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Max chuffed good-naturedly but said nothing as he extended an antenna and set it on the ground Then he checked that the audio feed orking, and Juan heard Max’s voice echoing in his earpiece Satisfied that everything was ready, he used the handheld controller to set the Crawler in lided away, only the occasional crackle of leaves betraying its location Juan was impressed at how Max had eliminated the motor’s whine
“What’s the range on that?” Juan asked
“Since we have a direct line of sight into the tunnel, I’d say it could get two hundred feet inside before we lose the signal, depending on how many turns it has to make”
The Crawler reached the entrance and went inside, hugging the concrete wall as Max drove it over the smooth tunnel floor For a moe in light Then Juan coulddown the tunnel, bare bulbs hung fro Piles of debris and pockmarks in the walls were reminders of the intense World War II battle to retake the fortress
When the Crawler had gone another twenty feet, Juan heard the sound ofbut erew louder The Bobcat ca dirt that overflowed its sides
Max maneuvered the Crawler into a small notch in the wall and let the Bobcat pass by Seconds later, the Bobcat eed from the tunnel and du back inside
“This is perfect,” Max said “We’ve got our own escort”
As the Bobcat passed, Max switched the Crawler into high gear, and it shot forward, racing after the Bobcat, until it was underneath the loader
“Nice work,” Juan said
“Gotta earn my keep somehow”
The Bobcat uided the Crawler to match course A few seconds after that, Juan could make out people at the end of the tunnel All of them, dressed in hard hats and colored vests like any nor machinery, exc
ept for onetheir efforts When Juan saw hi
“Is that Locsin?” Max asked
“That’s hi here hih”
The Bobcat stopped next to aaway at the collapsed heap of concrete blocking the way Some of the men tossed what they had already loosened into the bucket of the Bobcat while the rest unloaded beams from a trailer to shore up the dirt walls of the tunnel that they’d already dug out