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You decide to leave Fort Stockton at dawn the following morning, but the weather deteriorates, putting a swift end to your plans. For two days and nights the town is hit by lightning storms and tornadoes, forcing you to remain in the basement of the motel. It is not until the morning of the seventh day of your mission (one day before your planned rendezvous with the convoy) that the tornadoes blow themselves out and you are able to leave the town in safety.
With Kate beside you, and the three marines clinging to the hood and trunk of your roadster, you crawl the twenty-three miles from Fort Stockton to the Balmorhea rest stop that Haskell found on your map. It is located at the entrance to a pass through the Barrilla Mountains and at first glance it appears to have suffered extensive damage in the recent storms. You bring the roadster to a halt with your fuel tank virtually empty, and it is with great trepidation that you and Sergeant Haskell go to inspect the fuel storage tanks while Kate and the others watch the road.
Of the eight underground fuel tanks located beneath the gas station area, only one looks promising. Of the others, six are empty and one is contaminated with diesel oil. A coded security valve locks the access pipe to the tank and, after a brief examination, you realize that the code must be cracked if you are to get at the contents. Any attempt to break off or cut through the valve would be sure to cause a spark that would blow the tank, and whoever was tampering with it, sky high.
You are studying the valve when you hear Marine Gunter shout a warning: ‘Clansmen on the freeway!’
