Hector could hear the CAS operator in the background. “Explosion at the intake, boss!” he shouted to Lynn. “I’ve got the camera on it. Definitely smoke from down there. Something big just happened.”
“Is that you, Hector?” she asked anxiously.
“I wasn’t briefed on that, but I suggest you take action in that direction.” Hector didn’t know if this was Nick or not, but the fact that Nick didn’t tell him about it didn’t mean it was an oversight. He didn’t think Nick made too many mistakes. Perhaps he’d wanted the security people to turn their attention down there. Then it made sense. Combat tactics. By doing that, Nick could give his men coming in through the fence a little breathing room.
“Damn it, Hector, I need to know what the hell is going on!” Lynn insisted. “Get your ass over here. Now! I gotta go!” With that she hung up.
Hector put down the phone. He couldn’t worry about her right now. He had a part in all of this, and he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to do his level best. He needed to find those six Waxman perps and shut them down. He’d deal with Lynn later.
Back in CAS, Lynn turned all her attention to the two security operators who were feverishly scanning their camera feeds and listening to radio chatter.
“Any intruders?”
“None observed.”
“Okay. Just in case, redeploy the Delta responders per procedure. I’ll make a PA announcement.”
The CAS operator started methodically moving his people around the plant like pieces on a chessboard, to cover a possible assault from the intake structure. But an attack from that location was unlikely. It didn’t make any sense. Security strategies were in place that would keep the plant secure from any possible assault from that direction. Regardless of whether the security people believed this was a legitimate threat, they were at a heightened state of awareness all the same.
If security was feeling calm and confident in their ability to repel an attack from the intake, something happened at that moment that caused a cold shudder to run up their spines.
“RED NORTH! RED NORTH!” the CAS operator shouted, both for the room and into the radio. “We have an intrusion on the north side of the plant! Go! Go! Go!”
Lynn went silent as fear set in. No matter how often you train for an incursion, your first reaction is that it can’t possibly be happening. It must be a mistake. That hesitation can cost precious seconds in a situation that had none to spare.
She asked for confirmatory information. “Where are they, and how many?”
“I don’t know yet, boss. They took out our cameras in that area. We’re blind up there and seeing only white. But they triggered the microwave link. So we know they’re there.”
Lynn reached for her procedures with shaking hands, fear temporarily blinding her as to what to do next. She had an explosion at the intake, an incursion on the north side, cameras that were somehow blinded — and Hector knew something about all this that he wasn’t sharing.
Then the reports started coming in from the field. This was not a mistake or an equipment failure. This was happening for real.
“This is Delta 2! Perps are inside the fence. I make that six, say again six perps. Looks like they’re heading for the aux building Unit 1! Moving fast. This is no drill. Repeat, this is no drill!”
Lynn’s blood pressure skyrocketed. She started to process all this. Hector had given her a heads up, but there were actual explosions and people coming onto the site. It was all happening too fast. She was out of her depth and she knew it.
“This is Delta 4. I got ‘em. Moving to intercept. Shots fired!”
I heard a PA announcement from my position behind the boards in the control room.
“Security event in progress! All personnel stand fast. Do not move. Security event in progress!”
That was my cue. I took a breath, let it out, and with both hands holding the Glock out in front of me, I moved out from behind the boards and toward the door to the shift manager’s office.
As soon as I stepped out from behind the boards, a control room operator spotted me and shouted, “Gun! Gun in the control room!”
He shouted loudly but took no action against me. These were technical people, not soldiers, and I counted on them not approaching me, so I ignored them. They were no immediate threat to me, other than giving away my presence there.
I looked into the shift manager’s office and saw Dave and Marti sitting in chairs, stone-faced and worried. Despite the announcement, they hadn’t moved, confirming that someone was in there with them. I immediately scanned as much of the room as I could. Then I saw him — the armed responder sitting across from the two hostages. The man turned and saw me at almost the same time. He moved to stand up and tried to bring his weapon to bear on me. He was too late.
My world and everything in it slowed down. Operating on years of training now, my weapon was already up and aimed directly at his chest. Without hesitation, I opened fire. The first bullet through the glass shattered it, sending shards all over the room. This momentarily caused me to loose sight of the man. The best I could do was to continue to fire where he’d been standing and hope that once the glass broke the next five rounds would find their target.
That’s exactly what happened. The man was knocked backward from the force of the bullets, arms splaying wildly over his head as he lost his balance… and consciousness. He fell over the chair he’d been sitting in and crumpled to the floor.
The operators in the control room were transfixed and stopped shouting. They didn’t know who I was but they were sure I’d just opened fire in the control room, into the shift manager’s office! I knew their shock would wear off quickly, and I needed them to know I was on their side.
Weapon still at the ready, I shouted, “US Army! Stand down, gentlemen!” I wasn’t really, but knew that would give them some sense that I was on their side.
My attention was still on the terrorist on the floor as I moved quickly into the shift manager’s office and cleared the room by looking around and seeing no one other than Dave and Marti. Jansen’s man was dead and presented no further threat. Glass and the acrid smell of gunpowder was everywhere.
I lowered my weapon and relaxed my posture. Marti flew into my arms and hugged me this time, not caring who was watching. I liked that very much and wrapped a free arm around her waist to pull her in. There was a dichotomy about her softness as she rested in my arms, and the hardness I felt as a warrior who’d just shot a man to death.
Without letting her go, I looked at Dave and said, “Please go out there and tell your boys I’m on your side. Do it quickly.”
Dave did just that. The control room operators didn’t know what to do but took comfort in the fact that their shift manager was alive, unharmed, and standing in front of them telling them they were okay.
Marti eased up on her hug but didn’t completely let go of me. She blinked back tears in her eyes. I looked at her and held her gaze, wanting nothing more than to kiss her. By the pleading in her eyes, I was sure she wanted the same thing. But this wasn’t the time.
I gently released her from my grasp but slid my hand down to take hold of her warm and trembling hand. I stepped back slightly and looked at her now with a more clinical view, to make sure she was unharmed.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
All she could do was nod her head.
Satisfied that she was, I told her, “Stay in the control room. You’ll be safe here.”
As hard as it was, I released her hand and stepped into the control room. Dave was standing there, looking haggard and worn.