Night Tide (23 page)

obstinately!hadn’t!opened!to!my!will!back!then!to!disgorge!my!

friend! Wink! instead! of! skulking! figures! in! black.! The! dim!

interior! was! cooler! than! the! blast! furnace! outside,! but!

marginally!so,!the!still!air!humid!and!close.!Alex!wound!his!way!

through! the! hallways! and! up! two! flights! of! stairs,! navigating!

with!the!confidence!of!someone!who!knew!right!where!he!was!

going.! He! stopped! suddenly! outside! an! open! office! door.! The!

room!was!occupied,!so!after!I!assured!him!I!could!find!my!way!

back!to!my!car!he!left!me!there.!

!

A!short,!grizzled!fireplug!of!a!man!stood!with!his!back!to!

the! door! in! front! of! a! wall6mounted! white! board.! All! rough6

hewn!facets,!with!square!jaw,!a!brush!of!steely!gray!hair!cut!in!

a! flattop! and! broad! shoulders,! he! looked! more! engineer! than!

engineering! professor.! Thick! arms! bristling! with! dark! hair!

sprouted!from!a!short6sleeved,!button6down!shirt!tucked!into!

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cargo! shorts.! Stout! matching! legs! were! stuffed! into! hiking!

boots! infuscate! like! freshly! dug! Russets.! Consulting! an! open!

textbook!on!a!nearby!desk,!he!jotted!notes!on!the!board!with!

one! hand,! making! corrections! with! an! eraser! in! the! other.! I!

rapped!on!the!doorframe!and!his!head!whipped!around!at!the!

sound.!!

!

“Yes?”!!

!

“Professor!Waldron?!I!wondered!if!I!could!have!a!moment!

of!your!time.”!

!

“Does! it! have! anything! to! do! with! coursework,! grades! or!

department!meetings?”!His!jaw!was!set!grimly.!

!

“No.!It’s!about—”!

!

He!erased!the!words!with!a!wave.!“Don’t!tell!me.!If!it’s!not!

about!school,!by!all!means!come!in.”!The!corners!of!his!mouth!

turned! up.! Wiping! his! brow! on! a! sleeve,! he! set! the! marker!

down!and!extended!his!hand.!“Summer!term!starts!in!a!week,!

which!is!why!I’m!cooped!up!in!here!outlining!coursework,!but!

it’s!bloody!hell!without!the!air!conditioning.”!

!

I!stepped!into!the!office!and!introduced!myself.!“They!said!

you’re!the!department!chair.!I’m!surprised!you’re!here!and!not!

on!vacation!somewhere.”!

!

“I’m!a!teacher;!I!teach.!Summer!quarter!actually!is!a!lot!of!

fun.!More!experiential.!We!get!out!and!do!more!fieldwork.”!

!

“I’m!glad!I!caught!you.!I!understand!you’ve!been!here!quite!

a!while.”!!

!

He!looked!at!me!curiously!and!motioned!to!a!desk.!“What!

can!I!do!for!you?”!

!

“I’m!interested!in!the!bombing!here!back!in!the!’Eighties.”!

!

A! cloud! briefly! darkened! his! face.! “What’s! your! interest?!

Doing! a! retrospective?! You! a! journalist?! I! read! they! released!

the!fellow!who!was!convicted.”!!

!

“You!don’t!seem!too!eager!to!talk!about!it.”!

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!

“It’s! history.! It’s! not! easy! heading! a! department! that’s!

defined!by!a!bomb!blast!twenty!years!ago!instead!of!the!work!

we!do!or!the!awards!we!win.”!!

!

I!shook!my!head.!“I’m!not!a!reporter,!or!a!lawyer,!either.!I!

used!to!be!friends!with!the!guy.”!I!explained!why!I!was!looking!

for!Langford.!!

!

“He! still! says! he’s! innocent?”! Waldron! ran! stubby! fingers!

through!the!short!brush!atop!his!head.!“Figures.”!

!

“You!think!he!did!it?”!

!

“No!reason!he!couldn’t!have.!And!twelve!of!his!peers!said!

he!was!guilty.”!

!

“You! were! here! back! then.! Can! you! tell! me! what! you!

remember?”!

!

He! studied! something! on! the! desk,! then! turned! his! gaze!

back! at! me.! “Shock,! at! first.! We! all! were.! No! one! could! figure!

out!why!someone!would!want!to!blow!up!an!engineering!lab.!It!

came! without! warning.! We! had! no! protests! on! campus,! no!

burning! issues.! Not! even! any! campus! troublemakers! beyond!

the!usual!fraternity!high!jinks.!This!is!a!pretty!quiet!place.!We!

don’t! get! the! kind! of! radicals! the! bigger! universities! get,!

especially! on! the! coasts.! I! hate! to! say! it,! but! the! small6town!

kids,!the!farm!kids!here!are!more!naive.!Besides,!we’re!talking!

the! ’Eighties.! What! were! people! protesting! then?! Apartheid?!

Gay!rights?!Kids!here!didn’t!care!all!that!much.”!

!

“Wasn’t!the!bombing!about!the!environment?!Some!group!

targeting!coal!research?”!

!

“If! I! remember! right,! some! eco6group—west! coast,! I!

think—released!a!statement!to!the!media!listing!a!whole!bunch!

of! grievances.! The! group! claimed! they! intended! to! destroy! a!

coal! liquefaction! research! project.! Said! it! represented! what!

was!wrong!with!alternative!energy!policy!in!this!country.”!

!

“They!got!the!wrong!lab.”!

!

“That’s! when! shock! turned! to! anger.! At! least! mine! did.!

They!were!so!far!off!base,!it’s!hard!to!believe!they!really!meant!

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to! target! coal! research.! The! Coal! Development! Center! where!

they! run! production6scale! experiments! is! over! in! Carterville,!

and!the!research!center!itself!is!on!another!part!of!the!campus.!

This!is!the!engineering!building.!No!way!they!could!mistake!the!

lab! they! destroyed! for! one! experimenting! with! coal!

liquefaction.”!!

!

“Do!you!remember!what!was!going!on!in!the!lab!that!got!

blown!up?”!

!

His! head! bobbed.! “Absolutely.! That! was! Kwan! Ji’s! lab.!

Korean! guy.! Brilliant.! He! was! on! the! cusp! of! the!

nanotechnology!revolution.!The!ground!floor.!Made!some!very!

promising! discoveries! while! he! was! working! with! a! defense!

contractor!back!in!the!mid6’Eighties,!but!apparently!didn’t!like!

the!people!he!was!working!for.!We!were!lucky!to!get!him.”!

!

“What!was!he!working!on!at!the!time?”!

!

“Battery! technology.! He! was! looking! for! ways! to! extend!

battery!life.!The!Holy!Grail!these!days.!He!was!way!ahead!of!his!

time.”!

!

I!rubbed!my!cheek.!“Here’s!what!I!don’t!get.!Langford!was!

a!smart!kid,!at!least!when!I!knew!him.!He!wouldn’t!have!gotten!

the! labs! confused! if! he! was! working! with! the! environmental!

group.!And!if!he!blew!it!up!on!his!own,!what!was!his!motive?”!

!

Waldron! shrugged.! “Did! he! need! one?! Maybe! he! just!

wanted!to!see!if!he!could!do!it.”!

!

“I!grew!up!with!him,!hung!out!with!him.!He!loved!a!good!

prank.!Blew!up!a!lot!of!stuff,!too.!But!not!buildings.”!

!

He!held!up!splayed!fingers!and!ticked!them!off!one!by!one.!

“He!was!found!at!the!scene.!Holding!a!gun.!Carrying!chemicals!

in!his!backpack.!And!traces!of!the!type!of!explosive!used!were!

later! found! in! his! garage.! Forensics! said! the! blast! was!

controlled.!He!used!a!calculated!amount!of!explosive,!probably!

in!a!shaped!charge!to!limit!the!blast!radius.!Engineering6wise,!a!

beauty! of! a! job.! Kid! knew! what! he! was! doing.! Or! else! he! had!

help.”!

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!

“Or!he!was!in!the!wrong!place!at!the!wrong!time.!Didn’t!he!

say!at!the!trial!he!saw!other!people!running!from!the!scene?”!

!

“You’re! saying! someone! else! set! the! bomb,! and! Langford!

just!happened!to!be!in!the!building.!What!about!the!dead!girl?”!

!

That!was!the!part!I’d!tried!to!forget!for!twenty!years.!Hard!

to! reconcile! the! Wink! I! knew! with! the! image! of! him! standing!

over! a! dead! girl’s! body.! But! now! I! knew! what! had! happened.!

One! of! the! men! who’d! planted! the! bomb! had! heard! the! girl’s!

screams,! run! back! in! the! building! and! put! her! out! of! her!

misery,!making!sure,!using!two!bullets,!not!one.!I!could!picture!

it,!Wink!dazed!and!in!shock!from!the!blast,!drawn!to!the!sound!

of! her! cries! of! pain! and! then! the!
popHpop
! that! silenced! them,!

picking!up!the!gun!in!disbelief!after!the!assailant!had!run!off.!

I’d!known!all!along,!but!as!a!scared!nineteen!year6old!I’d!been!

more!willing!to!believe!the!evidence!than!in!my!friend.!

!

“Say! someone! got! the! right! lab! after! all,”! I! said,! changing!

the!subject.!“Why!go!to!the!trouble!of!blowing!it!up?!What!was!

so!important?”!

!

“The!right…?”!Waldron!blinked.!“Good!question.”!

!

“I!should!probably!talk!to!…!Ji?”!

!

“Jim.!We!all!called!him!Jim.”!

!

“Is!he!still!around?!Can!you!tell!me!where!he!lives?”!

!

He!shook!his!head,!corners!of!his!eyes!turning!down!with!

his!mouth.!“He’s!dead.!House!caught!fire!about!a!week!after!the!

bombing.!Middle!of!the!night.!Really!tragic.”!

!

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!

!

Chapter&25&

!

!

The! dead6end! presented! by! Kwan! Ji’s! untimely! death!

sparked! an! internal! debate! that! raged! so! intensely! it!

threatened! to! paralyze! me! with! indecision.! Another! sure! sign!

I’d!been!off!my!meds.!The!dissonance!in!my!head!offered!one!

benefit—a!surfeit!of!random!notions,!some!crazier!than!others.!

A!few!of!which!germinated,!took!root,!grew.!

!

The! campus! library! offered! a! distraction,! a! safe! refuge!

from!the!pressure!to!decide!a!course!of!action,!a!valid!excuse!to!

procrastinate.!A!decision!in!itself.!Wink!looked!more!and!more!

like! he’d! been! a! convenient! scapegoat! for! someone.! The!

question!was!who!and!why.!I!penciled!some!notes!on!a!piece!of!

scratch! paper! before! they! were! trampled! by! the! stampede! of!

purple!notions!thundering!through!my!head.!For!the!next!hour!

I! cruised! the! web,! searching! for! anything! I! could! find! on! the!

bombing,!Kwan!Ji,!Sebastian!Fitch,!and!the!enigmatic!Wilsons.!

!

Kwan! Ji! got! a! mention! in! an! encyclopedic! entry! on! the!

history! of! nanotechnology,! referencing! pioneering! work! at!

west! coast! defense! contractor! Ross! Industries! before! his!

sudden!departure!to!Southern!Illinois.!The!Wilsons,!Colin!and!

Corinne,! showed! up! in! a! monograph! on! nonviolent! civil!

disobedience!as!a!form!of!protest!against!the!war!in!Vietnam.!

An! example,! to! some,! of! the! effectiveness! of! peaceful!

demonstration;!the!epitome!of!gutless!cowardice!to!others.!The!

hunt! turned! up! no! references! to! Fitch! at! all.! Logic—the! ADD!

kind,! anyway—suggested! a! connection! among! them! all,! but! I!

couldn’t!find!one.!

!

Eyes!bleary!from!staring!at!the!computer!screen,!I!took!a!

break!and!shoved!back!from!the!terminal.!A!reference!librarian!

steered! me! to! some! books! on! the! ’Sixties.! Those! yielded! a!

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couple! more! notations! on! the! minor! roles! the! Wilsons! had!

played! at! the! two! UWs—Wisconsin! in! 1968! and! 1969! before!

radicals! bombed! Sterling! Hall! on! the! Madison! campus,! and!

Washington!in!1970!during!the!riots!in!Seattle!the!day!after!the!

Chicago! Seven! verdict.! Disillusioned,! whether! by! the! violent!

turn! of! antiwar! protests! or! their! own! ineffectiveness,! they!

skipped!to!Canada!in!1971,!joined!Greenpeace!and!soon!faded!

into!obscurity.!Again,!nothing!on!Fitch.!

!

I! did,! however,! come! across! a! photo! in! one! of! the! books!

that! stopped! me! dead! in! my! tracks.! Taken! at! Columbia!

University!during!the!demonstrations!in!the!spring!of!1968,!it!

framed! black! activists! Stokely! Carmichael! and! H.! Rap! Brown!

speaking! to! reporters! in! front! of! Hamilton! Hall,! site! of! the!

original! student! occupation.! Clearly! visible! through! the!

windows! and! doors! behind! them! were! black! students! who’d!

kicked!SDS!head!Mark!Rudd!and!the!other!white!kids!out!of!the!

building.!!

!

Vietnam! hadn’t! been! my! fight,! as! a! grunt! or! a! protester.!

Frank! Shriver! was! right;! I’d! been! in! diapers! then.! The! war!

hadn’t! been! my! parents’! fight,! either,! being! older! than!

demonstrators! or! soldiers! heading! overseas.! I’d! been! a!

surprise! baby,! coming! nearly! ten! years! after! my! sister.! My!

father!might!have!been!called!up!for!duty!in!Korea!except!for!

the!fact!he’d!been!injured!in!the!1947!Centralia!mine!disaster!

that!had!claimed!several!of!his!relatives’!lives.!But!the!Vietnam!

era! hadn’t! been! such! ancient! history! growing! up! in! those!

turbulent! times! that! the! Black! Panthers,! Weathermen! and!

Symbionese!Liberation!Army!weren’t!familiar!names.!

!

What! caught! my! eye,! though,! was! the! face! of! one! of! the!

students!staring!through!the!glass!in!the!background.!Most!of!

them! focused! on! the! two! black! power! leaders! addressing! the!

sea!of!microphones!thrust!at!them.!But!one!kid’s!attention!was!

directed! elsewhere! in! the! crowd! around! Carmichael! and!