Red North!

by Mark Lemke

CHAPTER 55

  ?

  Hector turned to Jerry and said impatiently, "What do you mean, we have a problem?"

  Without turning around, Jerry replied, "I've found some doors being accessed to vital areas. ?On any other night I probably wouldn't have paid much attention, but given what's going on tonight, I looked a bit deeper.? I pulled up the key cards of who was entering those areas.? It seems that we have six guys in the plant who are going in and out of sensitive areas."

  "What makes that so unusual?? We're prepping for an outage."

  "Yes, but their key cards are tagged to security.? And they're definitely not our guys."

  The Old Man said, "This is actually good news.? Now at least we know who we're looking for and can trace where they've been and where they are."

  "Good work, Jerry," I said with genuine appreciation.? "We're going to need to know where those guys went in the last six hours."

  "Guys, you don't get it yet," Jerry warned.? "Whoever made their key cards for them gave them access to everywhere on site.? Even the operators don't have that kind of access."

  With a sense of mounting dread, I looked at Jerry.? "Go on."

  "One of these guys entered the control room an hour ago and, according to the computer, is still in there."

  A wave of dread hit me like a jolt, as the reality of that news settled in.?

  Hector virtually exploded.? "Rob!? That son of a bitch!"

  The Old Man and I shared a quick, knowing look. "Marti!" was all I could say.?

  The Old Man nodded his head.? "She should have called you back by now.? My guess is she's in the shift manager office, and whoever's in there, shouldn't be, and isn't going to let her go."

  This bothered me more than I imagined it would.? Probably more than with other hostage situations I'd faced.? I didn't want these newfound feelings for this woman to interfere with my judgment.? I had to look at this logically and pragmatically.? Yeah, right!? I couldn't ignore Marti, and I instantly knew I wasn't going to waste time trying to.? Perhaps equally as important, I couldn't ignore the situation in the control room.? The dynamics of the situation just changed.

  "Jerry, we need a printout of everywhere those guys have been."? Turning to the Old Man I said, "I need you to look over that list and see where you think they put any charges.? Prioritize the list.? Hector, I need you to put together a team of guys you can count on and go find the explosives these guys planted once the Old Man comes up with the list.? Can you do that?"

  Hector didn't hesitate.? "I've got at least five guys I'd stake my life on.? The rest, maybe but I'm not so sure.? How deep do you think this goes?"

  "Rob couldn't have done everything himself.? He's probably had some help, though the odds are, that person is just a grunt who needed some money.? Rob probably knows that if too many people are involved there's too much of a chance for a leak.? My guess is that whoever helped him is probably in a dumpster by now.? Rob won't want to leave any loose ends lying around."

  "Then we're going to have to chance it," Hector said.? "I'll round up my guys and brief them."

  "Just remember," I said, "that the terrorists are still out there, and probably armed."

  "My guys are good, but we could use some help."

  "I've got a team standing by outside.? I can get them inside, but it would be nice if you didn't shoot them."

  "I'll do my best," Hector said.? "Go ahead and get them in here as fast as you can.? If you can, get them to take up defensive positions outside the containment airlocks to start with.? I'll have my guys do the internal search.? We know the plant better and can cover more ground than your guys."

  "I agree," I said.? "I'll get my guys moving."

  "One more thing," Hector said before we split up.? "It'll help if I know where your team is coming in from."

  "They'll come in on the north side, just behind the Unit 1 transformers."

  "Won't this cause Jansen to blow the charges he's planted already?" Hector asked.

  "We're going to have to chance it. If we advance his timetable, it may throw him off balance, which would benefit us more than him.? You just need to find those explosives.? No matter where they are, they represent a very real danger to the plant.? We get those, and we're almost home."

  The Old Man looked at me with a question he already knew the answer to.? "And what are you going to do?"

  "I'm going to pay a visit to the control room.? Hector, I'm going to need a key card that'll get me into the control room.? Tell me the control room has a back door . . . ?"

  Hector said, "Yes, it does.? Nobody uses it but the operators and occasionally some instrument control techs."

  "Perfect!? How do I get there?"

  "When you leave here, there's a stairwell just outside the main control room door.? Take it down one flight to the door into the cable spreading room.? You'll need a key card to get in there.? Once in, go straight across and you'll come to another door, leading to the stairwell up to the back door."

  I looked at the Old Man; once again glad he was there.? "Where's the shift manager's office relative to that door?"

  "It's on the other side of the control room," he said.?"But that should be okay.? Once inside, you'll be behind some instrument panels that'll shield you from view of the control room operators.? You can slip around behind them and get very close to the shift manager's office without being seen.? Go to the right and it'll bring you right up to Dave's door.? The operators may hear the door open but will likely not think too much about it.? But move quickly, in case they do.? Once inside, you're on your own."

  I checked my Glock and made sure the magazine was fully loaded-something I already knew, but checked anyway.

  "Hector, while Jerry is compiling the list, I need you to brief Prichard.? I imagine he's in his office.? Tell him what you know and what we're doing.? He needs the information.? Tell him I'll talk to him later."

  "Okay," Hector acknowledged. "But we don't have any extra key cards just sitting around for you to use.? I'm going to need mine.? No way I'm sending my guys out in the field on this without me."

  Jerry pulled his off his lanyard.? "Here, use mine.? I'm not going anywhere.? And it'll get you in anywhere you need to go."

  Hector frowned at yet another security violation but nodded his head in agreement.? He was way past worrying about the many rules already broken tonight.?

  "Thanks, Jerry," I said as I took the badge and key card and put them in my pocket.?

  Then I got out my cell phone and dialed a secure number.?

  "Red Two, this is Red One.? You are go for intrusion.?North end of Unit 1 as planned.? Once inside, take up positions outside containment airlock Unit 1."

  "Copy that, Red One.? Does the security staff know we're the good guys?"

  "They're being briefed, but no guarantees.? There are six, say again, six bad guys inside, dressed like armed responders, and carrying weapons."

  "You're not making this easy on us, boss," the Red Two leader said.

  "Hey, if it was easy, the FBI would be doing it, right?? Give me five minutes, then go."

  "Copy that, boss.? Five minutes . . . hack.? Red Two out."

  I looked at everyone, giving them all a moment to provide any last input.? Hearing none, I gave a short nod to the Old Man and turned to leave SAS.

  The Old Man grabbed me by the arm.? "That back door to the control room is heavy and is NOT quiet.? Someone will hear it open.? They may not see you but they will hear you.? You won't have much time once you open it."

  I looked at him and a moment passed between us.?

  "Understood."

  With that, I left the confines of the secondary alarm station.? It was time to engage the enemy.? And God help them. Now it had become personal.?