91 Minutes

By R J Devland

God, Family and friends.  Alex, Tyler, Jaime and God.  A hazmat truck loaded with an experimental explosive device.  A stormy night on a mountain road, a few spies, and a determined father and son.  Afraid of prayer and more afraid of death, God arrives to guide the young man and his dad to solve the problem and save the nation.  

• Language: English
• Publisher: R J Devland
• Release date: Mar 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393468721

Book preview

Prologue

GOD, FAMILY AND FRIENDS.  Alex, Tyler, Jaime and God.  A hazmat truck loaded with an experimental explosive device.  A stormy night on a mountain road, a few spies and a determined son.  Afraid of prayer and more afraid of death, God arrives to guide the young man and his dad to solve the problem and save the nation. 

Chapter 1

TYLER JAMES BELONGED to a normal, but average family.  They attended church, picnicked at the park on Sunday, watched family movies and prayed together.  Whenever possible, they trekked to their own mountain retreat, called ‘Wilderness’.  They owned ten acres in view of the beautiful Great Smokey Mountains.  Tyler’s dad, Alex, knew those hills like the back of his hand.  As a kid, Tyler and Alex hiked for days in those high hills. 

Alex studied chemistry, earning a doctorate in that field.  He went to work at a government research facility.  Tyler had no desire to follow in his steps.  He wanted employment as a truck driver.  He dreamed of spending days driving through hills and valleys of the high mountains, and the flatlands of the Midwest.  He enjoyed controlling his own life.  In a truck, Tyler could feel a closeness to kings.  Kings controlled their kingdom.  That is the part Tyler liked most.  Kings enjoyed absolute control.  Load his truck, send him out on a route and he could fall into his own fantasy world where he sat on a throne and controlled every minute.  He dreamed the same dream every night.  He dreamed about it during the day.  He lived it and breathed it, even before he obtained his CDL. 

Alex never discussed the topic with Tyler until he graduated from high school.  Tyler achieved remarkable success in the mechanics classes he took during his four years of high school, obtaining the highest average in his class.  Tyler had a particular interest in refrigeration.  In that field, together with his expertise in diesel engines, he could get a high paying job anywhere in the country.  Alex ignored those facts.  He glossed over the high opinions his teachers spoke of him.  He stood stone-faced when Tyler’s teachers patted him on the back for the wonderful son he raised.  When they smothered him with accolades, he shook them off as if they belonged to another person altogether.  The time Alex dreaded arrived much quicker than he wanted it to.  The time arrived that Tyler had to decide, at least Alex thought, on college and his future.

Well, son, it seems as if you are a hit among your teachers and friends.  I really hate to ask,  but what do you want to do now?  Chemistry?

Dad, you know better.  I want my CDL and Hazmat certification.  I want to start next week.  There is a nice school in Colorado.  I can be out in eight weeks, max.  I will pay my expenses.  The school accepted me and offered a full scholarship.  I must be pretty good.  My mechanics teacher really went to bat for me.  Seems like he knew someone there.  Anyway, I will leave Sunday, if that meets with your approval.  I mean, the time, not the course.

Tyler, are you sure you want to do that?  You could have a great future in a real job.

Come on, Dad, you have got to be kidding me.  I can’t believe you want me to live your life and not my own.  I want to learn to drive hazardous loads, which I know pays so much more than normal loads.  They tell me that the more dangerous the load, the higher the pay.  This is the work of which I have dreamed.  This is what I will train to do.  There is a great training company I found that I want to join as a trainee once I obtain my CDL.  They specialize in training and utilizing drivers to transport any type of explosives, to name one.  They tell me that I could earn up to ten thousand dollars a load.  So, I hope you will come around and support me in this.

Tyler, I can’t do that.  I can only support you in seeking employment that is safe and one which allows you to have a good future and opportunity to have a family close by you.  This direction you chose doesn’t allow me to support you.  Sorry.  I am not being harsh, I am being sensible.  One rule, for the ones I know who chose to do this thing you speak of, is to pray before you drive such a load.  They told me that no one gets behind that wheel without spending time to pray about their safety.

I don’t believe any of the ones I met pray for anything.  These hardened guys just get behind the wheel and grit their teeth.

Well, I will give you the best advice I know.  Pray.  You never know when it will get you through.  Even those hardened guys who seem to slosh through life from load to load, even they can reach God, if they truly wish to do so.  It’s always better, before you are dangling off the side of a mountain, at night, injured and out of contact with everyone.  Just saying.

Dad, do you know the chances of that happening to me?  I know the high country almost as good as you do.  I can’t go off the road and dangle off the side of the mountain.  I’m better than that.

Of course you are.  What about the expert in the nuclear research lab who opened a nuclear material canister incorrectly?  He just knew that couldn’t happen to him.  He saw his friends die, one by one, until one day his wife told him to quit and get out of there.  He died soon after.

That can’t happen to me.  Never.  That isn’t an option.

Ok, I hope you will remember all I taught you about values and prayer.  Even if you hate it now, remember them.  Please humor me.  Remember them.  They might be a lifeline to you.

Ok, Dad.  I will give you the benefit of the doubt.  You are a great dad.  I am fortunate that you are my dad.  I just don’t like that goody-two shoes stuff.  I like the bulky, strong man stuff.  You know what I am saying.  I will make you proud.

Well, there are a few more things you should know about the explosives transport business.  It is not only dangerous, it is a stressful vocation.  With every bump, every curve, every sudden decision that you must make in transit, the stress level heightens.  Your escort usually takes the advance stress away from you.  That escort team usually has every obstacle figured out and will direct you.  But, there are the times when failures occur and you must think on your feet, instantly, and without error.  Rain, detours, mechanical failures and many other factors will challenge the very fact of your being.  The school won’t tell you how you will feel.  They can barely tell you how to react.  They teach that one reacts by training, but I say that you must react by instinct.

Dad, have you trained for this?  It sure sounds like you have.

I didn’t want to tell you, but, yes I trained and have driven cross country with some of the most secret and dangerous load imaginable.

Now, we are talking.  What kind, where from and the destination?

"I can’t tell you.  The loads were classified at the time.  You know these types of loads are transported all over the country on all the interstates.  What you don’t know is that there are