by Mark Lemke
CHAPTER 35
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Prichard was uncharacteristically unnerved.? This was new territory for him.? He was a smart man and one who knew how to navigate the various political realities of running a large nuclear power plant, and showed poise and grace in doing it.? He was no longer involved with engineering details of running the plant-his first love.? His job was one of politics now.? It was this ability, more than his engineering knowledge, that resulted in him being chosen as the site vice president for this nuclear plant in a politically charged state.? But now his plant was under threat of attack, and if he believed what he'd just been told, they had help from a handpicked member of his staff.?
Prichard had a well-nourished ego, and was used to dealing with Washington types and executives from his own company as well as those from other nuclear power companies, but he was unprepared for all of this.? Terrorists had never taken over a nuclear power plant before.? Despite all the planning and drills, it was actually happening now and it just didn't fit into his neat, orderly existence.?
In front of him sat a very young woman, who, right now, was the face of the federal government to him.? He knew she was out of her league, as much as he was out of his. By morning the plant would be crawling with FBI and county law enforcement, whether he liked it or not.?
He started to quickly organize what he knew.? The FBI wanted to lock down the plant and do a detailed search, but of course, the feds didn't know the plant.? They were going to need help from people who did and that would be a logistical nightmare.? Whatever they were looking for was probably already here. ?He was charged with the protection of the health and safety of the people who lived around the plant, and he couldn't do anything to jeopardize that.? On the technical side of things, holding power at 100 percent for a couple of weeks was simply impossible.? If he were going to comply with the FBI wishes, he would have to find a way to manage the needs of the plant as well as the wants of the FBI. ?To do that, he'd need help from his plant staff and at the moment, didn't know whom he could and could not trust.
But he had no intention of letting it get that far.? He looked at his watch.? He had an ace in the hole . . . one that the FBI didn't know about.? He was running out of time, and he knew it.?
Just then, his hone rang, breaking him out of his contemplation.? Even though the phone didn't indicate who was calling, he recognized the number as one Nick had been using.
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