Sabotage in the Secret City

by Diane Fanning

  ‘Yeah, you want to take this outside?’ Teddy asked as he, too, stood up.

  Gregg raised both his hands in a placating gesture. ‘Let’s all lower our voices and resume our seats and discuss the matter like the professionals we claim to be.’

  I returned to the chair. Teddy followed my lead. Stephen scanned the faces around the table and lurched back into his seat. ‘It is not acceptable.’

  ‘Let us listen to the rest of Libby’s plan before we pass judgment on any piece of it.’

  Stephen grumbled but remained seated.

  ‘Libby, you have the floor,’ Gregg said.

  I exhaled my outrage and began again. ‘Tom spends the night in my spare bed – not in my bed, in a separate bed. I go to Crenshaw’s house Sunday morning with one other person, preferably someone who can keep his emotions at bay and be a forceful and logical co-negotiator.’

  Teddy leaned forward and looked ready to volunteer. I looked straight at him and continued, ‘Someone who will not feel a need to rush to my defense if Crenshaw attacks or belittles me.’ Teddy slouched back.

  ‘I think I can handle that,’ Dennis said. ‘My size should help. I’m taller than Crenshaw and I could counteract any physical intimidation moves he might make to undermine you, Libby.’

  ‘Good point, Dennis,’ I said, nodding my head.

  ‘What are the points of negotiation? What are our demands?’ Dennis asked.

  ‘I would want assurances that Tom would stay here for the duration of the war, that he would receive three decent meals a day, and that he would be allowed visitors every day. I am willing to accept a less frequent visiting schedule but not less than three times a week.’

  Dennis said, ‘I think you need room to move on the first two points as well to get Crenshaw’s cooperation. I’d suggest asking for him to continue working in the lab for the duration of the war and to insist on meals from the officers’ mess as well as snacks and coffee on demand.’

  ‘He’ll never go for that,’ Gregg said.

  ‘Of course not,’ Dennis said with a grin. ‘But if we start there and end up where we want to be, we will have appeared to have made significant concessions.’

  ‘I like the way you think, Dennis,’ I said. ‘You’ve got the job.’

  ‘Okay. All in favor of Libby’s plan, raise your hand.’

  Stephen, his face still effused with color objected. ‘I can’t believe you would even consider this.’

  ‘But we are,’ Gregg said. ‘Raise your hands if you are in favor. The ayes have it.’

  Even Gary lifted an arm into the air but Stephen remained locked in his moral outrage. ‘I want to note my objection on the record. I refuse to be part of any scheme that taints the honor of a woman, whether she is in favor or not.’

  ‘We keep no records, Stephen. We just keep our mouths shut about what goes on in this room. Is that clear?’ Gregg asked.

  Stephen stood with his fists on his hips. ‘I can’t believe you are now questioning my ethical fiber. I am going back to my room and good riddance to you all.’ His steps slowed as he neared the door as if waiting for objections. Then he thrust it open and stomped out, leaving the door ajar behind him. Dennis leaned back in his chair and swatted it closed.

  ‘Now, the toughest question of all. What do we do if Tom doesn’t surrender to the authorities?’ Gregg asked.

  ‘Do we really have to deal with that now?’ Rudy asked. ‘It might never come to that.’

  ‘Rudy’s right. Let’s cross that bridge when we know we have to, not before,’ Dennis said.

  ‘Sounds good to me, too,’ Gregg said. ‘Anyone object? Okay, let’s finish our breakfast and get to work.’

  We walked to the labs as a group and came to a screeching halt just in front of the first entrance. We watched as a jeep pulled up with an unexpected passenger.

  THIRTY-THREE

  Joe jumped out and ran over to us with a grin on his face and fatigue in his eyes. After a moment filled with back slaps and overlapping questions, Joe said, ‘Looks like I wasn’t the first to be released. Is Charlie back?’

  ‘You don’t know,’ Gregg said. ‘We were hoping you could tell us.’

  ‘I didn’t see him once while I was there. I only knew that he’d been picked up because of the games they played with me. They named everyone they had in custody and said that someone had implicated me in the bridge explosion.’

  ‘Will we ever see Charlie again?’ I moaned, not expecting any response.

  ‘Listen, Libby,’ Joe said, ‘I was the first one picked up – at first I thought I was the only one. Last night, they did something I hadn’t expected – they let me speak to my sister on the telephone.’

  ‘I am surprised that they allowed you to call her,’ I said.

  ‘It wasn’t exactly like that. At the time, I thought that it was either a desperate desire to break me and get information before they had to release me for some reason. Or they were never going to let me go at all. But back to my sister: she was aware that I was in custody and was told that I was protecting someone and I wouldn’t be released until I stopped being stubborn. In typical big sister fashion, she delivered a fiery tongue-lashing. When she finally gave me the opportunity, I told her that I had no idea of the person involved. Then she said, “I think you need to quit your job and come home. We don’t even know where you are, have no idea of what you’re doing and no clue why you would be involved in this nefarious attack.”’

  ‘And yet, here you are,’ Dennis said.

  ‘I made it clear that I couldn’t tell them what I didn’t know and I wouldn’t be quitting before the war was over and maybe not even then. She didn’t take it well. She’s always been a bit bossy,’ Joe said with a chuckle.

  ‘Why don’t you go to the dorm and get some sleep. You look dead on your feet,’ I said.

  ‘Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t sleep anyway. Give me a few assignments and I’ll get busy.’

  As we all worked away at our respective stations, I kept an eye on Joe. If he looked ready to tumble off his lab bench, I’d order him to go get some rest. But I knew that I would share his attitude in the same circumstances – the shortest road to recovery from a bad experience was keeping busy at all costs.

  By the end of the day, I had done everything necessary for delivering another shipment Monday morning. I straightened up my space in preparation to leave for the day.

  I looked up when I heard a familiar voice saying, ‘Looks like you can operate just fine without me.’

  Charlie! We all converged around him and repeated the same disjointed welcome we’d given Joe that morning. Charlie raised his hands in the air and said, ‘Enough of the babble. I want to hear all that you have to say but one at a time. And I want to sit behind my desk again. At times, I really doubted I’d ever make it back here ever again.’

  We crowded into his tight space with the overflow poking heads in through the doorway. Charlie sat in his chair, patted his desk top and grinned. ‘Never realized how much I loved this place. Okay. None of you need to feel any obligation to stay here. I want to hear about what is going on in the lab, though, and anything else that impacts your lives. Judging by the pristine shape of my inbox, Libby has been doing a great job of juggling my work in my absence, so I’d like to start with her.’

  I pointed to the left side of his desk and said, ‘That is a list of all your inter-office communications and my responses. Underneath it is a list of the purchase orders I signed and other requisitions I made on your behalf. Everyone still remaining in the lab worked intently to cover the responsibilities of those who were absent.’

  ‘I expected nothing less. Was anyone else here hauled off besides Joe and Gregg?’

  ‘Two men from the Alpha lab were taken into custody but you were the last one from our group.’

  ‘I see Joe and Gregg are back, what about the Alpha lab folks?’

  ‘They’re back, too,’ I said. ‘At least they were all here this morning.’

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nbsp; ‘Joe, Gregg, I will want to compare your experiences to mine, but first I have a couple more questions for Libby. Are you ready to deliver another shipment?’

  ‘Yes sir.’

  ‘What about Tom? Have you heard anything about his whereabouts?’

  ‘Not exactly,’ I said.

  ‘Do you think he was picked up, too?’

  ‘Not unless it’s happened in the last 24 hours,’ I said.

  ‘You’ve seen him then?’

  I nodded and explained the current situation as well as our plans to negotiate his surrender to the authorities.

  Charlie scowled. ‘You’re playing with fire, Libby.’

  ‘I know there’s a risk, sir. But isn’t that true of everything we do in his place?’

  ‘Valid point. Anything else you need to tell me about, Libby?’

  ‘Nothing that comes to mind right now, Charlie. I’m sure though that the others do.’

  I leaned against the wall thinking about the night ahead as Joe, Gregg and Charlie exchanged information about the events experienced under guard. All were remarkably similar. The big difference was that Crenshaw and the nameless man held Charlie responsible for any actions committed by personnel under his command.

  ‘I told them each time, that in my lab, we don’t operate under a rigid military structure. Of course, Crenshaw always countered with: that’s why you’ve had all these problems. I knew he was wrong but who can argue with a high-ranking military man and hope to score any points.’

  An hour later we straggled out of the building to find Dennis, Gary and Teddy waiting for us. None of the gaggle broke off for their dorm rooms when we passed the buildings. Every one of them, including Charlie, followed me like ducklings straight to my flat-top. We stopped at the foot of the stairs.

  ‘I’ve got to go in alone. If Tom is there and he sees a mob, he might panic.’

  Murmurs slid through the group but no one openly objected. I opened the door and called Tom’s name but got no response. I scooped up my kitty and shouted out the door at my motley crew.

  They tromped up the stairs and sat on my furniture or the floor. I went into the kitchen and put on the coffee. Dennis said, ‘He’s not here. What now?’

  ‘It’s not quite 8.30,’ I said. ‘I left Tom at about 10 o’clock last night. His time isn’t up yet.’

  Multiple discussions started around the room making my little house as noisy as a bowling alley on a Saturday night. Soon, arguments broke out with Gary defending Tom and calling me a liar. Teddy objected to the latter while Stephen ranted about the moral depravity of our group. I turned on the news to drown them all out. In no time, they were arguing about the war. I’d had enough. I stood and clapped my hands four or five times and the room went still.

  ‘It’s after ten. Time to clear out. We’re all tired and need some rest. Why don’t we all gather here again tomorrow after lunch and plan our next steps.’

  Gregg was the first out the door. He’d barely crossed the threshold when he turned and said, ‘Libby, did you leave a note out here for Tom?’

  ‘No. But I can.’

  ‘Then this must be a note from Tom.’

  ‘Bring it in,’ I said.

  I unfolded the paper and read Tom’s message out loud. ‘I just can’t do it with all those people here. You and one other person of your choosing. No one else. I’ll try again tomorrow just after it turns dark.’

  Every pair of shoulders slumped. My little band of warriors all looked as drained as a pack of toddlers after a day at the park. If they didn’t move soon, they might fall asleep on their feet.

  ‘Listen up. This is what we’re going to do,’ I said. ‘No meeting tomorrow afternoon. Dennis, you’ll come over before dark and the rest of you can wait until you get further word.’

  ‘I’ll be here a couple hours before dark just in case,’ Dennis said, nodding in agreement.

  ‘That’s fine. I’ll make dinner for both of us.’

  ‘Wait a minute, that sounds a lot like a date. Maybe I should be here, too,’ Teddy said.

  ‘Don’t say another word, Teddy. You will regret it,’ I snapped.

  Teddy drew up his shoulders and let them collapse as he exhaled an exaggerated sigh.

  ‘Why doesn’t everyone else come up to my house after dinner. That way we’ll all be together and Dennis or Libby can report to us all at once about the night’s developments,’ Charlie offered.

  Murmurs of agreement zig-zagged through the room. ‘That settles it then,’ Charlie said. ‘Now, go home. Libby looks exhausted and I’m tired, too.’

  The last man remaining was Teddy. ‘I’m sorry, Libby. It’s just Dennis …’

  ‘No more, Teddy. If we are going to last, you’re going to have to accept the fact that I will probably always work surrounded by men – not by choice but because of the profession I’ve chosen. If that’s going to be an eternal problem between us, there just can’t be any us.’

  ‘I accept that logically, Libby. My heart is just a slow learner. Forgive me,’ he said, flinging open his arms.

  I fell into his embrace that led to a long, satisfying and stimulating kiss. I did love that guy – he’s the only one that has come close to accepting me as an equal. I knew my life would be better with him in it. I hoped that we could make it work.

  THIRTY-FOUR

  Sunday afternoon, I mixed up a meatloaf using the recipe I got from the woman who tried to kill me a couple of years ago. She was a two-faced, selfish, evil person but she was a fabulous cook. I cut up potatoes and left them in a pan filled with cold water until it was time to put them on the burner.

  I slid the meatloaf into the oven and heard a knock. I didn’t realize how edgy I was feeling until I jumped at the sound. Fortunately, no surprises – Dennis had arrived, just as he said he would.

  Our conversational attempts stumbled into dead ends until we managed to find a path to a theoretical topic about fusion and fission. And Teddy was worried that our time together would be romantic?

  When I went into the kitchen to mash the potatoes, Dennis followed me offering to help. I directed him to the flatware drawer for the eating utensils and the cupboard for napkins. He laid them on my little table for two and returned to the kitchen. He set the plates on the kitchen counter and slid the meatloaf on to a platter while I made gravy. It all felt very domestic – maybe that’s what worried Teddy.

  Over dinner and clean-up, we talked about the man whose arrival we anticipated. Dennis touched on Tom’s chauvinism. ‘He can’t really help it, Libby. He was raised without an important woman in his life. I had a mother and two sisters. All Tom had was his dad.’

  ‘Still, it’s not as if he were living in a monastery.’

  ‘Really, Libby? Pretty close. I don’t remember any girls with an interest in science in my high school and Tom went to a private all-boys school. There weren’t any women majoring in chemistry, physics or math in my university and I imagine they were absent where Tom got his degree. Working or living with females when you’re younger teaches you the wisdom of treating women as equals. Tom never had those influences growing up but I’ve seen changes in his attitude since you joined our group.’

  ‘Granted. He has gotten better but sometimes he still uses his bias against my gender like a cudgel,’ I said.

  ‘True, but you need to emphasize the positive side instead of always assuming the worst about men. For instance, who did Tom turn to with his problems? Not one of the guys.’

  ‘Of course not. For centuries, women have been busy cleaning up the messes men make.’

  Dennis sighed. ‘For that matter, Libby – and I can’t believe I’m saying this – you’re too hard on Teddy at times.’

  For a moment, I just stared at him and then I asked, ‘In what way?’

  ‘Teddy has two older sisters and has great respect for them and for his mom. Sometimes he wants to protect you because he loves you, not because you’re a woman whom he sees as incapable of taking care of yourself �
� just because he cares about you. But you always suspect him of wanting to belittle you. You need to give him the benefit of the doubt. Listen, I was raised by a very intelligent woman. She was an R.N. before the children came along. She returned to her nursing career as soon as my younger sister entered kindergarten. Dad was very supportive. Whenever one of us kids were too sick to go to school, Mom and Dad would discuss their responsibilities for that day and decide whose work would be least disrupted by staying home. Honestly, my dad stayed home and tended to us more than my mom did. Nonetheless, whenever Mom mentioned one of the doctors showing disrespect for her and other women nurses, my dad offered to pop a few of them on the nose. My mother never assumed my dad was telling her she was not competent enough to take care of herself. But you often make that assumption with Teddy.’

  I almost objected but stopped and looked hard at the many instances when I did just that. I had not been fair to Teddy, but I didn’t know how I could still the little voice inside that pointed to suspicions that seemed baked into my brain. ‘You’re right, Dennis. I need to be more conscious of that and try not to allow my biased perception color my reactions.’

  ‘Phew, you took so long to respond, I thought I’d really cheesed you off.’

  I grinned. ‘Can’t blame you for that, Dennis.’

  Dennis was washing the dishes and I was drying and putting them away when we both spun around. ‘Did you hear that?’ Dennis asked.

  ‘Yes, it sounded like the front door.’

  We peered out of the kitchen and there was Tom. In the lighted room, his clothes looked filthy, his hair matted and his eyes exhausted. Nonetheless, his mouth split into a grin. ‘Here I am!’

  ‘I have leftovers from dinner. Are you hungry? I can heat everything up,’ I said.

  ‘That would be great – shoot, I’ll eat it all cold if warming it up is too much trouble.’

  ‘Not at all. Have a seat. Talk to Dennis. I’ll have it ready in a jiffy.’