The Plot

Part 4

     He sat on his own at a table in the staff cafeteria sipping on a coffee as he closely watched Shannon Rozman and Grace Hammond at a nearby table. They were sitting on each side of the table leaning across with their heads together talking in low voices and looking serious. Could the Rozman girl have blabbed to Tracy Hammond? Even if she had, he was confident she had no idea who he and his collaborators were, but it would mean security staff at the launch facility on the island would be on high alert. They might even postpone the flight. It had to be done on time or he and the others wouldn't get their fifteen million dollar payoff. He would contact his friends on the island tonight through his private phone and warn them to watch out for extra security activity.

He jumped with surprise as someone suddenly slid into the seat in front of him.

"Good morning, Ed," Tracy Hammond smiled, "How are things going in Logistics?"

He didn't know Tracy particularly well, he had spoken to her briefly several times in the past, but now as she sat in front of him staring intently at him he felt decidedly uncomfortable. He cleared his mind and focussed on the conversation.

"Good morning, Dr Hammond," he replied, mustering his best smile, "Everything's fine in Logistics, couldn't be going better."

"Glad to hear it," Tracy responded, "Sorry to bother you during your morning tea break. I've been going over the passenger lists for the next two moon flights. I see the one for the ninth of next month is finalised, but could send you the advance list for the following flight in January?"

"Yes, of course. I'll do it as soon as I get back to my office."

"Thanks, Ed. I'll leave you in peace now." Tracy smiled again, got up and walked up to the counter, ordering a coffee.

He watched her go. Did she suspect him? Surely not, but he quickly finished his coffee and headed back to his office in the Space Logistics Unit.

Late that night he called his friend at the launch site. "I'm a bit worried, Rick," he said, "It's possible the Rozman girl talked. Tracy Hammond came up to me today asking about something trivial. Maybe she was trying to see if I looked guilty or something. Is there any extra security activity out there?"

"Not that I've noticed, but Ed, maybe we should call the whole thing off. I mean if there's the slightest chance..."

"No, we're not calling it off," Ed interrupted him, "Even if that girl talked there's no way they know who we are. I'm not missing out on my five million dollars. The plan goes ahead. Just keep a sharp lookout for increased security at the site. If there is, let me know."

*****

Tracy sat in her office in the Mars Research Unit going over the two lists once again. It was only five days to the launch. She had managed to delete another four names from the main complex list and three names from the launch facility list, as a result of having 'casual' conversations with the staff concerned.

There was a knock at the door and Brad entered. Tracy pressed a button on her desk which locked the door behind him. "I'm worried, Brad," she said, "We still don't know who these men are. There are too many names on this list. She pointed to a sheet of paper on her desk which listed seven names on list one, and eight names on list two.

"Have you told your father about this?" Brad asked as he sat down.

"Yes, he's in USA right now. He's leaving up to you and me. He said if we can't find the saboteurs and their method of destroying the shuttle by two hours before lift off the mission will have to be scrubbed. According to Shannon they said they had a way to make it look like an accident. Brad, do you have any ideas how they could make it look like an accident?"

"Not really, I'm not a flight engineer. I think I'll have a talk to the chief maintenance man at the island, Jack Hobbs. He's not on the list so it should be safe to confide in him. He might have some ideas how the sabotage is going to be done."

"Good idea. Why don't you fly out to the island tomorrow on the regular supply plane and have a private talk with him."

*****

The chief maintenance engineer, a tall man in his sixties with grey hair, sat back in his chair behind his desk looking thoughtful.
"We basically go over the craft with a fine tooth comb before every flight," he said to Brad who was sitting on the other side of his desk sipping a coffee. Nothing is left to chance."

"I doubt if they would use a bomb," Brad said, "Too difficult to conceal, and it wouldn't look like an accident."

"How to make it seem like an accident, then?" Hobbs muttered almost to himself. He looked up at Brad, "I've got it. If there was a minor fuel leak on the rear tank, it would ignite when the boosters were fired to transition from sub-orbital to orbital. The tank would explode and the shuttle would plummet into the Pacific Ocean where it would be impossible to recover any of the wreckage."

"But wouldn't your last minute check of the shuttle discover the fuel leak?" Brad asked.

"Hmmm. Good question. As you know everything is thoroughly checked in the last hour before lift off. Two engineers check the inside of the craft, and another two check the outside. Okay then, if one of the two checking the exterior was our saboteur he could puncture the rear tank just before lift-off. Of course the other engineer would have to be in on it because they work together."

"Now we're getting somewhere," Brad exclaimed enthusiastically. Do you know which two engineers are rostered to do the exterior check on Friday, are they on this list?" He pushed the sheet of paper across the desk with the list of eight names.