condensed master

Will Bonner
he would take the opportunity of having lunch in this quiet setting.
Mounting the steel stairway he entered the building. Tall windows on either
side flooded the interior with light, giving it the atmosphere akin to the inside
of a large greenhouse. The floors and walls that were not taken up by glass
were bare, except for a single line of grey steel cabinets, six feet high by four
feet wide, stretching along the centre of the whole length of the room. They
contained the electronics for controlling the water gates and recording the
various environmental parameters, water levels, etcetera.
Walking towards the far end of the building he could hear the sharp
clicking of the contactors intermittently operating, but by the time he had
reached the farthest cabinet, the roaring noise of the water, cascading over the
spillway increased to the point of shutting out all other sounds.
Opening the end cabinet with a security key he arranged his test gear
preparatory to getting started. All his work would be concentrated here. The
440 volt 3-phase bus entered at this point, so he slipped on his rubber
insulating gloves to avoid getting an electric shock. It would be fatal under the
circumstances with no one to come to his aid.
Unplugging the live 440 volt link, he placed it in it's isolating rack on the
door. From this point on, his concentration would have to be total, to see the
job through without incident. After about forty-five minutes he removed his test
gear and kneeling next to his equipment box he proceeded to stow the gear
away. All that remained would be to reinsert the live link and lock the doors.
Closing the box catches Will stood upright when a man stepped into his
line of sight, midway between where he was standing and the spillway railing.
He was completely taken by surprise and the reaction caused him to jump.
Quickly gaining his composure he recognized the figure.
It was Dan, the agent that had given him trouble in the past. There was no
mistaking, it was definitely him, and he had a queer smile on his face that could
only have been interpreted as a sneer. Dressed in a casual jacket and Fletcher
Jones pants his right hand was pushed deep into the jacket pocket, an ominous
sign.
"What are you doing here Dan, does Margaret know you're here?"
"No, she doesn't know I'm here. No one knows I'm here."
Will's mind began to race. He had nowhere to escape except into the open
confines of the building. Two or three paces would be all he could expect
before Dan had that gun out of his pocket. A dread was creeping over him as
he began to read into his mind the inevitability of what was going to happen.
350