Cinch Knot

by Ron Walden

  They had been running toward shore for about 15 minutes when Roger spotted something in the sky. It was the red Bolkow helicopter. The pilot had seen them first and was on a direct line to intercept them. As he passed over, Roger saw the observer trying to call them on the radio. Roger stepped out of the Wheelhouse and was finally able to convey, by hand signal, that he wanted a portable radio. The observer tied one to a small nylon cord, and, as the aircraft hovered, lowered the radio to the boat. Roger retrieved the radio and turned it on.

  “Good to see you, is everything all right at the Terminal?”

  “Everything is fine. There was no damage in town or at the terminal. Captain Deitz was worried about you and sent us to check. Is everyone okay with you?”

  “Almost everything” Roger replied. “We’re going to need an ambulance at the dock. The deckhand is hurt, possibly a concussion and a broken eardrum. Everyone else is okay, but we’d better get checked out. Sam is monitoring our radiation levels. We should be there in about a half hour.”

  “We’ll report all this for you and get an ambulance on the dock. If you stay out on the deck, you should be able to contact OCC. The radios went down there, but most are up and running now. The repeater is out so the Captain will have to talk with you from the main radio in the OCC. We’ll deliver these messages and come back to escort you. Good luck, you saved a lot of lives, and one of them was mine; thank you.”

  It was still early in the morning, a little before 7 AM, when Captain Williams maneuvered the Alaskan Star into position at the onshore dock. He had an injured crew member, cracked windows, and all his radios were out. He ached, he was tired, he was hungry. He had a headache, and he didn’t know who to be mad at. Still, in all, he considered it a successful night’s work.

  The ropes were secured to the dock and Medics climbed down the ladder to the deck of the boat. They quickly examined Donny and took vital signs. Three Medics loaded him onto a stretcher and carried him out onto the deck and up to the waiting ambulance.

  Roger stopped the skipper on the open deck, “Captain Williams, I owe you a cup of coffee.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  TAPS’ Marine Terminal Manager, Elwin Shaw, was in the Operations Control Center building when the group arrived. Mike Deitz met them in the conference room. “Bad night, huh?” Deitz asked. “Is everyone all right?”

  Sam was closest; “Yeah, we’re fine. A few bumps and bruises, but other than that, we’re okay. Donny, was hurt though. He probably has a concussion and a broken ear drum. He was still unconscious when we got here. Captain Williams, here, did a great job for us. We’re going to owe him for some damage to his boat though.”

  Elwin looked at the Captain of the Alaskan Star; “Good job. Thanks for responding so quickly.” They clasped hands. “Sorry to hear about your deckhand. I’m sure you want to go to the hospital and check on him.”

  “Yes, I’d like to see Donny. Can someone give me a ride into town?”

  “Take my truck.” Deitz interjected. “It’s the first one at the bottom of the stairs, out that door. Leave it in the Westward Hotel parking lot. I’ll pick it up there. When you get rested, I’ll need a written report on your participation tonight. Thanks again.”

  Everyone was tired and happy to take a seat at the conference table. Shaw stood and spoke in a sincere but very weak voice. “Before we get on with the mandatory agenda, I want to take this opportunity to personally thank each of you. You not only saved this facility but the lives of the people working here. You are heroes. There is no reward great enough to compensate you for what you did tonight. You will, no doubt, be called to court, harassed, and second guessed for months to come. I can’t change that, but I can, and will, stand by you as long as you want my support. That also goes for the Company; TAPS will support you 100%. For myself and for the people whose lives were saved tonight, thank you and we ask God’s blessings on you for being there.”

  “Kind words, Mr. Shaw.” Roger said. “I’m sure I speak for us all when I say we don’t feel like heroes. We did what had to be done. Now we must get on with finding the people responsible for this act of treachery. And we can do a good job with your support. Thank you.”

  Sam brought the discussion back to business. “There are some things you can do, Mr. Shaw.”

  “Just name it.”

  “I tested the radiation out there and it was very low. It was also dissipating. My equipment isn’t adequate to accurately test the air and water. There is a NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) research vessel docked at Seward. They’ve been doing bottom surveys in Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound. They have equipment to do a damage survey. They can also see how much of the reef we’ve changed.”

  “Is there anything else?” Shaw asked.

  “Yes. Contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and have them check out the loss to wildlife. We are not going to be able to hide a nuclear event. The media is going to be here in force before long, and you’d better be prepared. It won’t matter to them that none of this was within your control. The number of lives saved won’t sell papers or shock people on the Nightly News. The emphasis will be on how TAPS Company damaged the environment. Get the jump on them; contact these agencies and start a damage assessment. It’ll be up to you to show the world you care about what happened.”

  “Any word on the individual responsible for killing your men?” Roger asked Mike.

  “One possibility.” Mike shook his head. “Only one new TAPS badge issued this week and he was here this evening, left the facility about the time we figure the men were killed. I have a short preliminary report for you.”

  “Good. Fax a copy of the badge and picture to my office with my name on it. Tell them I want a rundown on this guy as soon as possible,” Roger said. “Tell my office to forward a copy of the information to Dan Webster in Arizona. They’ll know where he is. My secretary is Miss Dill; she’ll take care of all that. I think we’ve enjoyed all this we can stand for one day. If someone will give us a ride to the hotel, we can get some sleep. We’ll be ready to go again about 1300 hours.”

  “I can drive you to town,” Deitz said. “I’ll have breakfast with you and pick up my truck.”

  The drive to town seemed like a million miles. Everyone was tired, hungry, dirty, and emotionally spent. The adrenaline that sustained them throughout the night was now gone, leaving their bodies drained of will and strength.

  Gwen was rubbing her sore shoulder. “I hope Donny’s all right.”

  Roger turned around to look at her. “We’ll check on him after we’ve rested” He paused. “Gwen, I’d like to have your company assign you to my office until we have this situation cleared up. We have the Japanese technicians, but we don’t know, at this point, who else is involved. I don’t think you should go back to your job until we get some answers. Does that sound all right to you?”

  “I hadn’t thought much about it. You’re the expert. I’m too tired to think.” Gwen hoped she could work with Roger for a while. She was beginning to like him more all the time.

  Mike parked the Suburban next to his own pickup. “I’ll leave this rig for you and I’ll take my own. Come on, I’ll buy breakfast.”

  “Don’t you ever sleep?” Sam asked.

  Deitz grinned, “Sure I do. In the winter.”

  John Sutter was waiting when Dan and Beth arrived in Phoenix. They caught up on the affairs of the Sutter family while he led them to the baggage carrousel and while waiting for their luggage. John looked good. He was slim and tan. He looked like man with his life under control.

  While driving to the motel, John asked, “Have you heard the news this morning?”

  “No. I haven’t had a chance to see the news for over a week. The last I heard was someone had kidnaped the Saudi and Kuwaiti royal families. I’ve been too busy to read.”

  “On the news this morning,” John filled them in, “There was a bulletin about a nuclear explosion near Valdez, Alaska. It was somewhere offs
hore. No one was hurt. But, there weren’t many details.”

  “Damn!” Dan said in shock. “That’s Roger and his bunch. Let’s get to the office and call. I want to know if they’re all right.”

  “Do you mean to tell me that you and Roger have been sitting on an atomic bomb? What are we dealing with here?”

  Dan spent the rest of the drive explaining how he and Gwen had become involved and how they had contacted Roger. He explained DeGrosso’s involvement. He explained they had gone to Valdez to arrest the technicians and to confiscate the device while he had come to Phoenix to pursue Nels Bergstrom.

  “I have a brief case full of papers and information. We can discuss this in more detail when we get to your office,” Dan commented.

  “We can get you checked in at the motel and I’ll call Sonja to come pick you up,” John said to Beth. “She’ll be anxious to see you.”

  “That will be nice, since you so seldom bring your wife to see us,” Beth teased.

  The Desert Sands Motor Lodge was on the west edge of town. It was away from the traffic but close to shopping centers. The room reserved for Dan and Beth was more like an apartment than a motel room. Dan and John carried the luggage to their suite. Beth wasn’t accustomed to the Arizona heat so the air conditioning was welcomed. The shimmer of a swimming pool glittered into the living room through French doors, like lights from a dance hall rotating ball.

  John picked up the telephone.

  “Hi honey. I’ve got them all checked in. Dan and I are going to the office. When will you be meeting Beth? Just a minute, I’ll let you talk to her.” He turned and handed the telephone to Beth.

  Dan retrieved his briefcase from the bedroom and returned to the living room. He opened it and checked to be sure the proper files were inside.

  “I guess we can go.” He said as he leaned over to kiss Beth.

  “Please be careful,” and she grabbed his collar and kissed him.

  John’s secretary stopped them as they entered the office. “Mr. Sutter, you have a lot of messages.”

  “Miss Edwards, this is Dan Webster. He’ll be working out of my office for a few days. Give him the same considerations you give me, will you? Dan, this is Judith Edwards. She’s a great secretary, but more like the boss,” John said, laughing.

  “Pleased to meet you Mr. Webster. The FBI just delivered an envelope for you. It’s marked, urgent.”

  “Mr. Sutter, there are two men from the FBI waiting to see you.”

  “Okay Miss Edwards, show them into my office. I have been expecting them. If there’s a call from Roger Dorfmann, put it through to my office immediately. Otherwise, hold all calls”

  John had a rather large office, as federal offices go. A desk with a high back chair behind it dominated the room. Two straight back upholstered chairs sat at attention. Book shelves lined the walls. There was a small conference table at the left end of the room. Dan followed John to the conference table and seated himself.

  Dan was opening his brief case when the door opened and the secretary entered followed by two men in slacks and sport coats. She had a large manila envelope in her hand which she delivered to Dan. “Will there be anything else, Mr. Sutter?”

  “Not now, but some iced tea later would be nice. Thank you.”

  The two newcomers watched as the secretary left the room.

  “I’m Dave Vrobec. This is Larry Felson, with the CIA, but temporarily assigned to DEA. We are here to coordinate our investigation.”

  “Sit down. I’m John Sutter and this is Dan Webster. The reason for coordinating through this office is that we’ve had an ongoing investigation of Nels Bergstrom. I think the first thing on the agenda should be to combine our information; then, with a plan, we can catch as many rats as possible and with luck, catch King Rat.”

  Dan had opened the manila envelope and was reading the information it contained. “Listen to this.” He had everyone’s attention. “First, let me give you some background. I’m with Pipeline Security Company. One of the technicians, on the north slope found, what she suspected was an atomic bomb inside a corrosion detection pig, a large bullet shaped machine that travels inside the pipe. She and I flew to Fairbanks to report it to Roger Dorfmann, with FBI, Anchorage. He enlisted the help of a nuclear expert and CIA man, Sam DeGrosso. The three of them followed the pig to Valdez and I came here.” He continued, “According to this information, they were able to arrest the Japanese technicians handling the pig. At that time, they couldn’t find the arming device. Night before last, someone killed two guards and installed an arming device. Sam couldn’t disarm it, so they took it out to sea and dumped it on a reef.”

  He looked around, paused and then said, quietly, “Then, the damned thing exploded.” He shook his head. “There were no casualties and no property damage except on the reef. That is being surveyed now. One crew member suffered a concussion but he’ll be okay. I have a picture of the suspect in the shooting of the guards. Do you recognize this guy?” Dan asked as he passed the picture of the TAPS badge to the FBI man.

  “You’re saying all this has to do with the nuclear explosion we’ve heard about?” Larry asked.

  “Yes,” Dan answered. “Sam told us the CIA had information of a connection between Bergstrom and a Japanese tycoon named Yamamata. Sam thinks Yamamata is responsible for building the pig containing the bomb.”

  “This is incredible.” Larry opened a file folder he had been carrying. “Gentlemen, what you are about to hear is a matter of national security and not to leave this room. I was authorized to offer this information only if it was initiated by one of you. Since Dan has opened the door, I’ll give you what I have.”

  National security, my left hind foot, John Sutter thought to himself. When will the government learn that one agency hiding information from another only complicates our war on drugs, the war on crime, and the war on everything else.

  Larry continued, “I’ll leave a copy of this report here for your file, John; you can get flight numbers and dates from there. For now, I’d like to just hit the high spots. If you have any questions, when I finish, I’ll be happy to answer them here. Don’t call me and try to ask questions over the phone. I won’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “What do you have, Larry?” John asked, the irritation showing in his voice.

  “When the Soviet Union began to break up,” Larry began, “a Soviet general by the name of Lianid Kisishkin arranged a meeting with Bergstrom and Yamamata. We don’t know exactly what took place, but we suspect they were attempting to turn the demise of the Soviet government into profit.

  “We have information that Kisishkin has under his control an army and a considerable amount of military goods somewhere in southern Kazakhstan or Uzbekhstan Our information says, when he inventoried his nuclear weapons, one warhead came up missing. The Russian government, officially, says the missing warhead is just a bookkeeping error. We think it was smuggled out of their country. It now appears it went to Japan where one company, belonging to our friend Mr. Yamamata, built it into the Corrosion Detection Pig sent to Alaska.

  “You’ve heard the news about the kidnapping of the Saudi and Kuwaiti royal families? Well, we believe General Kisishkin is responsible. He has the men and equipment and is in the geographical location to accomplish it. The President has the information I have given you. He is passing it to the U.N.. The United Nations is meeting today to discuss these kidnappings.

  “The Japanese government is investigating Mr. Yamamata. We are cooperating with them in an effort to couple him to the kidnappings. This morning they told me we are trying to tie him to the terroristic acts on the pipeline in Alaska.

  “What we don’t have is a motive. Why would men as rich and influential as these, want to commit acts of simple terrorism? The answer could concern their oil holdings. In recent years, the price of oil has dropped dramatically. We think these three men have conspired to gain control of the world oil market. They have bought off the people in Venezuela and
Mexico. We think they kidnaped the two royal families in an effort to influence the OPEC council. The nuclear device sent to the Alaska Pipeline may have been an effort to cripple Alaska oil production.

  “Mr. Yamamata has huge holdings in the tanker industry. He builds supertankers and owns tanker companies transporting oil throughout the world. General Kisishkin has control of the Soviet Pipeline. He and his troops control the transport of virtually all the oil produced in the old Soviet Union countries. Our friend Nels Bergstrom has controlling interest in almost every small independent oil company in the United States. He’s also a large shareholder in large oil companies. He made his money in the drug trade, but has put those dollars into legitimate business, mostly oil. He’s one of the richest men in the world.

  “Bergstrom is the key and the toughest to get. He is surrounded by politicians, lawyers, and a lot of friends. He knows how to use his money. His one big mistake was to accept an invitation from Kisishkin to meet him and Yamamata in Paris. If we can prove that Kisishkin and Yamamata are involved in kidnaping and international terrorism, I think we can link Bergstrom to them. We’ll have to destroy his protection. If we can prove he has been involved in drug trade and other illegal activity, political figures in this country will desert him to protect themselves. When that happens, maybe, just maybe, we can get some of his associates to come forward and testify.”

  Dan had listened carefully and taken a lot of notes.

  “All this sounds really good and you can try to convict him of immoral political conduct if you want, but I plan to get the fat scumbag for conspiracy to murder in the killing of the two PSA guards. I want this guy to get the death penalty.” Maintaining control of his emotions was tougher than he thought.