by Mark Lemke
CHAPTER 52
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Hector, the Old Man, and I hurried up the back stairs to the 140-foot elevation of the turbine deck.? As we exited the stairwell near the door to the control room, we turned left and found an ordinary-looking structure with no windows or other adornments.? There were no markings on it to indicate what was inside.? And as odd as that may have seemed, the two-story building was just not that noticeable for some reason.? Hiding in plain sight.?
Inside the structure was the secondary alarm station, or SAS.? Plant employees walked by it every day and probably didn't know what the building was for.? If somebody were to stick his head in the door on the lower level, all he would see is a locker room used by the fire brigade and the security staff as a changing room and staging area.?
In the corner, a stairway led to an upper level, where a secure door opened to a small room filled with computer screens and computers.? This was similar to CAS, which was in the security building; only this one was a backup.? As such, it didn't have all the bells and whistles that CAS had.? But it was functional.? It could view the input from the cameras around the site and had the ability to take control of them, if necessary.? Perhaps more importantly for the Old Man and me, it had access to the security computer, which tracked the use of key cards being used around the facility.?
Hector swiped his key card on the electronic pad outside the door, placed his hand on the hand geometry station, waited for the green light, opened the door, and led us in.? Jerry and Ben, the security officers on watch, clearly weren't expecting anyone when Hector walked in with the two of us in tow.
"Guys, I know this is unusual," Hector began, preempting their obvious ensuing objections.? "These guys are contractors Prichard hired to help us out.? Nick, here, ran the drill the other night, as you know.? This is his . . . partner.? They know about the threat to the station and want to look at a few things."
Jerry, the senior of the two, stared at Hector as if wanting to argue with him, but recognized Hector's positional authority over them.? Ben continued to watch the monitors, preferring to stay out of it altogether.? He knew if he ever wanted to get off this damn graveyard shift, he couldn't afford to rock the boat.
"I want you to give them your complete cooperation."?
I noticed Hector didn't tell them the whole story.? Because of what we'd told him, he was undoubtedly suspicious of whom he could trust.? But these guys worked for him tonight, and he was counting on them to do as he'd asked, with little pushback.?
Everyone knew that the term 'contractor' in the security world meant something akin to being a black ops guy.? When we were on a site we weren't generally asked a lot of questions. But tonight wasn't normal.? I expected to get questions I didn't normally get.
Jerry, the senior of the two, looked at us quizzically, but addressed Hector.? "They aren't wearing any key cards or TLDs.? They shouldn't even be on site, let alone in here.? What gives, Hector?? This is completely out of line and inappropriate."
"I told you, they're with me.? That should be enough for you."
"I don't mean to buck you on this, but no, it's not enough for me.? I need to check with CAS on this."
I could see that Hector's story wasn't going to hold up.? We were fighting the clock and we needed these guys to help us, and not discuss this with CAS, so I spoke up.?
"Guys, the bottom line is that there are some perps inside the plant right now and we have to find them.? I have a team out in the hills that just took down an assault team.? You've also been compromised from the inside.? We can't afford to call CAS.? Gentlemen, you're under attack and you just don't know it.? The sooner you come to grips with that, the better off we'll all be."
Jerry and Ben looked at one another.? Ben looked at Hector and asked, "Is this for real?? This isn't some kind of drill or something, is it?? Because if it is, it's damn lousy timing."
Hector took a cue from my directness, and continued.? "No, this is no drill.? You need to do as we ask, and you cannot communicate with CAS or with Rob.? You guys need to trust me on this.? I'm up here because we believe CAS may be compromised."
Having previewed everyone's files, I knew that Jerry and Hector went way back.? The current situation was unusual, to say the least, but he had no reason not to trust Hector.? Nonetheless, he couldn't acquiesce so quickly.?
"Hector, man, do you know what you're saying?? CAS is compromised?? I don't know why you think that and I don't know who these guys are," nodding in my direction.? "But what I do know is they shouldn't be in here.?? And by the looks of things, they shouldn't be on plant site.? You're gonna have to give me something or I'm going to have to call this in."
Hector sat down in a chair next to Jerry.? "If what we're telling you is true, and you don't help us, you'll know pretty soon, whether you call this in or not.? Hell, if I were lying to you, I'd have shot you already.? Either that or he would have," he said, nodding to me.? "You know me.? You need to go with me on this.? I know that's not fair to ask you, but that's it.? That's the deal."
Jerry looked at Hector as the seconds ticked away.? I was getting antsy.? I glanced at Jerry's partner, Ben, who'd been sitting there, wide eyed, probably wondering whose side he should be on.? This would be much easier with their help, but I was getting ready to take control of the situation, by force if need be.?
Jerry looked over at Ben, nodded, and then looked at me.? "What do you need, sir?"
I put a hand on his shoulder, to affirm my appreciation for the trust.?
"Thanks, guys!? First of all, we need to know if anyone came into the plant recently.? Look back an hour or so.? There shouldn't be a lot to traffic, so this should be easy to find."
Ben said, "I can do that.? Give me a minute."? He turned to his computer and started making some inquiries.?
The Old Man looked at me. "We need to look for anomalies.? Guys in areas they may have no reason to be in at this time of night, that kind of thing."
"Agreed.? Jerry, how do we go about that?"
Just then, Ben chirped up.? He'd finished his search.? That didn't take long.? "A contract guy from some company called Waxman Industries came in about a half hour ago.? That's about it."?
The Old Man asked quickly before I could, "Where'd he go?? Can you tell?"
"He came in through Security but then didn't clear any other card reader.? My guess is that he's probably in the admin building somewhere."
That had to be Jansen.? But what was he doing, and where was he doing it from?? "Can you run a history on that key card and see when it was last used to enter the protected area?" I asked.
Ben said, "Already did.? The computer shows that he was here a few days ago, but not since."
"I don't suppose you can pull up a picture of him, can you?"??
He entered some data into the computer, and within seconds a file sprang to life on the computer screen.? A few more keystrokes had his picture up.? There on the screen in SAS was Jansen's picture.?
I looked at the Old Man.? "That's him."
More to Hector than anyone else I said, "That's the leader of the adversaries.? We need to find that guy."?
Jerry and Ben were fidgeting in their chairs and looked like they were still having a hard time processing this information.? Nothing like this had ever happened there before-or at any other nuclear power plant that they were aware of. ?Now they were hearing terms like 'adversary' that could only mean one thing.? But Hector was already on board, and getting mad.
"Damn right we need to find him!? I want to know where that bastard is!"
"Whoa!" I cautioned.? "Not so fast.? We know he's here but he doesn't know we are.? That can work to our advantage.? My guess is that he's here to coordinate the team he has inside.? If we go looking for him, we could set events into motion we don't want to happen or aren't ready for yet."
"But we have to do something!" Hector said, clearly getting frustrated and starting to feel helpless.? As the security leader, he was wired to be pro-active and not just sit around waiting for somethin
g to happen.? But he also knew the value of patience and smart planning.? I could see that reconciling the two was a struggle for him.? But it wouldn't last long.? I was about to rock his world.?
"Is there any way he could communicate with his team in the field?? In other words, can we hack into his comm channel?" I asked.
The Old Man fielded that one. "Doubtful.? The concrete and steel in this place make it hard for any kind of portable communications net that doesn't use the internal radio channels.? They'd know that and would likely stay off of them.? Even fire-fighters and law enforcement personnel need to use the plant's handy-talkies when they get here because their systems won't work."
"Then Jansen won't know how they're doing until they're done."
"True, but whoever he's working with here, if he has access to a computer, can track their movements by looking for doors opened by their key cards."
"That means we should be able to do the same thing."
Jerry spoke up, "Let me run some door activity and see if I can account for all of it.? I know where most of our delta responders are-or where they should be, anyway.? This'll take a few minutes, though."
Not wishing to step on Hector's toes, but not having time to worry too much about who was in charge, I simply said, "Thanks, Jerry.? Do it."?
I then turned to Ben and asked, "Do we have cameras inside the plant that we can look at?"
"Nope.? Cameras are only outside."
Just then, my cell phone rang.? The security guys looked at me and then at my cell phone.? Normal cell phones don't work inside the power block and certainly not in CAS or SAS.? They looked at me with something akin to awe, or at least with renewed respect.? At least, respect for my phone.
I pulled it out of my pocket and answered it in my usual curt manner.? "Connor."
"This is Pete.? I got 'em.? The wife and the kids are all okay.? Can't say the same for the grunt guarding them.? His career as a mercenary is over."
"Any collateral damage?"? This was my way of asking if he or the family sustained any wounds.
"Some, but not to the principles and nothing to worry about."? I found out later that Pete went in through the bedroom window and some of the glass cut his arms.? "I'm taking them to the airport.? We'll be wheels up in twenty.? We'll touch down in Ukiah in a couple of hours."
"Pete, that's fantastic!? Great job!? Get your ass back up here.? I could use your help.? We've got something of a situation here.? Our buddy is nearby," referring to Jansen.
"Yeah?? I'm looking forward to seeing him again!? I'll get there soonest.? I need to get out of here before I get rolled up by the cops.? I made some noise.? It won't be long before someone shows up," Pete said, referring to the dead mercenary.? "I'm sure the neighbors won't appreciate it."
"Copy that.? One more thing.? I want you to pull the curtain back on Waxman Industries.? We have enough on them now to bury 'em alive.? We just need to document it so we can finish what we started."
"It's been long enough, eh boss?"
"That it has."? With that, I hung up.
I turned around and found everyone staring at me.?"Hector, I need a plant phone."