by Mark Lemke
CHAPTER 57
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Hector used his radio to contact the five men he knew he could trust.? He told them to rendezvous with him at SAS ASAP.? He had no choice but to do this over an open radio channel.? He then called Lynn, the watch commander, who'd taken up station inside CAS while he was gone.? Standard protocol.? He told her what little he could in a few short seconds to get her on his side.? Again, if he was going to help Nick's team, he needed to get his security force to back off.? He knew this was going to be a challenge because it went against the grain of their training.? Lynn sounded incredulous and started asking questions, but she was interrupted by the report of an explosion at the intake.
Hector could hear the CAS operator in the background.? "Explosion at the intake, boss!" he shouted to Lynn.? "I've got the camera on it.? Definitely smoke from down there.? Something big just happened."
"Is that you, Hector?" she asked anxiously.
"I wasn't briefed on that, but I suggest you take action in that direction."? Hector didn't know if this was Nick or not, but the fact that Nick didn't tell him about it didn't mean it was an oversight.? He didn't think Nick made too many mistakes.? Perhaps he'd wanted the security people to turn their attention down there.? Then it made sense. ?Combat tactics.? By doing that, Nick could give his men coming in through the fence a little breathing room.?
"Damn it, Hector, I need to know what the hell is going on!" Lynn insisted.? "Get your ass over here.? Now!? I gotta go!"? With that she hung up.
Hector put down the phone.? He couldn't worry about her right now.? He had a part in all of this, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to do his level best.? He needed to find those six Waxman perps and shut them down.? He'd deal with Lynn later.
Back in CAS, Lynn turned all her attention to the two security operators who were feverishly scanning their camera feeds and listening to radio chatter.
"Any intruders?"
"None observed."
"Okay.? Just in case, redeploy the Delta responders per procedure.? I'll make a PA announcement."
The CAS operator started methodically moving his people around the plant like pieces on a chessboard, to cover a possible assault from the intake structure.? But an attack from that location was unlikely.? It didn't make any sense.? Security strategies were in place that would keep the plant secure from any possible assault from that direction.? Regardless of whether the security people believed this was a legitimate threat, they were at a heightened state of awareness all the same.?
If security was feeling calm and confident in their ability to repel an attack from the intake, something happened at that moment that caused a cold shudder to run up their spines.
"RED NORTH! RED NORTH!" the CAS operator shouted, both for the room and into the radio.? "We have an intrusion on the north side of the plant!? Go! Go! Go!"
Lynn went silent as fear set in.? No matter how often you train for an incursion, your first reaction is that it can't possibly be happening.? It must be a mistake.? That hesitation can cost precious seconds in a situation that had none to spare.?
She asked for confirmatory information.? "Where are they, and how many?"
"I don't know yet, boss.? They took out our cameras in that area.? We're blind up there and seeing only white.? But they triggered the microwave link.? So we know they're there."
Lynn reached for her procedures with shaking hands, fear temporarily blinding her as to what to do next.? She had an explosion at the intake, an incursion on the north side, cameras that were somehow blinded-and Hector knew something about all this that he wasn't sharing.?
Then the reports started coming in from the field.? This was not a mistake or an equipment failure.? This was happening for real.
"This is Delta 2!? Perps are inside the fence.? I make that six, say again six perps.? Looks like they're heading for the aux building Unit 1!? Moving fast.? This is no drill.? Repeat, this is no drill!"
Lynn's blood pressure skyrocketed.? She started to process all this.? Hector had given her a heads up, but there were actual explosions and people coming onto the site.? It was all happening too fast.? She was out of her depth and she knew it.
"This is Delta 4.? I got 'em.? Moving to intercept.? Shots fired!"
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