The Sleeping Army Awakes

Part 63 Wireless connections

Back at the reservoir Count Mikula tested and retested the connections. The small electronic gadget reported that he had only got just over half of the detonators successfully connected to the remote.

"But they were all beingk actiff a minute or two ago!" He cried in exasperation.

He caught sight of what he suspected was a wolf's tail, but seeing as the wolf was retreating he felt no threat.

"Gott in Himmel. I am sure zhat I connected zhat one tvice ovfer!" Count Mikula shouted, looking at the disconnected explosive in exasperation. "Vill I never finish zhis project!"

If Adolphus could have chuckled then he would have done. He was enjoying the game of hunting anorectic snakes even though he had been forced to make several speedy strategic withdrawals. He had already managed to remove almost half of the blasting cables and if it was only delaying the evil, it was of assistance.

The rest of the pack didn't seem to understand what they had to do and merely leaped in and pounced on the cables and ran away leaving most of them still connected. Since there there was no way for him to communicate what he wanted them to do in Wolfish. Adolphus wished that he could have the ability that Samuel had demonstrated.

Count Mikula grew tired of his work. The charges that he had already planted and wired, would perhaps be enough, he convinced himself. It was past time to leave and to let the charges do their work. So he left.

Watering the plant

In the mine Samuel stopped drinking his coffee and suddenly looked quite unwell. Adolphus had told him that the count had decided to leave the work unfinished and was now walking away. Samuel knew that he would soon enable the charges. He saw a strange premonition of torrents of water cascading down the hillside through the construction site and down into the lake. He looked so strange that Katka came over and asked him if he was alright.

"Get your boss into his helicopter as soon as possible." He told Spencer, "The count is about to detonate charges that will see the contents of the whole reservoir cascade into the lake.  The wolves have delayed the detonation for as long as possible. We only have as long as it takes a man to walk two kilometres before he will enable the charges.I reckon that you have about twenty minutes."

"How could you possibly know this?" Spencer asked.

 As Spencer stared at Eliška's face waiting for an answer. Her features stayed the same but her complection seemed to change for a second and her hair looked brown and not black. For just a flicker there were clear pockmarks visible on her face.  Spencer wondered whether he was hallucinating or whether it could have just been a trick of the light? He blinked and Eliška seemed to return back to normal.

"Oh he knows things that you would not believe. Trust him." Eliška said imploringly, realising her mistake in her letting concentration wander and cursing herself for it, "I have feeling that he knows what he is talking about!"

Spencer paused, trying to make sense of this and stared at Eliska's face a while before asking more questions. 

"Did any one else see that?"  Samuel asked,  because he sensed Spencer's unease about Eliska's change of appearance.  "I've been seeing funny things ever since I came here."

"And when was that?" Spencer asked.  

"Quite recently really!" Samuel replied quite honestly. "The place had not been properly maintained for many years and so I am having to work quite hard to get it back to standard."

"Who is this count?" Spencer asked.

"He is Sir Gilbert's assassin and demolition expert." Samuel explained. "He has the name Count Mikula 'the Neck' I believe. I am holding his apprentice under arrest."

Spencer hesitated, still pondering why Eliška seemed to keep changing her appearance.

"What are you waiting for man?" Samuel asked.

"Please trust Samuel!" Katka said, annoyed that she had been upstaged by the only other girl present. "Samuel has powers that you wouldn't believe."

"Please contact him now!" Samuel said desperately, "Do it now while there is still time to evacuate everyone."

Samuel placed his hand on Spencer's forehead and sent a rush of images into Spencer's mind, despite his attempts at blocking, concerning the premonition that he had experienced, along with the sparse details that Basil had provided.

"Oh my dear saintly Aunt Sally!" Spencer said, when the enormity of the problem hit him. Sir Percy was still out on the lake!

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Spencer asked desperately.

"It would have been premature!" Samuel replied. "I always find that waiting until you are in possession of all the facts is an advantage. You can take him to the hotel. That is on sufficiently high ground.!"

Seeing the emormity of the problem,Spencer sprinted out of the mine, because his Dudat showed no communications below ground. Eliška sprinted after him because didn't want to be parted from him.

"Boris!" Spencer said, "Evacuate Sir Percy and anyone else that you can find on or near take to the hotel. A saboteur is trying to detonate charges to empty the contents of the reservoir into the lake. When you've picked them up you must come back here to pick us up. I'll speak to Sir Percy."

"We should let old pig die!" Boris said spitefully, but secretly he relished the chance to use the Sikorsky now it was running sweetly.

"Do it now or we will all be owned by someone who will make your life closer to hell than you can imagine." Spencer threatened. "His brother is far worse. I've met him!"

"I am going there already!" Boris reassured him.

Spencer repeated the information to Honza Malik

"How long do we have?" Honza asked.

"Not long!" Spencer, "If you hear the blast you'll still probably have a few seconds left to get airborne."

"Oh Mr God!" Honza said.