Campaign (Dusties Series Book 5) by Brett Murrell

Author:Brett Murrell [Murrell, Brett]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Worldspanner
Published: 2018-01-23T22:00:00+00:00

50: Friends

__________

EVERRA: Have you reached Rodrigo’s location?

THE MASTER: I am above him now.

EVERRA: The prowler is on top of the winch house with a good view. She is able to overhear the human conversation.

THE MASTER: Have her focus on Rodrigo.

EVERRA: Understood. I beg permission for a question.

THE MASTER: Ask.

EVERRA: Why not take Rodrigo now? You now know where the collar is.

THE MASTER: True. But we do not yet know where Oldevil is.

EVERRA: Does he actually serve Oldevil? His reconstructed memories only show that he believes he might. Our researchers have yet to find a memory where he is in contact with Oldevil.

THE MASTER: When Rodrigo has the control collar in hand, we will capture him.

EVERRA: You are wise.

THE MASTER: Do I sense sarcasm in your response?

EVERRA: Merely concern, Master.

__________

Ed tied off his rope to the strut of the winch house. “Alrighty, who’s going to do what? Two of us need to stay up here to babysit the crane. And because the Skyhall roof is no longer down below, you need to use this rope to pull the crane closer to the cliff. That’s going to require strength.”

All eyes turned to Rodrigo.

“Is the crane difficult to operate?” asked Rodrigo.

“Complicated and deadly.”

Abbi giggled. “Oh, good.”

Scarlet ran his hand over the cable reel. “Is there something wrong with it? I recognize the design.”

“Yes and no.” Ed hopped up into the winch house and pointed under the reel. “It’s a good quality setup, pulley assist and counterweight. All easy enough. But the vandals have been out to play, I suspect. Look under here. The anchor tie is completely hacked off.”

“Which means?” said Rip.

“Which means the cable isn’t anchored. Feed out too much cable and it will slip off the reel.”

“As in, completely off?” said Scarlet.

Ed nodded. “Down the cage would go. A terminal velocity elevator all the way to the bottom floor.”

Murmurs came from the others. Ed swept them with a look reserved for lazy laborers. “Well, I regret mentioning it. There’s plenty of cable and we only need to lower the cage ninety feet, so there’s no risk as long as someone babysits the brake. According to these instructions on the crank mount, there’s a red stripe painted on the cable. Once the stripe gets to here, we are far enough down. Got it? Don’t let it out farther than that.”

Rodrigo nodded and cleared his throat.

“I will take care of the crane. Ed, Scarlet, and you, Abbi, will conduct the search. Rip will work the swing rope.”

“Actually…” Scarlet gave Rip a pat on the back. “Actually, if it’s not a bother, Rip, I’ll switch places with you. You’re even better than I at uncovering things, and I’d like to stay and chat with Rodrigo for a bit.”

Rip gave him an uncertain glance. “Ahey. Let’s be about it then.”

After a moment of hesitation, Rodrigo nodded.

The three entered the cage. Rodrigo and Scarlet placed counterweights to approximate the weight of their friends, winched up the cage and swung it over the abyss. And with both hands on the lift control wheel, they lowered it slowly.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.