A grayish brown ball covered in gunk rested on the bottom of the box, a tangle of what Kerry identified as shielded cat 5 cable along with a snarl of the white cording that came in it to separate the strands. She looked up at their cable contractor. "John?"
The big man stepped forward and took the box, examining its contents. "Well, it's the stuff we're using, yeah," he admitted. "Looks like crap."
The camera man focused in on him, gaining himself a suspicious glare from the contractor.
"What does that mean?" Quest asked.
John looked at him. "It's ends left over after we finish a run. Got it all over the place the way we've been working," he explained.
"So one of your people did this? Dropped it in a toilet?" Quest asked, sharply.
John snorted. "I doubt it. Coulda been anyone, stuff's all over the place."
"That's true," Kerry agreed quietly, watching the EPA man from the corner of her eye. "That pipe was down the hall from one of our wiring closets, which was open."
"But," the EPA man objected, "It makes no sense for anyone to be carrying it around except for one of your workmen, does it?" He addressed John. "I mean, one of the other contractors would be carrying some of their supplies, tape, or electrical wire, or that sort of thing."
John shrugged. "Why would anyone be hauling a handful of that crap around?" he asked. "But I don't have anyone stupid enough to drop a ball of it in the toilet. Cigarettes, maybe, but not that."
Dar advanced and took the box. She looked at the ball of wire, noting its egg shape, and the tight wrapping around its middle that showed shredding from its travel through the pipes. With a grunt, she handed it back. "Could have been anyone," she said. "Or, who knows? Maybe one of John's guys left it on a sink somewhere and it got knocked into a bowl."
Quest snorted.
The inspector took the box back. He regarded the ball for a moment, then shrugged one shoulder. "That could be," he conceded. "We'd thought maybe someone did it on purpose, but you know, what you just said makes a lot of sense. I can see it."
Dar studiously did not look at the camera. "All those guys are working up there. I can't see someone doing this so they'd get covered in cr...sewage."
"Huh. Damn straight," John said.
Quest sniffed. "Maybe," he grudgingly conceded. "But now what? You're holding up my whole project in there!" He turned his aggressiveness on the EPA inspector. "So it was an accident, like Roberts said. When can we get back in there?"
"Twenty four hours, Mr. Quest. As I told you. Accident or not, you've got bio organisms in there, and they have to be fogged and sanitized. You don't want to get sued for getting people sick, do you?" The EPA man warned.
The camera swiveled to focus on Quest. From the look on his face, he was trapped and he knew it. "Of course not," he said. "But I want to get these guys back in there not a moment past twenty four hours. Can you guarantee me that?"
The camera moved back to the EPA man, who straightened a little. "Ah..."
"Or is it going to be one of those government things, were twenty four hours pass, and you all go out to play golf?" Quest pressed him. "I'm all for safety. I'll put this in your hands, but I need to know you're not going to screw me over for it."
Put on the defensive, the EPA man took a step back. "Well, in general, I suppose we can..."
"No general." Quest insisted. "I need to know. A lot of money's riding on this. You want to be responsible for that?"
"Of course not," the EPA man said. "Very well, we... I will guarantee you can be back inside that vessel after the twenty four hour decontamination process is complete."
"Okay." Quest seemed satisfied, holding his hand out for the man to shake. "We've got a deal then. I'll have these docks cleared."
The EPA men made a quick getaway, escaping the sun as they ducked through the gate and left the pier area.
John turned to Dar and put his hands on his hips. "Well, we lucked out. We'd just finished the last room when they rang the bell." He told her. "So..."
"Good work, John." Kerry congratulated him quietly.
"So what are you going to do, Roberts?" Quest interrupted. "I can't change the deadline." He turned and looked at the ship. "This thing'll never be ready."
Privately, Dar agreed completely. But she was aware of the focus on her, as the round camera eye swept across them. "Well, Peter I can't speak for your other contractors here, but my view is, we'll wait for the ban to be lifted, and do the best we can."
"Hmph." Quest made a grunting noise.
"We've gone to the wall on this project, and I'm not ready to drop it now," Dar continued. "If we run out of time, we run out of time, but we're going to be in there until the clock goes off."
Kerry folded her arms, content to let her partner shine in the artificial halogen spotlight.
"Bad luck," the cameraman commented quietly.
"Just another in a long series of challenges." Dar gave him a brisk nod. "Excuse us. We're going to see about securing the gear in there." She touched Kerry on the shoulder and turned to head back toward the terminal. John followed, and behind them they heard Quest and his entourage trooping back off down the pier.
Dar opened the door for them. "Jesus."
"That man figured to nail us with that thing, Dar!" John griped, as he passed in front of her, followed by Kerry. "All my guys in there busting their tails and I get that?"
Dar entered behind them. "John." She paused, waiting for him to turn. "Did you take a good look at that wire plug?" she asked. "That wasn't a bunch of scrap. That was tied up to be a bundle like that."
Kerry leaned on the wall with one hand. "What are you saying, Dar?"
Puzzled, John nodded his head. "Yeah. What are you saying? Someone did it on purpose after all?"
Dar glanced around, noting the techs still moving about the room. She waved them over toward the back corner, and waited for them to follow her. "After everything we've had to go through on this, I find it very hard to believe something like this happened naturally." She stated as they reached the back wall. "John, I'm not saying for a second it was one of your guys, but I don't think it dropped off a sink either. Can you ask all of them if they might have left a ball of the damn stuff anywhere?"
The contractor scrubbed his jaw, then nodded. "Sure, Dar. I'll ask 'em, but we were out of that area since eight a.m. Doubt any of 'em would remember. Some of the guys have gone home already, but I'll see what I can do."
Kerry blinked. "None of your guys were up there recently?"
"No." John shook his head positively. "My super keeps a close eye on 'em. Nice guys, good wire pullers, but they're lazier than hound dogs in summer most of the time."
"Huh." Kerry nibbled on the inside of her lip. "Someone wearing your company shirt was in that wiring closet when we got there."
Dar folded her arms and leaned against the wall, her head nodding slightly.
"Yeah?" John sounded honestly surprised.
"He was in there. We surprised him when we came in," Kerry said. "He was kinda rude," she added. "I made a mental note to talk to you about it. He was a tall guy, with brown hair, kind of curly, and he hadn't shaved recently."
John exhaled. "Could be half of 'em," he admitted. "Okay, let me gather 'em up and talk to 'em. See if any of 'em remember seeing you. I won't say why," he said. "Still doesn't mean he did anything."
"No, of course not," Kerry agreed. "But maybe he can confirm how the wire got near those pipes."
John grunted and nodded, then turned and walked across the room, heading for the front doors.
Kerry leaned against the wall next to Dar. "You really think it was on purpose?"
Dar nodded. "Yeah. Scraps are one thing, but that was wrapped so that it would fit down the pipe." She leaned against Kerry's shoulder. "It's just too coincidental, Ker."