Chapter Sixty-One

Arnold Slocum sat at his desk, looking up at the three people who were talking all at once, alternately arguing and addressing him. Finally, he held up his hands.

“Stop! I can’t understand a word any of you are saying. Please, one at a time.”

Trapper, Leah and Agent Allen stood silently, wondering who was going first. It was Agent Allen who eventually spoke. “I guess the first question is did they get any information?”

“Did who get any information?” asked Arnold.

“Six men broke into the tape library and the raised floor holding the mainframe computer in the basement,” Allen answered.

Arnold stood and leaned over his desk. “And just how did they get in?”

“We’re still working on that. They didn’t use the elevator, so there must be another way in the basement besides the doors.”

Leah threw up her hands, turned and sat in one of the chairs in front of Arnold’s desk. “Does it really matter now? The damage has been done. There’s nothing you can do to change it.”

“What damage?” shouted Arnold who didn’t seem to be getting any worthwhile answers.

Trapper’s hand went up to calm Arnold. “There was a break-in in the basement, but Leah thinks she got everything shut down before they could get any information.”

Leah leaned forward and tossed a cartridge tape on Arnold’s desk. “That’s all the information on Ellen Frank. I transferred it from the mainframe storage to that tape, and that tape has been locked in my desk. They didn’t get to it. There was a device under the floor they were using to try to copy all the hospital files. I was able to shut the ports down right after they started.” She set another smaller tape on the desk. “That’s the tape from their equipment. They weren’t able to download much. But what does it matter now? Trapper’s going to have Ellen Frank moved.”

“Arnold,” said Trapper, pausing to take a deep breath before he said his next words. “One of Leah’s technicians was killed…shot. A second man is being treated for a gunshot wound. He’ll live.”

Closing his eyes for a moment, Arnold glanced up at Trapper, and then looked to Leah. “I’m sorry, Ms. Haverty. Who were they?”

“Hector Ramirez is the man who was killed. Mike Stanley is the one being treated. They were student interns, gentlemen, who volunteered to stay on while all this was going on, believing they were being protected.” As she spoke, her voice grew louder, and when she finished, she was glaring at Agent Allen. Dropping her forehead into her hand, she continued. “Hector was a tape ape…the guy who retrieved tapes from the library and mounted them on the tape drives when there was a restore request. That happens frequently for old files…the system moves them off to tape. Mike is the actual operator. He sits at a console and watches the batch system run and makes sure all the jobs complete successfully. Both were students at San Francisco State. But it doesn’t matter now. You can’t change what happened.”

“No,” said Trapper. “But we can make damn sure it doesn’t happen again. Arnold, this isn’t simply a bunch of corporate suits who are afraid of losing their jobs. You don’t kill people over a job. I think Leah was right,” he said, moving his gaze to Agent Allen. “This is about the nuclear material held at Xanda. For all we know, this thing could be international. Isn’t that right, Agent Allen?”

Allen raised a defiant chin. “That’s confidential information.”

Trapper scoffed. “If that wasn’t a confirmation, I don’t know what is.” Turning back to Arnold, Trapper continued, “I’m no longer willing to treat Ms. Frank here at the hospital. I’ve made arrangements to have her moved to Letterman Army Hospital at the Presidio. It’s close enough that Dr. Applebaum and I can still consult, and it’s a fairly new state-of-the-art facility.”

“And just how do you propose getting her there without killing her. We need her alive,” yelled Allen.

“I’ve already spoken to George Standiver, Lettermen’s Chief of Surgery. She’s been stable for twenty-four hours now, so we’ll be life-flighting her over this afternoon. He’s coming here to examine her before she goes.”

“You can’t just send her somewhere else without the proper authorization,” said Allen, now standing right in front of Trapper.

“Agent Allen, I still have friends in the service…good friends who just happen to agree this is bigger than you. This move was authorized by Lt. General Sherman Potter. If you’ve got a problem with it, I suggest you take it up with him. But hurry,” Trapper said in a low voice, looking down at Leah, still sitting in the chair. “He’s getting ready to retire.” His wink got a crooked smile out of her.

***

Standing outside Ellen Frank’s ICU room, Trapper discussed her injuries with Dr. Standiver from Letterman as Leah paced back and forth in front of the nurse’s station.

“Leah, why are you so nervous about this?” asked Ernie who was looking for Ellen’s chart.

“I don’t know. Something just doesn’t feel right.” Leah stopped pacing. “What are you looking for?”

“Ms. Frank’s original chart. I’ve got Ms. Davis’ new chart here, but I can’t find the old one.”

“Stop looking. The old paper chart was destroyed.”

“Why on earth would they do that? If they wanted to show she was dead, you’d think that a doctor’s signature in a chart would only confirm it.”

“I guess they didn’t want anyone to have specifics on her treatment. It would be too easy to match that to Ms. Davis’ ongoing treatments. Anyway, the paper chart was destroyed after everything was entered into the computer. I can recreate it if necessary.”

Walking up to them, Trapper asked, “Ernie, are you ready? We’ll be moving her up to the helipad as soon as the guards are in place.” Ernie nodded. “Leah, I need a printed copy of her original chart. How long do you think that will take?”

“Only a couple of minutes. I’ll bring it to you while you get her loaded into the helicopter.” Leah left for the print room where it would be quicker for her to use the terminal there to order the print, and then wait for it as it printed.

Trapper, Dr. Standiver and Ernie walked behind the gurney as Guardsmen moved it from outside the door of the ICU to the elevator. Ellen lay on an air mattress and was surrounded by air-filled cushions designed to insulate her from sudden bumps from the gurney. With her tucked snuggly between the side cushions, it also provided a sturdy enough surface that when she was moved from the bed to the gurney and then to the helicopter, her body was exposed to only a minimal amount of movement.

Trapper checked her vitals again in the elevator. “She’s still stable,” he said, looking seriously up at Dr. Standiver who took a deep breath and nodded. “George, you seem a little nervous.”

He smiled. “I’ll feel much better when she’s in my hospital surrounded by Guardsmen. Not to slight your efforts here John, but the chances for whoever is trying to kill this woman are nil on the base compared to a public hospital.”

“No insult taken, George. I agree. She doesn’t belong here.”

When they arrived on the roof, the Guardsmen held them in the elevator until the helicopter had set down, military sentinels surrounded it, and Letterman Hospital personnel had the interior ready to receive the patient. A line of sentry standing shoulder to shoulder formed from the elevator to the chopper, and the group in the elevator began their journey.

As Ms. Frank was moved into the helicopter, Leah emerged from the elevator with her file and was escorted by a Guardsman to the chopper. Ducking more so because of the sound and wind created by the propellers than the propellers themselves, she passed the file to Dr. Standiver who had just stepped into the helicopter when a shot rang out. At first, everyone turned toward the shot, but when a shout came for everyone to get down on the ground, Trapper pulled Ernie and Leah into him in each arm and took them down to the surface of the helipad. Leah barely noticed the sound of another shot because the breath had been knocked from her from Trapper’s weight falling onto her chest.

Guardsmen now surrounded those still on the ground as the door of the helicopter was slammed shut, and the machine climbed into the air at the same time it moved away from the direction of the gunfire.

Ernie lay still as she listened to the shouts around her.

“Sniper, two hundred yards northeast, edge of roof.”

The Guardsmen’s own sniper looked, and spotting the distant figure yelled, “Got him.”

Steadying his rifle, he peered through the scope and pulled the trigger in only a matter of seconds, proclaiming, “Threat neutralized.”

Another yell of “Recover,” sent a number of the Guardsmen down the elevator even as several crouched at the side of the building with scopes looking for more snipers and making sure the one they knew about didn’t get up. Still more Guardsmen swarmed over everyone on the tarmac.