envy, Vic. No one can get near our planes.”
“That depends on how you define ‘no one.’” Letting out a hard breath, she released his arms, ready to launch herself at him if he so much as moved. “We need to find out what happened first. Review these tapes in detail—” She waved her hand toward the screens. “We have to find the voice and equipment recorders. Find out if the plane was shot down or if it exploded or just fell out of the sky. All of that could take days, probably longer.” She took a final steadying breath and straightened her back, which was still rigid with tension. “But one thing I think we have to assume is that it was sabotage or terrorism. Deliberate in any case. That’s gut.”
Dennis began to speak and she cut him off. “Don’t start arguing with me. An accident is too unlikely. The plane was a month old and had been taken care of like a baby.” She turned to Micki. “Other than Dennis, were all expected passengers on board?”
Micki, more wide-eyed now than she had been when they entered the room, nodded. “Yes. I talked to the tower. The copilot checked in with them shortly after they took off. He confirmed that everyone was aboard. I . . . I don’t know if he knew Dennis was . . . I didn’t ask . . .” she replied, her words ending abruptly in a choked murmur. Micki closed her eyes then and took a deep breath.
Victoria shook off another chill and then returned her attention to her boss, whose color wasn’t fully back to normal. “Dennis, think about it. Even without you aboard, the passengers represented companies that produce twenty-one percent of the entire world’s gross domestic product. They are the world’s largest employers, biggest consumers of natural resources, the biggest polluters. With the exception of Takayashi, they’re all Western owned and Western run. A few of the individuals on board had a personal net worth larger than some Third World nations. That all has to mean something.” She stopped for a breath, never taking her eyes off him. “
You
were supposed to be on that flight, Dennis. You, who are poised to exploit the world’s last, best hope for clean fuel. To think this is a coincidence would be ridiculous.”
“No one knows about that except our people, Vic.” Dennis folded his arms across his chest, but before his hands disappeared from view, Victoria noted that they were shaking. The sight hit her harder than the images of the plane exploding.
From the edge of her vision, Victoria became aware again of Micki’s rapt attention, and forced another degree of cool composure into her voice. “Don’t kid yourself, Dennis. Despite all of our efforts, I’m sure there areplenty of people who either know or suspect what we’re doing. In light of all that, it would be naive to think this event is anything other than deliberate. And we can’t rule out inside cooperation.”
“Inside cooperation?” he repeated, looking as though she’d just sucker punched him. “That’s asinine. It’s—”
“It’s anything but,” she interrupted quietly. “This is one of those situations that we’ve been both dreading and anticipating. This is what we’ve planned for and trained for. It’s what you hired me to handle. And now that it’s happened, either you listen to me, Dennis, or I’ll step aside and let you take care of it yourself. You can’t have it both ways.”
He was staring at her as if she’d just sprouted another head. “Vic, what the hell is this? Mutiny? There are people out in that water—my friends are out there and—”
“No, it’s not mutiny, Dennis, it’s reality. I’m in charge of security, and that includes your personal security as well as that of everyone else here. I want you safe and out of sight for the next twenty-four hours.”
He stepped back as if she’d shoved him. “That’s crazy. If this was a terrorist attack and if I was the target, I should be visible. To let them know they
“That depends on how you define ‘no one.’” Letting out a hard breath, she released his arms, ready to launch herself at him if he so much as moved. “We need to find out what happened first. Review these tapes in detail—” She waved her hand toward the screens. “We have to find the voice and equipment recorders. Find out if the plane was shot down or if it exploded or just fell out of the sky. All of that could take days, probably longer.” She took a final steadying breath and straightened her back, which was still rigid with tension. “But one thing I think we have to assume is that it was sabotage or terrorism. Deliberate in any case. That’s gut.”
Dennis began to speak and she cut him off. “Don’t start arguing with me. An accident is too unlikely. The plane was a month old and had been taken care of like a baby.” She turned to Micki. “Other than Dennis, were all expected passengers on board?”
Micki, more wide-eyed now than she had been when they entered the room, nodded. “Yes. I talked to the tower. The copilot checked in with them shortly after they took off. He confirmed that everyone was aboard. I . . . I don’t know if he knew Dennis was . . . I didn’t ask . . .” she replied, her words ending abruptly in a choked murmur. Micki closed her eyes then and took a deep breath.
Victoria shook off another chill and then returned her attention to her boss, whose color wasn’t fully back to normal. “Dennis, think about it. Even without you aboard, the passengers represented companies that produce twenty-one percent of the entire world’s gross domestic product. They are the world’s largest employers, biggest consumers of natural resources, the biggest polluters. With the exception of Takayashi, they’re all Western owned and Western run. A few of the individuals on board had a personal net worth larger than some Third World nations. That all has to mean something.” She stopped for a breath, never taking her eyes off him. “
You
were supposed to be on that flight, Dennis. You, who are poised to exploit the world’s last, best hope for clean fuel. To think this is a coincidence would be ridiculous.”
“No one knows about that except our people, Vic.” Dennis folded his arms across his chest, but before his hands disappeared from view, Victoria noted that they were shaking. The sight hit her harder than the images of the plane exploding.
From the edge of her vision, Victoria became aware again of Micki’s rapt attention, and forced another degree of cool composure into her voice. “Don’t kid yourself, Dennis. Despite all of our efforts, I’m sure there areplenty of people who either know or suspect what we’re doing. In light of all that, it would be naive to think this event is anything other than deliberate. And we can’t rule out inside cooperation.”
“Inside cooperation?” he repeated, looking as though she’d just sucker punched him. “That’s asinine. It’s—”
“It’s anything but,” she interrupted quietly. “This is one of those situations that we’ve been both dreading and anticipating. This is what we’ve planned for and trained for. It’s what you hired me to handle. And now that it’s happened, either you listen to me, Dennis, or I’ll step aside and let you take care of it yourself. You can’t have it both ways.”
He was staring at her as if she’d just sprouted another head. “Vic, what the hell is this? Mutiny? There are people out in that water—my friends are out there and—”
“No, it’s not mutiny, Dennis, it’s reality. I’m in charge of security, and that includes your personal security as well as that of everyone else here. I want you safe and out of sight for the next twenty-four hours.”
He stepped back as if she’d shoved him. “That’s crazy. If this was a terrorist attack and if I was the target, I should be visible. To let them know they
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