Red North!

by Mark Lemke

CHAPTER 20

  ?

  Prichard was sitting in his office talking to someone when I arrived fifty-eight minutes later.

  "Hi, Nick.? Come on in," he said, getting up and shutting the door behind me-something he didn't do the last time I was there.?

  As I moved into his office, my eyes were drawn to the woman sitting in one of the comfortable armchairs.? Curious as to why she was there, I just looked at Prichard.? He knew I was coming, and the fact that this woman was there meant that she was part of this somehow.? The thought went through my mind that he probably wanted to see me, too, which might explain why he agreed to meet me on such short notice.?

  "Hello.? Marti Callahan," she said brusquely, reaching a hand out to me.

  I glanced again at Prichard, who was taking his seat on the leather couch, obviously intending me to meet her.?? I took Marti's hand in mine and returned her gaze.?

  "Hi.? Nick Connor," I replied, moving over to the second armchair.? There was a faint scent of perfume hanging in the air.? They say that smells evoke powerful memories.? It had been a long time since I'd been in the presence of a woman who woke up my senses as this woman was doing right now.?

  Prichard spoke up.? "I asked Marti to be in on this meeting.? She's our senior resident NRC inspector and just flew in from Washington D.C.? I've briefed her on what you're doing here, so you may speak freely in front of her."

  I knew that each nuclear power plant had a representative from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on site to keep a watchful eye on how the plant was being run, though Marti looked young for such a responsible position.? She appeared to be in her early-thirties.? I knew you only get the position of senior resident after many years of experience or because you're very good at what you do.? Because of her age, I assumed this meant she was very good at what she did.

  She was an attractive woman with a slight build, short, wavy black hair and an almost milky white skin under a gray silk blouse that hung gracefully off her shoulders.? Dark blue business slacks covered what I assumed would be attractive legs, though why I was thinking that I didn't know. ?Offsetting her ethereal complexion were almost steel-gray eyes with just a hint of makeup on them.? The combination of all this created a striking effect, which would have caused me to notice her in a crowded bar had she not been sitting in a chair next to mine.? She looked decidedly out of place in an industrial facility where almost everyone wore jeans, steel-toed boots and hard hats.?

  When I arrived I'd assumed this was my meeting, though now that the NRC was there, I wasn't so sure.? Nonetheless, I turned to Prichard and began.

  "There's something I felt you should know.? Last evening after the drill, I stopped by The Tavern for a beer.? There were two guys in there who tried to pick a fight with me."

  "You don't look any worse for wear."

  "No, but they do."

  "You didn't think it was important to tell me this earlier today?" Prichard said with some irritation in his voice.

  "As a matter of fact, I didn't. ?Bar fights aren't necessarily unusual in the business I'm in. ?Besides, at the time I had no reason to believe it had anything to do with the plant.? But after the events of this morning, I felt it was important to bring you up to speed on this."

  "If it's not that unusual, why tell me now?" Prichard asked.

  "These guys weren't a couple of locals out for a beer in the middle of the week.? What they did was deliberate.? They were waiting for me."

  "Waiting for you?"? Prichard paused for a moment, folded his hands, put them to his mouth, and looked over them at me as he absorbed the information.? It appeared that he didn't know what it meant either, though he was no doubt questioning the odds of these otherwise seemingly unrelated incidents happening in the last day.

  "Where are these gentlemen now?" Prichard asked.

  "My guess is that they're in a hospital somewhere. ?When I left them, they were in need of some serious medical attention."

  "I see," he said as if waiting for me to continue.?

  He knew there was certainly more or I wouldn't have asked for this meeting.? "You've got a dead plant employee washed up on a beach not far from here.? As you've already noted, it's hard for someone to fall in around here accidently.? You also said the locks on the gates and fences hadn't been disturbed.? That means a 'Farmer Brown,' a term referring to an insider who was batting for the other side."

  Prichard looked at Marti, causing me to do the same. Her demeanor hadn't changed, which I found strange.? I didn't know her well enough yet to venture an opinion as to why.?

  I continued.? "All of this happened coincident with my being here and doing an evaluation of your security status."? I paused for a moment, to avoid sounding rushed or amped up. "This morning at the beach, you said you didn't know if the dead woman was married to someone else on your staff.? My guess is she was.? And I'm betting he's someone with a critical piece of information related to the operation of this facility."

  Prichard's eyes narrowed at my observation.? "I'm sure you saw Rob arrive at the beach just after you left.? He told me she is-was-married to a containment ventilation system engineer."

  I could sense his discomfort, so I slowed down for a minute, took a deep breath and considered the ramifications of what I was about to tell him.? I didn't know what it all meant yet, but I felt sure the information, and my suspicions, was important to what was going on.

  "I need to know who you gave our report to."? While continuing to speak to Prichard, I look at Marti and said,? "And I need to know why your senior resident is in this meeting."

  Prichard was quiet for a moment, as if weighing his words and considering the consequences of them. ?He and I both knew my report was a very detailed analysis of the plant's defensive systems, protocols and problems.? If it had been compromised in any way, he now had a significant problem, and I was leading him to a place he was likely not prepared to go.?

  Prichard bristled at the comment. "I'm not sure I like your inference."

  "My apologies, but I'm not inferring anything yet.? I'm just trying to develop information."

  "As you may remember, I gave the report to Cathy and asked her to give it to Rob," he said.? "As head of Security, it's his job to evaluate it.? I wasn't happy with his performance in the drill.? He and his staff are accountable for making corrections.? It's only natural that I give him the report," he said a little bit too defensively.? "Who he might have given it to after that, I don't know.? I'm sure someone else in his group is working on it, but they know better than to make copies." Then he added, as an afterthought as if trying to convince himself of something, "As it's safeguards material, they'd have it locked up when it's not in their possession.? That's standard operating procedure for handling information of that kind."?

  That was a funny thing for him to say.? It was as if he was trying to sound convincing that the document was well protected-and yet, didn't believe it was.? He paused for a moment as if to consider how he wanted to answer the second part of my question.? He had to know that bringing Marti in on this conversation was going to raise questions from me.? So either she was there to hear what I had to say, or to present information that he wanted me to hear.

  "Ms. Callahan is here because she has some disturbing news that bears on this conversation.? Marti?" he said as he turned the conversation over to her.?

  I took note of the fact that she was referred to as 'Ms.'

  Marti looked hesitantly at Prichard, seeking confirmation that she should really proceed.? Seeing no hesitation from him, she looked at me.? "Mr. Connor, before I begin, it's important that I know what your security clearance level is."?

  She looked apprehensive as if she was on shaky ground having to speak candidly in front of me.? Her reluctance was obvious, though understandable.? She really didn't know anything about me, and her body language suggested that she clearly wasn't thrilled about revealing privileged information without at least asking for some verification of my security level, despite what Prichard surely told he
r.?

  "For purposes of this conversation, let's say I've got an 'L' clearance obtained through, and documented at, the Sequoyah Nuclear Station, in Tennessee.? You can check on that if you'd like."?

  My clearance status was actually much higher than that, and probably significantly higher than hers; but that wasn't information she needed to know.? So, because I was dressed as a civilian, I told her I had the civilian equivalent to a secret clearance.? That should have been more than adequate to the discussions at hand.? Given the circumstances, and the fact that Prichard continued to say nothing to stop her, I assumed she was mollified-at least for the moment.? Despite the unusual circumstances, I found myself staring at her for other than professional reasons.?

  "Very well.? I assume that will check out," she said.? "Mr. Prichard told me that you were here doing an evaluation of his security readiness.? So in addition to your clearance level, I will assume that means you have a 'need to know.'"?

  I said nothing in response.? I just looked at her-something I was starting to enjoy.

  She turned to Prichard now. "I just returned from NRC headquarters in White Flint, Maryland.? When I found out your employee was found in the bay, I called the deputy director of Nuclear Security and Incident Response to let him know.? As it turns out, he had information-whether as a result of this or not, I don't know-that he wanted me to share with you right away. ?NSIR believes there's going to be a terrorist event out here on the West Coast within the next few days.? The FBI has verified the threat and briefed the NRC.? The information they have is deemed credible by the FBI threat assessment group."

  The mood in the room changed immediately.? "Credible . . . meaning, we have a timetable?" asked Prichard.?

  Marti looked him directly in the eye.? "Yes.? One of the reasons the FBI is taking this so seriously is that the information intercepted refers to two distinct targets.? One is the Western Intertie.? Taking down the electric transmission line running up and down the western United States would be significant, as you can imagine.? But the second part of this threat involves a nuclear power plant on the West Coast, of which there are three."?

  Marti paused, looking at the two of us, no doubt trying to gauge our reaction to this information.? She had to be nervous and struggled not to show it in front of us.? Like it or not, nuclear power is a man's world and she was apparently moving up fast, in part because of her ability to stay calm-at least on the outside.

  Prichard shot me a look like he was considering what he'd just heard, too.? Even something happening off the site and away from the plant could have negative repercussions for his plant, even if it didn't represent a direct threat to The Headlands.? Taking down the Western Intertie would disrupt power to millions of people throughout the western states. His power plant would be okay, though, because the generators would automatically shut down when they sensed the voltage and frequency dip that would occur within a millisecond of the grid disturbance.? As a matter of fact, this happened a couple of years ago in a freak storm that blew through the Altamont Pass area east of Oakland.? It actually blew down some of the transmission towers. The Headlands survived that transient with no problems.? However, that was nature and this threat was manmade.? And in any transient involving these huge nuclear units, there was always a potential for damage.? A reactor and turbine trip from 100 percent power was something they would prefer to avoid.?

  I knew better than to think Marti was done.? My bet was that she had more that she needed to share with us.? I watched as she took a deep breath before continuing.? "They also believe the terrorists have ties to al-Qaida."

  Prichard's body language changed as he shifted in his seat.? He clearly didn't like hearing that.? From my experience, I knew this changed the level of seriousness-and the number of federal government agencies involved-by an order of magnitude.? I was sure I didn't need to tell him that.?

  Marti went on, "While the information we have doesn't specify The Headlands as the target, we nonetheless believe that it is."?

  "As you said, there are three nuclear stations in California.? What makes you think we're the target?" asked Prichard.

  "The information we have indicates that this will happen within the next few days.? Given that time frames were used and targets indicated, it's a good sign the threat is real."

  "That's not very specific," Prichard said.? "And it doesn't rule out the other two plants.? Again, why do they think it's us?"

  Marti began to fidget a bit in her chair, indicating disinclination on her part to continue, not knowing how Prichard would take the next piece of information.

  "The FBI believes someone on your staff has been compromised.? The woman's death was not accidental.? The FBI has reason to believe she was murdered and then put in the water.? And that puts The Headlands at the top of the list of possible plants to be attacked."

  Prichard looked at me.? I tried not to show any reaction to this conclusion.? I'd already concluded that and I was sure Prichard had his suspicions, too.? He had to know.? He was a bright guy, and there were just too may things lining up.? But hearing someone else say it out loud seemed to confirm it for him.??

  He stood up and started pacing around his office, fists clenching and unclenching subconsciously.? Then he stopped and for several moments, just stared out his window overlooking the Pacific Ocean-normally a tranquil sight.

  "Who else knows about this?" Prichard asked in a low voice, clearly trying to keep his own emotions in check.

  "NSIR leadership in Washington D.C., NRC regional headquarters in Arlington, Texas, and the NRC commissioners.? The FBI obviously knows, and that probably means Department of Homeland Security knows.? We also believe your local law enforcement has been briefed.? The FBI likes to keep them in the loop.? As we both know, your sheriff is cleared for this kind of information."

  I noticed Prichard had a distant look on his face, as if processing the information in the analytical way he approached problems in the power plant.?

  "As of now, nobody else is to know.? The circle is already too wide to control.? But for now, this is to be held in this room only."? Prichard then addressed me directly.? "What do you think?"

  I'd been sitting quietly, listening, watching, and absorbing the information.? I knew that sooner or later I'd be asked for my input.? I often liked to keep some of what I thought to myself so as not to taint others' abilities to provide original thinking.? But I had information they didn't have.? Information was like that.? It came along in bits and pieces.? Being able to put it all together to form a cohesive conclusion was something you needed to be able to do to be successful in this business.? Sometimes you didn't know you had vital information or a piece of the puzzle.? And sometimes it just fell into place.??

  "It would help if we knew who was behind this and what their motive is.? However, it's not al-Qaida."?

  "And why is that?" asks Marti, indignantly.? "I just told you the information has been verified.? I can assure you that it's solid intelligence."

  Marti was looking at me disapprovingly.? She apparently didn't like being contradicted.? But as I looked back at her with unflinching eyes, her look turned more to one of surprise.? I'd seen that reaction before.? Something about my look was making her uneasy for the first time.? I found myself hoping it wasn't just the technical issues that were making her squirm.?

  "Oh, I've no doubt the threat is real," I said, not breaking eye contact.? "But unless they signed their name to it, trust me, it's not al-Qaida.? I know something of their tactics.? And remember, I told you I was just in a bar fight with two ex-military types."

  "What's your point?" asked Marti, becoming defensive again.? "A bar fight in some hick town hardly qualifies as national intelligence."? She looked at me now like who the hell did I think I was and what could I possibly know about their tactics?

  "The point is, Ms. Callahan, the men in the bar had a partner-someone pulling the strings.?? That man was outside The Tavern, in the shadows, watching me.? The fight was a deliberate attempt t
o slow me down or warn me off.? Why would they want to do that?? The answer is they obviously know I'm here and want me out of their way for some reason.? These events are all connected."

  Marti leaned back in her chair again.? "That's all well and good, but doesn't explain why it can't be al-Qaida?" ?She wasn't able to connect the dots yet.

  "I saw the man in the shadows.? I know him," I said.?"And he isn't a Muslim.? He used to be an Army Ranger."?

  Prichard wheeled around and stared at me, hard.?