The Nuclear Catastrophe (a fiction novel of survival)

             
             
             
             
             
Chapter One

The crisp sheet of parchment fell from his fingers to the top of the polished desk, the letterhead standing out like a flag against the white background. Ben Harrington knotted his fist and slowly, rhythmically, brought it down on the letter. The Southern California Society of Environmentalists was a loud, outspoken body of malcontents. It was more and more vocal on any issue that even remotely pertained to the environment, and its protests were being heard. Now he was beginning to worry. The unanswered question in his mind was whether the Society
’
s protests had set something else off -  like causing the confab with the politicians this afternoon. If so, he wanted to make sure of what he could do about it.

Ben reached across to the intercom and punched a button.

Without waiting to hear who would answer, he ordered,
“
Mike, get in here!
”

In agitation he shoved his chair back, rose to his feet and paced back and forth behind the desk while he waited for Mike Percy. This kind of thing spoiled his day. In his precise, meticulous manner, he had maintained White Water as a smoothly functioning electric utility plant. He kept himself on his toes, and he expected nothing less from his subordinates. When there was a goof it was because someone was careless, and carelessness couldn
’
t be tolerated.

The knock at the door was immediately followed by the entrance of the big, affable assistant supervisor. Mike wore his usual wide grin, the disarming smile that stretched completely across his face and was illuminated by large innocent eyes. His features belied his actual age.
“
Hello, Ben. What
’
s up?
”

Ben
’
s private thoughts were momentarily checked by the appearance of this mild, good-natured man. He hadn
’
t wanted Mike for the position of second-in-command, but his choice had been by-passed—over-ruled in fact—out of deference to the wishes of someone on the company
’
s board. Indeed, Ben had always considered Mike the least competent of the two men who worked the control room with him, a point that had been clearly made on the last personnel evaluation form submitted on the employees. He shoved the letter over to Mike.
“
Read it.
”

After a moment, Mike looked up, his expression now one of concern.
“
I don
’
t get it, Ben. They wouldn
’
t do anything like that, would they?
”

A conscious snort of air escaped Ben
’
s nostrils, a sign of his annoyance.
“
Of course they would! They
’
ve just been waiting to catch us on something, and now, thanks to you, it looks like they
’
ve got what they want.
”

Mike glanced down at the sheet once more.
“
This is ridiculous—it
’
s pure harassment to start an action like this.
”

Ben clenched his fist, getting satisfaction from the feel of the muscles tightening into a ball of bone and gristle. He was going to get Mike straightened out once and for all, he decided. If the letter had come a day later he wouldn
’
t have been alerted to prepare for this afternoon. One screw-up leads to another.

“
They
’
ve been aching for this,
”
he said angrily to Mike.
“
All this time those busy-bodies have had their noses stuck into this facility out here. Well, now they
’
ve got an excuse to sound off!
”
He stared hostilely at Mike.

Aware of his boss
’
s wrath, Mike dropped the letter on the desk and shrank back.
“
Ben, I know what you
’
re thinking, but I swear to God, it slipped my mind. It just slipped my mind.
”

“
That
’
s no damn excuse, Mike! You
’
ve got a responsible position. You can
’
t let matters slide just because you
’
ve got other things to think about. I told you over six weeks ago to get that report filed!
’’

The reprimand was sobering to Mike. He replied humbly,
“
It didn
’
t seem very important at the time. I kept putting it off until I completely forgot about it.
”
Shrugging, he continued,
“
A report to be filed at the county library—good grief, what
’
s so important about that?
”

“
The Southern California Society of Environmentalists thinks it is and that
’
s sufficient. They probably had someone especially assigned to read that report,
”
he said, eyes still flashing anger.

“
There couldn
’
t be a thing in it that would interest them, Ben. A propeller blade broke on one of the turbines and we had to shut down for a couple weeks. So what?
”

Ben leaned toward Mike and snapped,
“
So we are obligated to file a report in a public office on every single incident out here that results in the reactor in this plant being out of operation. That is a safety report that must be presented under state law, Mike! It
’
s not for us to decide whether we
’
ll do it or not.
”
Ben softened his tone.
“
Look, Mike, I
’
m trying to be fair about this. It
’
s not something I
’
d be any less rough on myself for. You think it
’
s not important, but we
’
re in a business where there
’
s no room for error.
”

“
It was such a minor problem, Ben,
”
objected Mike.
“
The....
”

“
We were out of action for sixteen days!
”
Ben interrupted, exasperated.
“
Sure, you and I know it was minor, but the public has to be informed. That
’
s why S.C.S.E. is sniffing around. They want to catch us doing something wrong!
”

Mike shook his head worriedly.
“
But we didn
’
t file a report when our stack emissions exceeded the maximum level.
”

“
Hell no,
”
snapped Ben.
“
We simply cut back production until we got the emissions under control, which we did within a day or so, if you remember. Nobody knew we were running a little high except for you, me, and Des Anderson. But when the operation comes to a halt, everyone knows about it, and I can promise you that when we don
’
t tell them why, we
’
re going to be getting this kind of flak,
”
he retorted, and thumped his fingers on the letter.

Mike frowned,
“
They won
’
t sue, will they!
”

“
Sure they will,
”
Ben answered heatedly.
“
There
’
s nothing for them to lose by stirring up a legal mess with the company. This group has been itching to get us into court for a long time. It
’
ll get them a lot of publicity—which is exactly what they want.
”

“
But a law suit?. That
’
s going pretty far,
”
Mike protested.
“
Look, Ben, I don
’
t think they
’
re serious about a lawsuit, but since they seem intent on making trouble, I
’
ll get that report ready this morning and send it right out.
”