of finding empty cargo containers at the port was a long shot. We expected to find a few empty semi's but we were not interested in them.

We found a large fenced in yard that had all sorts of containers stacked around it the center was empty and would provide us an area to land and be protected. Near the only gate were several trucks that were used to haul cargo containers. I noticed that some of the trucks were built like Loboys which allowed them to carry two stacked cargo containers instead of just a single container.

Ken had shown up with two bolt cutters this morning, and that is what we were going to use to open the containers doors. Ken would work on getting the trucks started. The rest of us would check out the contents of the containers.

After we landed, four of the women carrying radios and rifles, slipped off to the different corners of the yard to act as sentries. Ken went to work on the first truck, then shouted the keys and the manifest were on the front seat. This would make the job much easier.

Bill found the first jackpot! A truck bound for Sam's, containing canned soups and vegetables, toilet paper, Kleenex, paper towels, flour and sugar just to mention a few items. Actually it was all on one truck which was hauling four cargo containers so we only had three more to find.

Ken found the next truck with a fairly good load. One container was full of supplies going to an electrical supply company, which contained two pallets of ceiling fans with lights. One of the other containers held blankets, linen and the like which we could always use. This meant we would have to remove two of the cargo containers in favor of others.

Judy found another truck that only had one cargo container on it but it was beds and Lazy Boy loungers. Next to it was a container which contained stacked washers and dryers along with freezers and refrigerators. When I asked what type, Judy replied they are being shipped to Maytag. I just couldn't help but smile.

Carol and Joy arrived and started to help with the search of the containers. Ken and Bill found a big forklift and managed to get it running. This made stacking the second container, Judy found, on the truck easy. The next container Judy found was full of Easter stuff and we decided it was one we would empty. After some conversation we decided that we should dumb things outside of the yard so as not to impede our moving around inside the yard.

Ken open the gate and Bill drove the forklift through and set it down off to one side. Ken then opened the doors and tied them back while Bill connected the cable to the other end. Once they had four of containers ready Roy flew his chopper over with the cable extended. Bill made the connection and Roy raised the end of the container and the contents slid out as Roy backed off before setting the container down again. He repeated this three more times.

Meanwhile Ken had shut the doors to the containers again, before using the fork truck to move them together. Once the last one was in place the required cables, were connected to the four outside corners then several cargo straps were stretched all the way around the containers and tightened. Now that this was done Carol, Joy and Roy brought the Skycrane into a hover and Bill made the required connections to the cables then jumped clear and backed off.

When Bill was well clear, Jacob said that they could start lifting. We all held our breath while the cargo containers rose and watched intently as they headed north towards the Walker's hanger. Once they were out of sight, we started to hunt through the rest of the containers.

We had another four cargo containers ready for the cables when the SkyCrane returned. The dropped off the cargo straps for us to use again then moved over the next load. Bill and Ken made the required cable connections. This time we watched them lift off but went right back to work.

We now had three loaded trucks and only needed one more container to complete the loading of the last truck. Ken found the one that made our day. It contained wood burning stoves, of which eight were wood burning cook stoves and had been destined for a hardware store in Fairbanks.

We already had four containers identified to be emptied; that was accomplished as fast as Jacob could drive the fork truck and Bill could empty the containers using Roy's chopper. We had them strapped together waiting for the Skycrane in record time. Bill returned the fork truck to its original position and Ken was going to lock the yard up again once we drove the trucks out. We would still need supplies in the future and we did not want to leave the gate open as an invitation.

Shortly the Skycrane returned and dropped Roy off before we made the final connections to the cargo containers. As the Skycrane disappeared with its final load, Roy started to serve up our lunch of hot coffee, soup and sandwiches.

Thankfully all the trucks had a full load of fuel, so we were ready to go. We let Ken pull out first then pull off to the side of the road so we could pull on out. I was to lead with Judy as the navigator. Bill was behind me, then Jacob, with Ken bringing up the rear. Roy was flying with Mindy as his M60 gunner, which had her excited.

Roy few ahead of us then back over us scouting ahead and to our sides and our rear to keep us from being surprised. I know I was nervous as we passed under the overpass that we had been ambushed at last time. Roy was in a hover during the time it took us all to clear the area.

We did not stop anywhere on the way home and we made it in record time. Thankfully the only policeman around was Jacob and he was speeding like the rest of us. Once we pulled to a stop beside the hanger, we started to celebrate our good fortune.

Roy said tomorrow he could fly the lighter cargo containers to the camp. Bill said he was willing to fly in the Skycrane so that it would have three pilots and they could move stuff to the mining camp too. The item that bothered me was that a round trip took five hours flight time and two trips would be a full day. That meant a maximum of six containers could be moved tomorrow. It would take three days to transport just the loaded containers we trucked in today. Of course in between, we would be filling additional containers from the stuff we had already gathered.

Friday: We were up and had breakfast before seven. By eight both choppers were on their way to the camp. Before Roy left, he had loaded two empty cargo containers onto empty haulers and we used Ken's pickup to move the containers into position so that we could load them. We started with the items we had stored in the hanger. We could always drive the trucks away if needed but the items in the hanger would be lost to us if we had to leave in a hurry.

By the time the choppers returned we had filled both containers and needed one more to complete the loading of the items stored in the hanger. Roy loaded two more cargo containers onto empty haulers. This would allow us to finish the loading of the items stored in the hanger as well as those on the stake truck.

Lee and Su had used a Dutch oven to cook a roast that Roy had brought back with him. As soon as the pilots were back and dinner was eaten they headed for bed. Jacob and I had removed them from watch rotation. We split that duty between Jacob, Zhan and I. I know I missed sleep keeping watch and came to the conclusion that on Sunday we would all need to have a day of rest. Tomorrow I wanted to visit the electrical house and get the items we would need to wire the new cabins. Bill discovered that we could connect a hauler to the rear of the stake truck without any problems so we could now move them easily. I also wanted to pick up a Case 580SL that I had noticed at the rental yard. It would be able to dig deeper and faster than the current backhoe we had.