GL Sandborn wrote:

Glazius Falconar wrote:

   The first gate he came to had a lock that would have taken C4 explosives to open.  A second, further along, was secured in such a way that even shooting the lock would have failed to open it.
   Cursing, he slammed his fist on the locked gate.  There didn't appear to be any point in following the fence line any further.  The kinds of locks he had seen so far indicated anything else he might find would probably be more of the same.  With a frustrated growl, he turned back towards the clearing.  It looked like they were trapped.

If he's just a linguist, how does he know so much about locks and 
explosives?

Trained agent?  I'm assuming his training would include something about 
explosives and locks.

Not sure how else you could justify this. Maybe a keycard lock on a 
reinforced steel gate?

Maybe a lock that looks like it dates back to the Meiji Era?

	Maybe he's evaluating the locks against his own skills?  That is, these 
locks were ones that he knows *he* would need C4 to open, while knowing 
that a more experienced agent could probably pick them with a toothpick 
and both hands handcuffed behind him.
	After all, opening something with C4 is *easy,* as long as you know how 
to insert a detonator and wire it up (or crimp a blasting cap onto some 
detcord).  Basic C4 training is much simpler than basic lockpicking.
	The larger question is, since he has the slap-on explosive patch 
thingies we saw (will see?) him use to rescue Tina in Ch3, why not use 
one here?

   Taking a deep breath, he quickly scurried to the relative cover of a
portable power generator.  When he saw the figure climbing into the crane's cab, he knew now was the best shot he was going to get.  He rose up, aimed and fired once.  True to his West Texas heritage, his aim was good.  The figure tottered for a moment before slumping forward.  The dead man's body must have released the winch mechanism.  With a loud 'crack', six tons of animal waste came hurtling earthward, directly towards his partner.

	And meanwhile, just to counterbalance this abuse of stereotypes, Tina 
can't even wave a gun around safely.  :)

'crack' sounds like something broke. 'clank' or 'clang' maybe, and 
whatever sound a cable strong enough to hold up that much dung makes 
when it unwinds.

'clank' could work, followed by the 'hum of cable unspooling'.

	The last time I had a winch mechanism catastrophically release on me, 
it was a really sharp "CLACK!"
	Just my $0.02.


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