by Mark Lemke
* * * *
DECEMBER
OFF THE COAST OF THE HEADLANDS NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
Jansen and Stone bobbed up and down in their small boat just offshore from The Headlands Nuclear Power Plant, making every effort to look like they were fishing instead of making plans to seize control of the plant.? With chiseled features, a three-day growth of beard, and clothes that smelled of fish guts and seaweed, they could easily have passed as two drifters making their way up and down the Pacific coast, booking passage as temporary help on seagoing trawlers, instead of the mercenaries they were.? Even though they were the ones there to observe and study the plant from the ocean side, they were sure the paramilitary security force employed by The Headlands was also observing them.? But that was of no concern to them today.? For as much as the security force worried about unwanted visitors from this direction, Jansen and Stone knew the security force personnel were confident that the plant was unassailable from the ocean.? Jansen and Stone wanted to reassure themselves of the same thing.? They wanted no surprises once they were inside.
Like a fortress on the edge of the continent, The Headlands Nuclear Power Plant rose up out of the gray bedrock and sat, unmoving and grim in the gathering fog of late December. There was no lighthouse or foghorn to warn seamen of the location of the plant. The huge facility was impossible to hide but tried not to call attention to itself and was painted neutral colors in an attempt to blend in with its surroundings. Numbing cold surf pounded relentlessly-much as it had for hundreds of thousands of years-at the base of the steep rocky cliffs on which the plant was built, leaving no purchase for groping hands or landing areas for errant boats. Great white sharks prowled this stretch of the northern California coastline, making it a graveyard for seals and otters as they played in the giant kelp beds that swayed hypnotically to and fro with the ocean surge.
Seemingly impenetrable to the weather, and to Jansen and Stone who were watching it from a safe distance off shore, it was clear to them that the commercial nuclear power facility couldn't be breached from the ocean. They'd be safe enough, once inside. They'd only have to worry about the FBI's take-back strategies from the road or from the hills.? This narrowed down the areas they would have to defend. They knew the plant was designed to resist and repel people attacking from the outside.? But the security force generally didn't look inward. So once inside, Jansen and Stone knew that they'd have the upper hand and it'd be hard to get them out. At least not before they were ready to leave.
Convinced they'd seen everything they needed to see, they pulled in their fishing lines, started the 75-horsepower Evinrude, and headed back to the marina where they'd rented the boat.? Careful planning was an essential ingredient to pulling this off.? It was time now to get key assets in place-and that took advance work. They were careful men, if nothing else.
On their way back to the marina and when they were out of sight of the plant's watchful eyes, Jansen got out a satellite phone and dialed the secure number for Waxman Industries in Atlanta, Georgia.
"Yes?" was the only greeting.
"This is Jansen.? We're ready to go.? You can set things in motion."
The person at Waxman Industries said, "You understand once we start this, you're committed to finishing it. We will not tolerate incompetence or failure."
"If by that you mean I won't be paid unless we're successful, I understand that."? Jansen then lowered his voice to make sure his next point was clearly understood.? "But let me tell you something.? If you don't live up to your end of the agreement, I'll come and find you.? If you don't pay, I'll kill you, your family, and everyone you know!"
The person at Waxman Industries paused for a moment and then said in an equally low, monotone voice, "Based on your reputation in the military, I would expect nothing less.? That does have something to do with why you were discharged, doesn't it?"
Jansen could hear the hint of sarcasm on the other end of the phone.? "My time in the service is of no importance to you.? All you need to know is that the Rangers trained me to find and kill the enemy, and by God, you'll become my enemy if you don't live up to your end of this deal."
Another pause. "Good.? Then we understand one another." With that, the man at Waxman Industries terminated the call.
Jansen wasn't sure if he detected a hint of humor from the other man, but there was certainly no fear in his voice. He didn't know the person at the other end of the phone, but it was always important to establish your position in a situation like this.? He'd made his intentions clear; and regardless of his threat, he felt sure he'd gotten his point across.? He put the phone back in his pocket and turned up the collar on his jacket to ward off the December chill.
Stone looked at Jansen, waiting for him to tell him about the phone call, but when that information wasn't forthcoming, he asked, "Well?"
Jansen looked over at Stone in a condescending way, "We're good to go. Let's get back to town and we can talk about the next steps." He saw no need to explain his plans completely to Stone.? More accurately, he didn't want Stone to know everything. Jansen was the one Waxman Industries hired to coordinate this plan, and he didn't want or need others to know too much about the specifics of the plan. Leaks could hurt them, and he'd done his best to control them up until now.? He'd give Stone what he needed to know, when he needed to know it.
Stone noticed the stare and the lack of information provided. He didn't like Jansen and certainly didn't like taking orders from him.? Unlike Stone, Jansen was an outsider to the Waxman Industries 'security group.' Stone had been with that group for years now and had done a number of jobs for them. More of a thug than someone trained in operations of this nature, Stone, and a number of others who worked for Waxman, certainly believed themselves more than capable of doing this job. But for some reason passing Stone's understanding, Waxman Industries had brought in Jansen to lead this particular effort. Stone's ego was often easily bruised, and it frequently showed in his attitude, but the pay for this job was going to be very, very good and he couldn't overlook that.? So he swallowed his pride and acquiesced to work under this new guy Jansen . . . at least for a while.
Over the next thirty minutes, and without speaking to one other, Stone guided the boat over the choppy winter seas back to the marina.
As they pulled up to the dock, he couldn't stand it anymore. "So, I'll ask again . . . what's next?" he demanded with impatience and no small hint of frustration in his tone.
Jansen didn't rise to the bait.? "Now, we get our team inside."
Stone didn't like the inference that suddenly he and his men were now part of Jansen's 'team'.? ?"And how exactly are we going to do that?" he said. ?Stone had experience and believed he should be trusted with key elements of the plan. So when Jansen didn't tell him things, it pissed him off.
Jansen paused for a moment, debating how much he should tell him.? He knew Stone didn't like him, but he couldn't care less.? He knew how to crack the security of this power plant and apparently Stone didn't. That was precisely why Waxman Industries hired him.? Stone was a thug, a hired hand, a blunt instrument and did not have the temperament or the talent for a job of this complexity.
Jansen knew that with a refueling and maintenance outage coming in the spring when demand for The Headland's electricity was low, deliveries were commonplace weeks and even months in advance of the shutdown and refueling of one of the two large pressurized water reactors. Hundreds of jobs, all vital to the success of the outage, all needed to be done, many of them by temporary workers. So he'd arranged for a few of his men to apply for temp jobs during the outage. The plant was always looking for craftsmen, welders, pipefitters, electricians and construction workers who were able to work for just a month or two-transient workers who went from one nuclear plant to another for good money, or 'road whores' as they are sometime called. Most of the large nuclear power plant organizations had become more efficient in refueling the giant reactors and performing maintenance that could only be do
ne with the plant off line.? As a result, outage work scope was reduced and the duration of the shutdowns became shorter and shorter.
The down side of the short maintenance windows meant that the temporary workers couldn't make as much money as they once could.? The good ones often looked for permanent jobs in hopes of getting off the road and settling down.? That didn't leave a lot of traveling craftsmen left to choose from. So the utility was generally grateful for any and all who showed up and applied for work.
Many of the applicants for work showed signs of aging, with graying hair (or no hair) and large round stomachs.? They wore faded blue jeans and steel-toed boots and looked like they were one prime rib dinner away from a heart attack. Others were young guys looking at their first job and trying to get a foothold in the industry or gain some experience to put on their r?sum?. Young or old, a few of them would be rejected when they didn't pass the mandatory pre-employment drug screening, which included peeing in a bottle and a blood test. Some even came to the site intoxicated and couldn't pass the Breathalyzer test.
However, those who met the minimum intelligence tests, could produce a valid driver's license, pass a background test that said they didn't have an arrest record, and pass the drug screening would be hired to work in the Unit 1 outage scheduled for late February.
?Jansen arranged for six handpicked Waxman Industries men to get in that line.? Six guys who looked to be in their late twenties or early thirties, appeared to be physically fit to anyone who happened to notice, and wore clothes that were not nearly as worn as many others in line. They would each carry a lunch pail or an Igloo cooler with union logos and Chiquita banana stickers all over them, just like everyone else, which spoke to a life on the road. A couple of them would wear ball caps with a baseball or football franchise logo on the front. Except for their age, broad shoulders, and upright posture, they would do their best to blend in.? Each would have a valid driver's license and would have no problem passing mandatory drug or alcohol testing.? Jansen would make sure of that.? When asked what temporary agency they worked for, each would put down 'Waxman Industries'. It would take a couple of days and a lot of standing around, but each of the six would eventually be hired, given a car pass to get on site and a badge that identified them as temporary plant employees-a badge that allowed them unescorted access to the 'protected' area of the nuclear power plant.
Jansen already had this all planned.? He needed a couple more pieces to fall into place and he'd be ready to go. Getting his men inside was an integral part of his plan. But he also needed some specialized 'equipment'. Based on what he'd just seen from the ocean side of the plant, he felt ready to set the next part of his plan in motion.
As Stone sullenly tied a rope around a cleat on the dock, still waiting for some kind of explanation, Jansen looked at him and simply said, "It's time for the next step. Let's go."
On a Monday, just before Christmas, a delivery truck pulled up to the warehouse of The Headlands Nuclear Power Plant. With a refueling outage coming in the spring, it was normal to begin receiving deliveries well in advance of refueling one of the two large pressurized water reactors. With hundreds of jobs, both big and small, and thousands of parts to support those jobs, it was vital to the success of the outage to have parts received, inspected, certified, and stored in their proper place in the warehouse so they could be quickly retrieved when needed. Trucks, both big and small, were lined up to deliver parts and consumables to the giant warehouse located just behind the power plant, as they had been doing for weeks now. So on this Monday morning, one more truck in the queue was completely normal and raised no eyebrows at all.
The warehouse fork lift operator came over to the delivery truck, picked up four large crates out of the back, one at a time, and set them down in the line of boxes and crates that had to be x-rayed prior to being brought inside the protected area of the plant.? Nothing was allowed into the plant without being screened, x-rayed, or searched first.?Firearms, explosives, and alcohol were all forbidden, and to bring these things on site would result in a felony arrest of the person trying to bring the items in.? The Headlands took security seriously, as did all sixty-five nuclear power plants in the United States.? The ramifications of a nuclear incident, whether by accident or design, were simply too great to chance.
The bill of lading on each of the four crates said 'Waxman Industries' and listed 'machine parts' as the contents. A second warehouseman compared the invoice number on the crates to the master list he was carrying to ensure that the parts were scheduled to be delivered. After he'd verified the delivery was expected, he gave the forklift operator the go-ahead to put them into the x-ray machine.
Today, the security officer who staffed the x-ray machine was very deliberate about how he did his job.? He was a filling in for the regularly scheduled officer who, at the last minute, 'requested' some extra time off prior to Christmas.? Doing x-rays of machine parts all day long was a tedious job.? It wasn't one of the glamorous jobs in the security department, but it paid well and it beat the alternatives. As the security officer looked at the crates, he noticed the name on them. When he saw 'Waxman Industries', he immediately tensed up and his heart began to race. He'd been told to look for these crates and to make sure that no one else looked at the x-rays. He was told if he did this, and kept his mouth shut about it, he'd be fast tracked for an armed responder position.? That meant more pay and more prestige.? He was told that these crates contained some parts that some engineer wanted that were not exactly nuclear grade, but they were supposed to be saving the company a whole lot of money.? While not strictly on the up and up, he was told the parts were not being used on any critical plant equipment so it didn't really matter that much.? He was new to the organization and assumed this was how things worked.? As the crates came through, the huge x-ray machine scanned the contents and printed out a picture of each box.? The pictures would be put in the file for subsequent audits, should it ever be necessary to prove that the contents had been evaluated.? The security officer took the pictures and when no one was looking, folded them up and put them in his pocket.? He signed off on the ledger saying the boxes had been scanned and their intended storage location identified.? Satisfied, and immensely relieved that he was able to do that without being found out, he affixed the proper authorization tag to the crates so the warehouseman would know they'd been cleared and could be brought in and stored.
A second forklift operator, this one inside the protected side of the warehouse, drove over and picked up the crates and took them to their ground floor location, at the end of a row, near an exit door.
CHAPTER 2
FEBRUARY