CHAPTER 5
After the drill, I headed outside to get some fresh air, which I enjoyed even though it was the middle of the night. Hardened facilities like CAS had recycled air and started to smell like a submarine after awhile — machine oil, body sweat, food, and stale recycled air. Smells can and often do provoke powerful memories. In this case, that smell was a stark reminder of some time I’d spent on the U.S.S. Batfish, a fast attack nuclear submarine that was ‘officially’ decommissioned but still in service for heavily classified ops. While on a Special Forces A Team some years ago, we had need of its services.
As I walked over to the administration building to get a soda and some chips out of a vending machine, my thoughts drifted back to that mission.
“Mr. Connor?”
Startled out of my reverie, I turned to see an armed security officer heading over to me in a purposeful way, one hand on the weapon slung over his right shoulder.
“I’m Connor.”
“The security manager is expecting you in his office.”
With something akin to a sneer, he turned and walked away. He didn’t offer me directions or even inquire if I knew where to go. I knew I wasn’t going to be a popular guy for a while — not after word of the drill got out. Apparently, the word was out. My soda and chips would have to wait.
The security manager’s office was just ahead, in the corner of the admin building on the ground floor. Rob Ellingson was alone and, despite the late hour, looked alert, if somewhat surly. Even though the door was open, I knocked on the jam to signal my arrival.
“Hey, Rob. I hear you’re looking for me,” I said in a casual way two guys who knew each other might talk. While I do know him, I’d only met him a couple of days ago. Not what I would call drinking buddies yet.
Rob looked up from his computer screen without a smile, nodded to me, and said, “Come in, have a seat.” as he got up and crossed the room and closed his office door behind me.
I took a seat in a chair to the side of his desk, opting not to sit directly across from him. That would give him positional authority, which I didn’t want him to have right now. I could tell he was pissed, and I didn’t want to allow his anger to get out of hand. I was sure I was summoned there to get my ass chewed out. I’ve had some experience with that in the past.
He didn’t wait until he got back behind his desk before he began.
“What’s the big idea bringing in a goddamned helicopter? You know as well as I do that’s against the law. This isn’t some training base that you can come in and do whatever you fucking well please! This is a licensed, highly regulated nuclear power plant. My plant! And you, sir, would do well to remember that!”
I didn’t say a word. I let him vent for a while.
“Do you know how many rules you just broke? Have you any idea of how much trouble we can get into here? Not to mention the safety issues! If your helo had come in contact with the transmission lines, people could have been killed, you could have caused the reactor to trip, and God knows what would have happened after that!”
I wished I’d been able to stop to get that soda after all. I was thirsty and could use some caffeine. I could sense that Rob was coming to a head on this, so I just had to wait.
“Are you gonna just sit there?” he almost shouted at me. “Or are you gonna explain yourself?”
In a calm voice I replied, “I think I’ll just sit here.”
Rob paused for a moment, and then I could see him relax. He and I both knew he wasn’t going to win this argument. What’s done, was done. And it exposed some issues for him. It was time for me to offer him an olive branch.
“Okay. Look, my guys know what they’re doing. They’re professionals, and they’ve done this before. There really was no danger. As for any heat that comes this way, I’ll take responsibility for that.”
“So that’s it?” Rob said, sitting back in his chair, arms crossed, looking at me with hard eyes.
I maintained a neutral body position and didn’t wish to engage him in an argument. I wasn’t inclined to give him any more ammunition right now.
So he turned back to his computer in a dismissive way and said, “We’ll let you know when we’re done with the critique. It shouldn’t be too long now.”
“Okay,” I said as I got up and left his office. I was still thirsty and headed off in search of that soda.
CHAPTER 6
An hour later, I heard a plant PA announcement asking me — directing me — to report to the security manager’s office — again. Within a few minutes, I was back in the security manager’s office with Lynn, the watch commander for the shift, Rob, and Hector, the watch supervisor. Hector sat stone-faced and didn’t engage in banter with anyone. It was late at night, he’d been up for quite awhile now, and his security force just got beat. I had to give him credit, though. He stood tall and did not start making excuses. On the surface, it looked like he couldn’t do his job and protect the nuclear power plant. But he knew better, despite how it looked.
When Rob shut the door to his office to help ensure privacy, Hector couldn’t contain himself anymore. He looked directly at me. “What the hell was the big idea with the helicopter?” he demanded. “We aren’t staffed to defend from that kind of assault, and you know that! We’re a civilian nuclear power plant, not a god-damn military installation!”
I knew that Hector, as an ex-Marine, took his job seriously and didn’t like to lose. I was also sure he wouldn’t like it if he felt he was being played. He knew the plant’s vulnerabilities, and he was only given limited resources with which to defend it. So he didn’t like being made to look bad, especially when he thought he was being taken advantage of.
Because of my previous conversation with Rob, I already knew where he stood on the issue, but in front of the group, Rob had to take a slightly different posture and demonstrate a more measured reaction. He didn’t like it any more than Hector did but I had to give him credit for playing the grown-up. I’d read Rob’s file. He’d been in security since the plant started up more than 20 years ago, but was promoted to manager only a few years back. Not in his prime anymore, but still looking fit with some graying at the temples, Rob’s performance reviews indicated he got good feedback for dealing with the leaders of the local communities. That told me he knew the politics better than Hector did. Because he worked closely with the Sheriff, Rob was probably aware that there were far more terrorist threats to worry about than Hector knew. If people in the local communities knew what he knew, they would’ve been amazed — and then frightened — at the potential risks of having this plant in their backyard. So even though he didn’t like it, he allowed me, as the leader of the adversary force, some latitude to test his team’s capabilities. However, he also knew that loyalty commanded respect. He had to support Hector’s concerns too, and do it in a way that did not appear to be blaming him for the results. So he started his questions by directing them to the senior person on watch; the Watch Commander.
“Lynn, what happened? How did a helicopter sneak up on us?”
“We haven’t had our full critique of the drill yet, so I don’t have all the particulars. It took me a couple minutes to get into CAS, so I’ll defer to Hector.”
Nice job on passing the buck, I noted. I didn’t mind women in positions of authority if they knew what the hell they were doing. I’m all about competency. Lead, follow, or get out of my way. But I had neither the time nor the inclination to molly-coddle people. And I didn’t work well with people who did. I’d read everyone’s résumés. Even though Lynn had been in the military, she hadn’t seen any serious action. More than likely she got promoted because she was a woman. The military will do that. It had quotas to meet. Or worse, she got promoted because she had what all men crave.