Cinch Knot

by Ron Walden

  “Hmmm. Coffee’s good isn’t it?” He grinned and winked at his wife.

  “I think Roger has eyes for Gwen. He hasn’t said anything, but I saw the look in his eyes.”

  “Roger has avoided serious commitment for a long time. It’ll take someone very special to rope him,” Beth commented, as she snuggled into Dan.

  “He could do a lot worse. She’s pretty, educated, and has a good job. She’ll probably be the next pump station supervisor. She’s a really neat person; you’ll like her. After this thing is over, maybe we can have the two of them down for a weekend.”

  “Oh. You old cupid, you.” and she playfully slapped is leg.

  His voice turned serious: “I hope they don’t have any problems this afternoon. They have a dangerous assignment.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Now honey. They’re headed to Valdez to arrest the people involved in a plot to destroy the OCC and cause damage to the terminal facility. I don’t want you to tell anyone this, but the reason for all the secrecy is that Gwen found a nuclear warhead inside the ultrasonic pig. It wasn’t armed, and we hope to arrest the people involved before they can arm it.” Dan could see the panic building in her eyes again.

  “Do you mean, atomic, atomic bomb? What kind of people are they? Oh Dan, if these people can afford to build something like that, they are super wealthy and have no conscience.” She knew her pleading would do no good. Dan had always thought he was John Wayne, and he was in the right. But to Beth, being right didn’t seem to be enough to endanger his life.

  “I owe Bergstrom for what he did during the California raid. It’s my chance to make things right for good men who were killed and wounded there. I have an obligation to little Steve. I owe Bergstrom for nearly getting me killed and putting me in a position where I had to draw down on a friend.”

  “You’ve been a cop for a long time, Dan. You know, even better than I, that revenge is a motivator that’ll get you hurt or killed.”

  “I know, and you’re right. I promise to be careful.”

  They finished their coffee and lay back on the bed. They’ll have a long night of flying ahead. The Alaska Airlines flight to Seattle with a 2 1/2 hour layover, then on to Phoenix.

  “John Sutter will be at the airport to meet us. It’ll be good to see him again.” Dan remembered his four fishing trips in Alaska. John loved Alaska. He liked flying to remote rivers and catching Grayling. Dan laughed when he thought about John attacking the fish with the same commando style he used for criminals. John had stayed on with the DEA and remained in Phoenix because his wife was a local girl and wanted to keep it that way.

  They had a boy and a girl. The boy, Steve, was all-state middle weight wrestling champ. The girl was Goldwater High School cheerleader captain. She was also a straight “A” student. As a freshman, she had seen some bad times because of a newspaper article showing a picture of her father arresting some drug dealers. Her fellow students began to call her “Narc” and tormented her. With some encouragement from her father, she was able to turn it around and start an antidrug movement in the high school. She received a commendation from the Governor and was recognized by the Arizona Teachers Association for her efforts.

  It was just after 1100 hours when Sam, Roger, and Gwen stopped at his workshop on Elmendorf AFB. Sam had called ahead and the canvas satchel full of tools was ready for them when they arrived. “Gwen, we have a couple of minutes, would you like to look around the shop?”

  “I’d love it,” she responded. “Are you sure we have time?”

  “We only have time for the nickel tour, but we can have a cup of coffee and look around, if you’re interested.”

  Roger was not interested in tours. He’d leave that to the two scientists. He was a cop and had other things on his mind. He took an address book from his wallet and walked to the phone. He called the Alaska State Trooper office in Glennallen. He asked to speak with the Sergeant, Greg Milner.

  “Hello, Greg. This is Roger Dorfmann. I need you and two of your troopers to meet me at the Valdez airport about 1330. It’s important, and secret, Greg.” Roger could have ordered him to be there under jurisdiction of the U.S. Government, but he knew it would be more acceptable to the young sergeant if he asked. Roger had been friends with Greg’s parents for many years and had known Greg since he was in Junior High School.

  “What have you got, Roger? Will we need CIRT (Crisis Intervention Response Team) equipment?”

  “No, I hope it’s just a simple arrest. There should be six suspects, and they shouldn’t be armed. But you know how these things go; better wear your vest. I’ll give you a better briefing when we get there. Thanks Greg.” Roger hung up the receiver.

  The telephone rang almost immediately after Roger hung it up. Airman First Class Anthony Souza answered the ring.

  “Electronics Shop, Airman Souza speaking. How may I help you?”

  After a short pause, he responded again, “I’ll tell him, Sir.” He hung up the phone and turned to Sam, “Sir, that was operations; your helicopter’s about 10 minutes out.”

  “Thanks, Tony.” Sam looked around the shop. “I guess we have all we need. Let’s go.” At the door he turned and spoke to the airman. “Tony. You drive my car back to the shop, please.”

  The red Bolkow helicopter was just landing as they entered the building. Sam checked in with the duty officer. Seeing his companions, he motioned, “Roger, Gwen, over here.” The three walked to the door leading to the ramp and the waiting helicopter. “It will take an hour and a half to reach Valdez.” The pilot of the red Security helicopter asked for and was given clearance to depart from the terminal ramp.

  “God. Please, keep us all safe today,” Roger uttered quietly as the helicopter began to rise from the concrete flight line ramp.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Valdez airport is located in a mountain valley, surrounded on three sides by breathtaking snowcapped mountains. The view from the helicopter was spectacular. Sam counted nine moose grazing along the stream banks and in willow patches just west of the airport. Sun was shining on the glaciers and gleaming off many glacier-fed streams. Eagles were soaring in the summer thermals. “How can anything so beautiful be such a menace to aircraft?” Sam thought, as the helicopter maneuvered into the wind for landing. Three troopers were standing near a Cessna 185 parked at the terminal.

  The three removed their headsets and stepped out of the craft and walked to meet the three troopers. The helicopter pilot began his cool down. “Standby here and keep your radio tuned to the Trans Alaska Pipeline Service Company security frequency, just in case we need you.” Roger instructed.

  Captain of the Valdez district security for TAPS, Mike Deitz stepped from the TAPS tourist office.

  “I have a conference room set up in here,” he said.

  As they entered the conference room, Roger asked Deitz, “How much time do we have?”

  “The truck with the pig box and the other equipment arrived this morning. There were two technicians in the truck. The chief tech and the rest are due to arrive by helicopter at 1530 hours. That gives us about an hour and a half. The pig is due to arrive in the pig trap at about 1800 hours.”

  “Will the helicopter with the techs land at the Pipeline Terminal or here at the airport?” Roger asked.

  “They’ll land at the Pipeline Terminal helicopter pad.” Sam asked, “Do you have a map of the Terminal? We’ll need to know the roads and the locations of all buildings and facilities.”

  Deitz reached behind his chair and offered a large roll of maps and drawings. He took the large rubber band from the roll and flattened the papers on the conference table. An ash tray was placed on two of the corners and a book on a third to keep the maps from coiling up again.

  Sam looked from the table to an aerial photo hanging on the wall. Both gave a good view of the terminal layout. There are three levels. The first was the water and loading berths. The second level was the pipeline entry level. There were ballast holding
tanks and metering buildings on that level as well as the OCC, Operations Control Center. On the third and highest level were 18 crude oil holding tanks and the power plant.

  Sam studied the blueprints and drawings now covering the table. He thumbed through the sheets. He folded the others back carefully and began to study the detail on the sheets before him.

  Gwen too was studying the schematic drawings of the Terminal Facility. She spoke to Sam as she pointed to the East Manifold and Monitoring building.

  “This is where the pig trap is located. The truck with support equipment for the pig will be parked here. But look at this,” she was pointing to the buildings on the map marked “Operations Control Center.”

  “What is it?” Roger asked. The men studied the map on the wall.

  Sam caught on first.

  “This is one very sharp lady, Roger. She’s noticed where the OCC is in relation to the pig trap. You have to understand the kind of weapon we are dealing with,” “What do you mean?” Roger asked.

  “Given the size of the weapon we’re dealing with, there are only a few possibilities. First of all there are only three types of devices for this use. The first is the old Plutonium fission bomb, like the one used on Japan in World War II. This type is very dirty and cause radioactive fallout and residual radiation, harmful to living things.

  “The second type is the Neutron device which doesn’t destroy property, only living things. It can destroy an army and leave all the equipment still intact. It’s designed to eliminate personnel with high gamma radiation, though that doesn’t seem to be intended here.

  “The third, and the one I think this is, is a Hydrogen device, designed for battlefield use. It has great destructive capability with a minimum of residual radiation and fallout. This is the one we are dealing with because it was used in missile warheads, roughly the size of the nose of the pig. We used them in the Phoenix, Hawk, and Nike missile. The Soviets copied technology from us. They paid a great deal of money to get our designs and used the drawings down to the last bolt. That’s how we know so much about these types of Soviet warheads, They’re our designs.” Sam paused.

  Roger was still puzzled. “So you think this is a hydrogen warhead, but I still don’t understand what it has to do with the maps. Wouldn’t it destroy the whole Terminal Facility?”

  Gwen spoke now.

  “Correct me if I’m wrong, Sam. A device of this size has a quarter of a mile destruction zone. The OCC office is about a half mile from the pig trap. There are also three large ballast water holding tanks between the pig trap and the OCC buildings. These tanks are large enough to cause a “shadow effect.” That means that the OCC buildings would be somewhat protected from the destructive blast of the warhead. There would be a great deal of damage but the target, or at least we think it’s the target, would not sustain a great deal of damage.”

  Sam spoke again.

  “What all this means, in terms of logistics, is that the pig, or at least the device inside it, must be moved from the East Manifold and Metering Building to somewhere near the OCC building. In a way, that’s good news. It means the arming and detonating switch is not on a Mercury Triggering Device which would activate the detonator if the triggering device is moved or tilted or even shaken.”

  Roger tapped his finger on the table and slipped into deep thought. “Okay then, let’s get a priority list established. As I see it, our first concern is to arrest the two technicians who drove the truck with the support equipment and are now on station. Second we have to find the arming device. Third we must await the arrival of our technicians who are coming by helicopter. We’ll arrest them the instant they hit the ground. We have to remove the pig from the pipeline and secure it until a disposal team can remove the warhead. All this is going to spread us pretty thin.”

  “Captain, can you get us a van to transport suspects?” Greg asked.

  “Of course. I also have several good men to guard the pig once it’s out of the pipeline,” Deitz replied.

  “Is there an office we can use for a command headquarters?” Roger asked Deitz.

  “I’ve set up a communications and telephone center at Operations Control Center. The Terminal Supervisor has set aside the conference room and will give us anything we need,”

  “Sounds like you’re way ahead of us.”

  “Need to be. You guys are pretty quick.”

  “Where is the truck and the two Japanese technicians now?” Roger smiled.

  “I don’t know for sure. I’ll have one of my officers find them and make sure they’re at the pig trap with the truck when we arrive. I’ll make that call now,” Deitz reached for a telephone.

  “Is everyone clear on what they’re supposed to do? We can’t allow these guys to have any communication until we have all of them in custody. We don’t want any of them slipping away, and we don’t want them dropping into any contingency plan.” Roger looked around the table, “Does anyone have any questions or anything to add?”

  Roger looked at the notes he had made; then he announced, “Okay, it’s time to get going. Be careful, I don’t want anyone hurt. Good luck.”

  Deitz, Dorfmann, and Milner were in the TAPS crew cab pickup. The other two troopers, Sam, and Gwen, walked over to the other side of the parking lot to a red GMC Suburban. Sam opened the rear door and tossed in the canvas bag of tools, electrical testers, and Geiger counter. He then walked around the truck and opened the driver’s door. He would drive, but not knowing the area, he would follow Deitz. It was a 10 minute drive from the office at the airport to the Security Gate of the Trans Alaska Pipeline Company, Valdez Marine Terminal Facility. There was little conversation during the trip. Each participant was reviewing his roll in the upcoming operation and each recognized an adrenaline rush.

  The two vehicles stopped at the main gate canopy. The two officers on duty came to the observation window. Captain Deitz left the truck and went into the gatehouse. He gave the officers a list six people accompanying him. While officer Reardon wrote names in the logbook and listed visitor badge numbers, Deitz called the OCC conference room and ordered the six standby officers to report to the East Manifold and Metering Building. Deitz walked to the suburban. He gave the driver and Sam three visitor badges. He then returned to his own truck and handed out the badges.

  “The troopers in uniform wouldn’t have any trouble, but you in civilian clothing will be stopped and asked for ID. These visitor passes will eliminate that. Officers are on the way to meet us. They can secure the building and guard the pig after the arrests.” Deitz started the truck and began the half mile drive to the East Manifold Building where the pig trap is located.

  It was only a few hundred yards to the first junction where one road led to the terminal area where the crude filled oil pipes dispersed its black gold. The second road turned right and led to Tanker Berth Numbers One and Three Tanker. The giant tanker, Exxon Alaska, was tied to Berth Number One. A floating boom was deployed around the tanker to assure trapping any contaminates which could accidentally fall into the water during loading. A red, rotating beacon atop the loading Berth signaled crude oil was being loaded on the huge tanker.

  The two vehicles turned left for a quarter mile—then right. The first turn on the right was the large East Manifold and Metering Building. The red flatbed truck with the pig box and other assorted equipment was parked next to the west side of the building. No one was visible.

  “When I called from the gatehouse, the officers told me the two technicians were here. Gwen, you have a TAPS employee badge. Go inside and get them out here on some pretext, okay?” The Captain asked.

  “I can say I need something from the truck.” Gwen said nervously.

  Just then another red crew cab pickup pulled into the lot. There were six officers dressed in blue and gray uniforms and blue hard hats inside. Captain Deitz walked to the truck.

  “Two of you move these other vehicles out of sight. The rest of you stay out of sight behind the building until we ne
ed you. Give me one of your portable radios, don’t use the TAPS frequency, use the security frequency, channel five.” Deitz gave short concise orders.

  He saw Gwen enter the pig receiving station as he walked to where Roger was standing. The vehicles were moving out of sight. The uniformed officers were out of sight. Roger planted himself flat against the wall of the building behind the door the two Japanese technicians would exit. Taking a last look around, Deitz said, “I think we’re ready.”

  Roger motioned for everyone to be still. It seemed like a very long wait. With the noises of the terminal equipment operating and the insulation of the building, it was impossible to hear what was happening inside the building. Suddenly the door began to open and Roger could hear someone speaking Japanese. As the two foreigners stepped through the door, Gwen pulled the door closed and slid the deadbolt into place leaving her inside and the two suspects outside with the officers. She watched the action outside from a window. The two slightly built men were speaking in Japanese to each other and did not see the officers until Roger, holding his badge in view, said, “Put your hands up. You are under arrest. I am a Federal Officer. You are under arrest. Do you understand?”

  “We understand English, but why are we under arrest?”

  The three uniformed troopers were covering the situation with handguns drawn. Sergeant Milner spoke to his officers,

  “Cuff these two and search them.”

  The one who had spoken before and appeared to be the senior technician of the two, turned to face Roger.

  “Tell us why we are arrested. We have done nothing wrong. We are only visitors in your country. Ouch. Loosen cuffs please.”

  “Put their personal effects in these bags.” Roger directed.

  “The charges will be read to you in detail later. For now we are arresting you for terrorist acts against a company incorporated in the United States of America,” Roger explained.