Comet! (an Ell Donsaii story #5 ) (13 page)

The lady said, “Are you all right son?”

Breakfast was just as awesome as Phil had promised but
before Ell finished her hash browns Allan
spoke in her ear. She knew it must be important for Allan to interrupt her with Phil so she
sighed
. “Yes?”

“A ‘Bradford Mullins’ has arrived at the security gate for D5R with documents from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
,
or PHMSA
,
demanding to be allowed to enter and inspect the D5R facilities.”

“That’s a government agency?
”

“It’
s a branch of the US Department of Transportation. It is charged with regulating pipelines and the transport of hazardous materials. He is claiming that
D5R’s
ports are a form of ‘pipeline’ and that they are being used to transport hazardous materials.”

Ell rolled her eyes as she recognized the hand of
the irritated
Secretary Bayless.
Her eye caught on Steve
’s
and she lifted a finger and made a circle with it to indicate their imminent departure.
“OK, have them check with the PMHSA administration to be sure
he’s legit and that they
really sent him out there and then let him in. Have Roger and Fred escort him around, slowly. I’m on my way back.
Call Aaron Fortis and ask him to honor our retainer by getting over to D5R to look at the situation.
”
She turned sad eyes on Phil, stood, pecked him on the cheek and said, “Sorry, gotta go.”

“What!” He stretched a hand out at her retreating back.

***

The Lear Jet pulled up to the General Aviation terminal in
Raleigh
. Ell waved
to
her security team and got off. They would get off with the aircrew later so
that
casual observers wouldn’t see her traveling with a
team of protectors
. Barrett, Dan and
Randy were already there near the terminal, ready to follow her
car
.

When
Ell
walked into D5R she
got the impression that
all
her
p
eople looked
slightly
furtive, as if they had been caught doing
naughty
.
Ben Stavos saw her and walked quickly over, saying, “I assume you’ve heard?”

“I’ve heard that someone
’s
here from the Department of Transportation, yes. I haven’t heard what he’s
actually
doing?”

“He claims that our ports are ‘pipelines’ and that we haven’t submitted the proper paperwork to have them approved. He’s demanding that all active ports be shut off immediately and that we stop making them until we’ve been approved to do so!
”

Ell sighed. “Yeah, I heard that part from Mr. Fortis, our legal counsel. But what has Mullins been physically doing here at D5R?
”

“Acting like a jerk. Trying to make everyone here feel like criminals. ‘Inspecting’ our facilities. Questioning people about whether we’ve ever had a ‘spill.’ Demanding to know why we didn’t submit form ‘X’ or notify the department of ‘Y…’ He’s a
very
hostile dude.”

Ell’s shoulders slumped
as her eyes wandered around the big room where people appeared to be dispiritedly going about tasks they usually undertook with enthusiasm
. She
hated
dealing with confrontational people. It was hard to stay out of her “zone” when
people like th
at
were “in her face” and that made it even harder to speak to them pleasantly. She looked back
over
at Stavos, “
Do you know where he
is now?”

“He’s in the little conference room with Fortis. We can hear them yelling at each other occasionally.” He grinned, “Much better than having him out here yelling at
our
people.”

Ell took a deep breath, “Well I guess I’d better go stick my head in.”

Stavos put a
sympathetic
hand on her shoulder, “Hope it doesn’t get chewed off.”

Ell knocked gently on the door, then pushed it open.

A rumpled, aggressive looking redheaded man with buzz cut hair turned flashing eyes her way, “We didn’t tell you to…” he started angrily, then his eyes traveled up and down her body. In a nicer tone he said, “Honey, we don’t need anything right now. But get a message
out
to
your damned
CEO that I want
her
ass in here as soon as
s
he arrives.”

Breathing deeply to calm herself, Ell entered the room and sat as Fortis said, “Ms. Donsaii here
is
the CEO.”

Mullins eyes widened momentarily as they flashed back over to Ell, then they narrowed as they tracked back to Fortis. “I don’t need to talk to some pretty
‘
face of the company.
’
I want to talk to whoever’s
actually
in charge
here
!” he ground out.

Fortis leaned back and grinned. “Ms. Donsaii is in charge. She invented the technology. She’s been made CEO by the investors. If you want to talk to the ‘Boss,’ here she is.”

Mullins sighed, leaned back in his chair, turned his eyes to the ceiling and said, “OK, if that’s the way you want to play it.
” He turned to Ell, “Sweetheart, your company is breaking all kinds of rules. I’ve explained this to Mr. Fortis here. You will cease and desist from the manufacturing of your ‘trans-dimensional’ pipelines and from the transport of hazardous materials through existing pipelines. You may submit applications to have such pipelines authorized
,”
fat chance
Mullins thought to himself, “and submit applications for permits to transport hazardous materials, but you will cease and desist until such applications have been approved. Do you understand?”

Fortis took a breath in order to protest but Ell laid a hand on his arm, stilling him. She turned to Mullins and smiled,
“I’d like to ask some questions?”

“Sure.” Mullins sat back with a smirk.
He enjoyed having this beautiful young woman in a tight spot and hoped she would try to influence him somehow.

“How long does it
normally take to process these applications?”

“
As long as it takes.”

“How long on average.”

He shrugged, “A few weeks.”

“
My
understanding is that you do not regulate pipelines within our own facilities, only those that transport externally?
”

Grudgingly,
“Yes,” He raised an eyebrow, “and sales of pipes to other entities.
”

“Nor do you regulate private property piping?”

He grimaced, “No.”

“We are supporting NASA by supplying the Space Station through ports. Are you requiring that we cut off the Space Station’s supplies?”

“No Secretary Bayless has specified that you may continue to provide ‘trans-dimensional’ pipes to the Station. There doesn’t appear to be much risk to hazmat spills in space and the benefits outweigh those risks.”

“Thank you, we’ll make
the
applications as required
by law
.”
Fortis leaned forward, about to protest but Ell again stilled him with a hand on his arm.

Mullins, who’
d been relishing the prospect of a good fight, was disappointed by
her
acquiescence. For a moment he
tried to think of
additional
demands
to make
in hopes of encountering further resistance, but
eventually
realizing he couldn’t think of any
he shrugged, rose and began putting on his coat. “I’ll be coming b
ack for unannounced inspections,
”
he said warningly.

After they’d escorted Mullins from the building Fortis turned to Ell.
“
I can seek an injunction or something. It is ridiculous
on the face of it
to call
your ports ‘trans-dimensional
pipelines,’ for God’s sake, there aren’t any pipes!”

Ell tilted her head in thought, “No, it’s all right. They do have the potential for danger so the government is going to have a need to regulate them. Just as well let them use an agency they’ve already got rather than insisting that they form a new one. However, I feel sure this is simply the tip of the iceberg.”

Fortis frowned, “What iceberg?”

“James Bayless, the Secretary of the Department of Transportation,
is vehemently opposed to the release of this technology because of the economic upheavals it will cause. I’m sure he directed PHMSA to send Mullins down here to shut us down. I would imagine that it will be nearly impossible for us to get approvals for our applications.”

Fortis lifted an eyebrow, “Even more reason to seek an injunction and work to have someone else regulate us if we must be regulated.”

Ell shrugged, “I’d rather do it right. Hire counsel with expertise in these matters. I’ll have our admin people start on preparing our applications but we want counsel to ensure that we submit bulletproof applications that they can’t reject.”

“They can
always
reject. A reason can always be found.”

“Yeah. But then when we go up the chain we’ll have done our part and it will be obvious that we’re being stonewalled for other reasons.”

“OK.” Fortis said dubiously. “I’ll get on it.”

Chapter
Five

Emily stepped out onto the balcony and looked up
to find
her husband peering into his telescope. “
Wilson
? What are you doing up there at this hour?”

“Hey Em,” he said despondently,
“
I’m trying to check ever
ything to be sure I haven’t mis
calibrated
somehow
.”

“I thought you did everything remotely
,
even looking through your telescope?”

“I do. But the numbers keep coming up the same so I’m checking manually to be sure I don’t have some of the digital equipment a little off kilter.”

“Is that possible? I thought you calibrated to known stars.”

“Yeah,” he sighed, “I do. I’m grasping at straws here.”

“Have you told
Kitt
Peak
or NASA what you’re finding?”

“Yeah, they just tell me they’re ‘looking into it.’”

Emily chewed her lip, “And you think they’re stonewalling you?”

“Yeah, something like that.
Burying their heads in the sand?
Not
actually
checking my find
ings ‘cause I’m just an amateur?
Trying to keep
it a secret to avoid panic?
I don’t know.”

“You want me to start buying canned food and putting it in the basement?”

There was a long pause as Daster thought. “I guess. But if this thing hits, having some food socked away probably won’t help.
Even if it hits a long way away i
t’ll
create something
like a nuclear winter from all the dust that gets thrown up. We’ll probably freeze to death before we starve.”

“What
should
we do?”

“Launch nuclear warheads at it. Try to deflect
it from
its orbit. The sooner they do it, the more likely it is to work which is why I’m in such a panic to get something started.”

“Oh,” Emily said. She thought
of
her husband
as some kind of
genius, but
certainly
an
…
obsessive genius.
Could he really be right about this? Or
is this
ju
st another one of his obsession
s
?
Like the damn telescope in the first place. Sometimes she thought he loved it more than he did her.
Should I tell him to threaten to go public? Surely that would get a response out of them! But what a
n
embarrassm
ent if it turns out he’s wrong! A
nd
a horror if he
starts a panic. Like shouting fire in a crowded theater, except it’
d be
the
entire
world in a panic.
“Well, I’ll look into getting some canned goods anyway.
I think I’ll l
ook at some survivalist sites on the web.”
She turned and went in to bed
shaking her head. H
er husband
...
brilliant
or crazy?