Operation: Unknown Angel

by Margaret Kay

  Mother watched Cooper’s jaw clench tight. It was the telltale sign that Cooper was frustrated. They had a plan, a good one which was now going to have to change. “Let us at least let the FBI keep your families secure.”

  Just then, everyone felt vibrations below their feet. A low rumble sounded from all around.

  “Earthquake,” Clint Ames announced, unnecessarily.

  The blinds on the windows rattled. The twin light fixtures above, swayed. It only lasted fifteen seconds.

  “That didn’t feel too strong,” Bird said. He and the other members of the counsel moved towards the door.

  “Yeah, not here, but it depends where its epicenter was,” Clint Ames said. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed the research office. He put it on speaker.

  Ayla answered. “Holy shit, did you feel that?”

  “I’m in Anchorage, felt like maybe a two,” he said.

  “It was a lot stronger here,” she said.

  “Put me on speaker, who else is there?” He asked. The members of the advisory council stopped where they were and listened.

  “Clint, this is Sonia,” she said. “The equipment went wild. It registered as a five in the inlet and a four on the mountains.”

  “What about out in the gulf further towards Kodiak?”

  “This can’t be,” Sonia said after a few seconds. “Clint, nothing registered on those units.”

  “No, it can’t be. Surely, this quake was felt as far as the Aleutians.”

  “The equipment on Mount Redoubt measured the quake at a four,” Sonia read. “But over near Kodiak, I’m not seeing even a tremor.”

  Cooper and Lambchop exchanged glances. Cooper pulled his phone from his belt. He dialed Ops. “I need someone to verify seismic activity at Kodiak Island ASAP.”

  “Roger that,” Yvette acknowledged.

  Clint’s gaze went to Mother. “We have to get back to the research station as fast as we can.”

  “Ayla, do we know if there were any alarms at the rigs in the inlet?” Remi asked.

  “I’m monitoring all the channels. I have not heard anything yet.”

  “Where are the whales, Sonia?” Annaka asked.

  “The entire pod we have tags on are still over by Seward,” she answered.

  “Is the glacier stable after that quake?” Annaka asked.

  “It appears to be, but I’ll be watching it closely if we have any aftershocks,” Sonia replied. “I’m calling Claude in too.”

  “Would that quake be enough to release the pressure at the fault?” Bird asked.

  “It depends,” Ames said. “I need to be on site and monitor the equipment myself.”

  “Ayla, make sure you bring up the Tsunami warning website and monitor it too,” Remi said.

  “They normally don’t issue warnings if the quake hasn’t measured at least a seven point zero,” Annaka said.

  “We don’t know what it really was or where the epicenter was yet,” Ames insisted. “We have to get back to Anchor Point.”

  “I’ll contact JBER and see about getting a chopper to fly us in,” Cooper said to Ames. “I’d like the FBI to drive your families back and set up in your homes as a security detail.” Though at this point, with the public nature of their allegations and report here today, he really believed they were all safer. No one would be able to coerce them again; the threat of retaliation was always a possibility though. When powerful people didn’t get their way, they tended to get pissed and want revenge.

  Both Remi and Ames nodded.

  “Come on,” Cooper prompted. “I’ll make the call on the way back to the base.” He made eye contact with the FBI Agents who had brought Ames. “We’ve got him. We need your office to escort both his family, and Dr. Ipsen’s back to Anchor Point. I want a detail set up at both residences twenty-four hours a day.”

  “I’ll call it in,” one of the men said.

  The other made eye contact with Clint Ames. “Don’t worry about your family. I’ll personally be with your wife and son.”

  Ames nodded. “Explain what’s going on to my wife, will you?”

  “Yes, sir,” he said.

  In the hallway, they located the stairwell sign. They joined other office workers on the climb down the eleven flights to street level. Cooper led the way. The two FBI agents brought up the rear. When they stepped through the door into the lobby, they all viewed the activity near the elevators. From what they heard, it appeared that one of the cars was stuck between floors.

  “Would serve the suits right if they were the ones stuck in that elevator,” Annaka said just loud enough for Remi, Clint, and Mother to hear.

  As they neared the outer door, the elevator tone sounded, and the door opened. Mother and Annaka turned to view the elevators. The five men in suits stepped out. Mother could not contain his snicker, which made Annaka laugh out loud, their eyes silently enjoying the joke with each other.

  “Fuckers,” Annaka whispered, which brought about a wide grin and a laugh from Danny.

  Romeo

  The eight members of Shepherd Security climbed into the Blackhawk, assisting the three researchers to board as well. Two Air Force crewmembers secured the doors. Mother helped Annaka put her seat belt on, before fastening his own.

  Cooper was on his phone; had been since before they’d walked out of the hangar. He disconnected and stowed it in his pocket as the rotor blades spun up. “Angel got us rooms at that lodge. There is no car rental in Anchor Point, but she got a couple of cars for us from a car rental in Homer. The chopper will drop everyone but Madison, Jimmy, and me off at the research office. The three of us will get dropped off at the car rental in Homer and drive back to Anchor Point.”

  Annaka sat back in her seat and watched the ground and the distance from it the rising helicopter created. In the daylight, getting a bird’s-eye view, she realized just how big the base was. From the air, she saw the many different types of aircraft sitting on the flight line they’d just taken off from. She recognized fighter planes, large transport planes, as well as the distinctive AWACS. The number of planes and helicopters was staggering.

  “Confirmed seismic activity on Kodiak Island at the Coast Guard Station,” Cooper yelled above the sound of the rotors and the wind outside the aircraft. His phone was in his hand. He read from his text messages. “Something’s wrong with your sensors,” he yelled to Ames. “The quake was also felt on Adak.”

  “The sensors will be the first thing I check when we reach the research station,” Ames yelled back.

  Mother noticed that Annaka’s stare was focused straight ahead, out the window. She had a determined look on her face. He took hold of her hand and squeezed it. Her eyes shifted and locked with his. “Are you okay?” He asked, his lips near her ear.

  “Yes. I think when we reach the research station we need to go back out and take water samples near rig C-Three.”

  Mother shook his head no. “Sounds too dangerous. If another quake hits, being that close to the rigs doesn’t sound like a good idea.”

  “She’s right,” Remi yelled. “We need to see if the quake made the leak worse.”

  “If nothing else, maybe we can at least get that rig shut down,” Annaka yelled. “The leak is in the piping, not at the drill base.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Mother said. His eyes went to Sloan. “You should come too. We’ll need someone to pilot the boat if we have to get out of there fast.”

  Sloan nodded.

  The remainder of the flight was quiet. Annaka’s eyes remained on the treetops. Mother mentally prepared himself for another freezing-cold trip out on that piece of shit boat into the inlet. He chuckled to himself. Sloan had no idea what he was in for.

  The chopper set down in the parking lot of the Anchor Point Research Station, blowing the loose, fresh dusting of snow into the air creating a snow globe effect. Mother glanced back at the chopper as it lifted back off. Cooper was just closing the door. He figured they would already be out in the boat
before Cooper, Madison, and Jimmy made it back to the research building with the three rental cars.

  Stepping inside the research building, the room was instantly crowded with the five members of Shepherd Security plus everyone who worked there. It was all hands-on deck. Ames shed his coat and settled into his desk chair. He brought up the system that monitored the deployed seismic sensors. Mother watched him type and click furiously.

  “That can’t be,” he said while shaking his head. He clicked his mouse several more times. “That son of a bitch!” Clint Ames cursed loudly. His voice carried through the whole office, drowning out all other side conversations. Everyone fell silent, their eyes on him. “We didn’t read any quakes out in the bay or towards Kodiak because Keeling muted the reporting function in those devices. He’s the only one who could have.”

  He clicked a few keys, bringing several windows up on the monitor. Mother, Annaka, and Remi watched over his shoulder as he clicked on switch points, turning the seismic reporting mode back on in six different sensors. Then he brought up a database. He ran a query. Everyone in the office stood, silently watching him.

  “Why didn’t I think to check this before? The data is still here, got dumped into the database. I just need to get it out of the system archive and launch it.” He ran a history and checked it against the tremors that registered on the other devices. “Son of a bitch,” He repeated when he completed his review. “Yeah, it all checks. There were quakes registering out in the bay all along. They were just not reporting to us. This proves it.”

  “Can we get that proof to Bird and get them shut down?” Mother asked.

  Annaka pulled the business card out of her pocket that Troy Davis gave her. “Let’s start with Troy Davis and see if he really is anxious to keep his employees safe, see if he really will shut the rigs down.”

  “Clint needs to be the one to make the call,” Mother said.

  Lambchop nodded. “Make the call. Tell him the researchers are going back out to draw new water samples near that rig. Ask him if he’s been notified of any new problems since the quake.”

  Clint Ames lifted his desk phone. He dialed the number on the card. Davis answered on the second ring. Clint identified himself. He gave him the report. Davis assured him that none of the rigs reported any problems after the quake.

  “If those water samples show any increase in oil in the water, you have to shut that rig down,” Ames insisted. “There are bound to be aftershocks. The quake registered as a five point five at its epicenter out in the bay.”

  “Take your water samples and let me know,” Davis said without making a commitment to shut anything down.

  Ames relayed the conversation to everyone after he hung up with Davis. “I know it’s bad for the environment, but I almost hope the levels are off the fucking charts!”

  “Yeah, you really don’t want that,” Remi said. “I’m going to call Bird before we head out. He needs to know Patrick turned the monitoring equipment off. He needs to know how big the risk is. We didn’t have a clear seismic picture for maybe months.”

  Annaka was curious why Remi had Commissioner Bird’s phone number programmed into her cell phone, but she didn’t ask. Her call was quick. She communicated the facts under the guise of an update and then the four of them left for the boat dock, driving Claude Renault’s car. It began to snow again as they drove.

  Mother handed the box with the testing gear in it to Sloan, who stood in the boat. Just as he was about to climb in, an aftershock hit. It felt nearly as powerful as the quake had in Anchorage. It lasted a good twenty seconds. Once it stopped, Mother quickly got into the boat.

  Annaka took her phone from her pocket. “Hold up, Remi. Let me check on that one.” She dialed the office and was connected to Clint Ames. She put the phone on speaker. “How strong was that aftershock?”

  “Its epicenter was farther out than we thought, out near where one of the monitors had been turned off. It was a six which makes this one the main quake and the last the foreshock. We could be in for several more aftershocks. Be careful out there.”

  “Roger that,” Mother spoke up. He nodded at Remi, who stood near the boat’s controls. “Let’s make this fast. Get in, take the samples, and get the hell out and away from the rig.”

  “Yeah, I don’t particularly want to be next to it if it blows up or comes down,” Remi agreed.

  “Once we get out there, Sloan will take the controls. You and Annaka need to get those samples pulled faster than you ever have,” Mother ordered.

  The four of them huddled under the eisenglass and canvas covering. Remi pushed the speed to the craft’s top speed and brought them alongside rig C-Three. She left Sloan to pilot the boat after explaining to him where she’d like to take the six samples.

  Mother went out onto the open deck with Annaka and Remi. The snow came down heavier, the breeze was stiffer out in the inlet than on land. It was cold. It took about a half hour to get the desired samples. Then another half hour to motor back to the dock. Even though Mother snuggled in close behind Annaka, they were both chilled to the bone when they made it back to land.

  In the car, Annaka snuggled close to him. Sloan looked over his shoulder and shot Mother a grin. Then he rubbed his hands together, trying to warm them. “So, after we get back, you’ll analyze the samples and know if the rig’s leak is worse?” Sloan asked.

  “Yes. We have records of the previous sample’s contaminate percentages. We’ll know right away if it’s increased at all.” Remi paused and shook her head, still covered by the thick winter hat. “I have a really bad feeling we’re going to find it has increased substantially.”

  The remainder of the drive to the research office was quiet. The heat just started to warm the car as they arrived.

  “Did you ever get the heater fixed on your car?” Mother asked Annaka.

  “It doesn’t swim or sing, of course I haven’t paid any attention to it,” Annaka said with a smile.

  Twenty minutes later and just as Cooper and Madison were arriving with sandwiches for everyone, the test results confirmed Remi’s fear. The samples indicated the contaminate level was triple the worse it had been. Mother and Annaka stood back and watched as Remi initiated a conference call between Commissioner Bird and Troy Davis. She put her phone on speaker. She dispensed with the niceties. “The levels of oil in the water around rig C-Three are three times as bad as the worse reading we have seen. You need to shut that rig down right now.”

  “Now hold on,” Troy Davis argued. “Let me at least get confirmation from the Platform Operations Manager. If it is that high, we’ll shut it down.”

  “That’s the least of your worries. The last quake was bigger than the first. It could be they are building. We might not have seen the strongest yet,” Clint Ames spoke up.

  Annaka checked her equipment to see where the belugas were. Thank God the whales were still on the other side of the peninsula near Seward.

  “Or the stress on the fault could have been relieved by that last quake,” Davis contended. “Keeling thought a quake of at least four would do the trick.”

  An anger flared throughout Annaka. How dare he! “Do not quote anything that Patrick Keeling said!” She snapped. “He was in on my kidnapping. Do you understand that? He let those men hold a gun to his head, and they forced me to enter false data on the pollutant levels around that rig.”

  “Easy, Annaka,” Mother whispered in her ear, his hands caressing her shoulder.

  “I’m sorry, of course,” Troy Davis apologized. “I’m just so used to discussing these things with Patrick.”

  That statement got everyone’s attention. “How often did you speak with him about quakes?” Cooper asked.

  “Several times a week,” Davis answered.

  Clint Ames seemed surprised to hear this. He reached over, and muted Remi’s phone. “There would be no need for Patrick to do that unless he knew there was a problem.”

  “So, maybe he was monitoring that equipment, just not
here?” Mother suggested.

  “Maybe,” Ames said.

  “Are you still there?” Davis asked.

  Remi unmuted her phone. “How long till you get confirmation?” Her tone was not friendly.

  “A half hour, tops,” Davis guaranteed.

  “Then we expect to hear from you within thirty minutes,” Commissioner Bird said.

  “I’ll call you back as soon as the platform runs their own tests,” Davis promised.

  The call ended. Everyone grabbed a sandwich and chips. It was a tense half hour while they waited. There wasn’t much conversation in the room. Finally, Remi’s phone rang. It was Commissioner Bird. She put it on speaker. “Troy Davis called me and confirmed your test results. They’re shutting rig C-Three down until they get repairs made.”