by Ryan King
Chapter 12 – The Water Flows
Harold Buchannan stood with Jim Meeks on the top of the dam. It seemed to him that every waking moment since the attack was spent here. Today he hoped was the day he could get back to somewhat of a normal life and look after other things.
Although the priority was to repair the locks and the problems within the dam, they had also planned and executed the southern offensive. That campaign seemed to have miraculously broken the WTR’s back and won the war in one swift stroke.
As the military governor, Harold's duties had increased during that critical time, and he missed the days when he worked under Nathan as deputy. Now his duties were about to change again.
"I heard the WTR signed the treaty," commented Jim.
Harold nodded, "The terms were fair, we could have been a lot harder on them. I bet the worst part was giving up territory to us."
As part of the peace treaty, new territory was added to the JP including land south of the LBL. The initial thought was to simply create new counties out of the territory, but Harold thought wiser minds prevailed. Fearing those areas would continue to associate themselves with the WTR, the JP leadership decided to add the new territory into the bordering JP counties to the north which meant that Calloway, Graves, and Hickman Counties gained substantial territory to the south. LBL also added a large strip of land.
"They'll be better off with us," said Jim. "The WTR, or whatever the hell they want to call themselves, is in shambles."
"They seem to have a good competent leader now from what I hear," commented Harold.
Jim laughed skeptically, "We'll see. Speaking of which, are you ready for the new job?"
The next week, Harold Buchannan would transition from Military Governor to County Executive for the new JP county of New Harvest. Jim Meeks would be promoted to Colonel and assume duties as the newly formed New Harvest Regimental Commander. Captain Green also received recognition for his actions at Fulton. He was recently promoted to Battalion Commander of one of the newly formed regular army forces made up primarily of his own men from Fort Campbell.
"I'm not sure," answered Harold truthfully. "Seems like a long way from Hancock."
Jim smiled, "You got that right." He slapped Harold lightly on the back, an unusually exuberant show of affection for the big man, "Don't worry boss, you'll be great."
Harold hoped he was right. He would settle for not being a total disaster. Overall, the general feeling in the air was one of hope, confidence, and satisfaction. Before the war, there seemed to be an attitude of trepidation and uncertainty, but nearly overnight those feelings changed. Harold thought it was the result of a group of individuals growing stronger, closer, and more aware of themselves as a people due to adversity and victory. He had to admit he had some of those same feelings himself.
The problems with the dam were the only observable cloud in an otherwise clear sky, and hopefully those issues would be resolved soon. John Downing had the idea of asking the Murray State University Engineering Department for help when his own people reached their wit’s end. The students and faculty came not only to help, but also stated they would stay until the problem was found and resolved.
One professor told Harold, “This is an excellent learning experience for the students and likely the place where many of them would end up working, anyway." After seeing the students in action, Harold felt more confident of what the future would bring.
The college students brought a sense of optimism, enthusiasm, and cockiness. Normally, Harold found these attitudes annoying, but given the current dam workers sense of defeat and dejection, this was just what was needed. Within a few days they not only identified the primary problem but also came up with a plan to manufacture the necessary replacement parts.
An ingenious graduate student also found several inherent problems that were preventing the electrical generators from running at optimal performance and corrected those issues. They thought once the dam was back up and running, it could go back to full capacity, eliminating the blackout periods the JP routinely experienced. Harold promised to find all the students jobs whenever they wanted them.
The water level of the lakes finally reached a point where it could turn the turbines and create electricity. Although the lock doors were damaged, the crews were able to seal them shut, by permanently welding them. Harold thought the days of heavy barges transiting the locks were either long past, or pretty far in the future. If they needed the lock doors to open, they could deal with that issue later. As it was, it would still take time to raise the water back to normal level. For now, they hoped to have enough water pressure to create electricity.
John Downing ran up to Harold and Jim. “We think we’re ready. Should we open the turbine doors?”
Harold nodded and said, “Yes, but only one dam door for now. If we get electricity, then open the next one and so on. It will save us a lot of trouble if this doesn’t work.” Without electricity the heavy dam doors were manually cranked open, no easy task.
John turned and ran off. Harold thought he looked younger and more spry than he had ever seen him. Maybe it was having some help and not feeling like everything was on his shoulders. Perhaps it was simply the new feeling of optimism. Regardless, Harold liked it and laid to rest previous worries about John Downing.
“Think it will work?” asked Jim.
“I really do,” said Harold. “Although as a rule I try to hedge my bets against disappointment. Not sure how to do that here.”
“Me either. We’re going to have a lot of upset people if we can’t get this thing running again.” Jim started to say more, but they heard the heavy grinding noise of one of the dam doors sliding open. The noise went on for perhaps thirty seconds and then stopped. Everyone heard the water rushing out the other side of the dam and looked at each other expectantly.
Harold stared at the dead light bulb nearby for several long minutes and then dropped his head.
“We’ll figure it out boss, don’t worry,” said Jim. Just then they heard the grinding noise again which must be the dam door being closed, thought Harold.
Harold shook his head, “If these big brains can’t figure it out, I’m not sure what we’re going to do.” They then heard the grinding noise again and Harold wondered if they were trying another door. Possibly there was a problem with a single turbine. He felt a flicker of hope.
Jim leaned out over the wall and waved Harold over. They looked down and saw that three of the doors were opened. The water was rushing through to the rivers on the other side. “I’m going to kill John,” said Harold.
About that time John came back up the stairs from below with a wide grin and nearly skipped up to them. He noticed Harold glaring at him with his one good eye and stopped, his smile vanishing.
“What?” he asked.
Harold suppressed the urge to grab the man by the collar and simply pointed at the dead light bulb.
John looked at the bulb without comprehension and then smiled, “Oh that, forgot to tell you, we haven’t diverted the power to main supply yet, we’re charging all the internal systems and batteries. Should take about an hour and then we can switch over to main power.”
Harold stared at the man in amazement and then he heard Jim's robust laugh. Jim grabbed John in a bear hug. “It works?” asked Harold cautiously.
“Yes,” said John with a smile. “Better than before. The output levels are way up.”
Harold saw everyone looking at them with trepidation. They were unsure yet what had happened.
“It works!” he yelled at them as loud as he could. The cheering and celebration along the top of the dam and the shore was like a wave as the word passed. They were back in the modern age.
