"Okay, it's moving back," Helling said. "I guess this thing-"
Suddenly, as abruptly as it had begun, the gantry halted, its steel wheels screeching to a stop along the tracks.
"What happened?" Ramirez's eyes narrowed as he gazed out through the viewing window. A red indicator had come up on the console, flashing. The gantry, bathed in floodlights, was just standing there, stubbornly still.
"The control went into a safety mode." The German was staring at the console. "According to the lights here, the track sensors shut it down. Maybe the rails are obstructed."
Good safety system, Vance thought. He could feel them now, beneath the explosive-electronic sensors on the tracks, a thin line of parallel wires held by insulators, had detected his tampering and halted the gantry.
Wait a minute, he suddenly thought, maybe I don't have to blow the track after all. Why not just short-circuit these wires and let the thing's own safety system shut it down? They may not figure out for hours what the problem is.
With a grin he began going along the track, feeling his way through the dark as he twisted the parallel safety tripwires together every few feet, making certain they shorted.