Power (River Sunday Romance Mysteries Book 8) Page 10

  “I didn’t have time to get much. My concern was leaving any careless clues I had been there.”

  Barbara looked up from her console. “We’ve been studying the volume of digital traffic broadcast on their internet sites - at least the ones we know, especially dark web. Their traffic is steady so I’m sure they don’t suspect anything.”

  Eddison sat back on a metal stool. “From what my engineers tell me after examining your findings, Tinker has set up a sophisticated control system, and it has a certain order. We have figured out a few things. We certainly know more about what some codes are referencing.”

  He stood and moved to a small worktable. A map of the United States was spread out. “Let me show you something we have found in the files you copied.”

  He had drawn lines across the map marking it into sections. Each one was identified with an alphanumeric label. New England had the symbol A7. The Chesapeake Bay region was A1.

  He said, “We read it as similar to the Nazi submarine locater charts used by the Germans in fighting the World War. They marked the North Atlantic with letters and numbers and used them to target their wolf packs into warfare with the American and British convoys. Those were the routes your restored Victory ship, River Niger, once used.”

  Sarah leaned over the table and said, “Here’re the letters for these cities.” She opened a computer printout on the side of the work table. “These are the most recent blackouts reported during the last six months”

  She pointed down the paper. “Blackout one is the power system in Cincinnati, Ohio. It corresponds to the marking on the chart of X and the number one. According to our records, there was riot in city about wage increases for hospital workers. People were in the streets for two days. On the last day, the electrical system of the city went down for about an hour.”

  Loggerman said, “So they coordinate the electrical damage to a current mob action in the target area. It doesn’t matter the issue but it gives them a cover for their action.”

  She went on, “Here’s another. The map shows M and the number 5 which is Dallas, Texas. There was a riot in city on April 2 - a mob was in the streets protesting government cuts in education funds. The protests went on for about a week. On the last day, a blackout affected half the city. It lasted two hours and then the lights went back on.

  “We think they follow the unrest in the cities, mobs arguing about anything from wages to police violence. When one starts up in a city they are targeting for an energy facility like a power transmission station, they work the crowd, get it to march near the station, and then cause the blackout. We don’t yet know how it is done but the mob precedes it, ties up the police, and hides the perpetrators.”

  Loggerman stared at Eddison. “Will the information show what is coming? What do they plan?”

  “We think the plan is to increase what they call ‘blinks’. We think that means blackouts. More are planned in the coming weeks but we can’t locate them accurately. We need more work on the codes they use.”

  Eddison added, “There seems to be some kind of pattern. First in each case an event of any cause brings a large number of people to the streets. This starts violence. From police records the mobs are mostly young people without any group identification. You could say they were college students. The police mention the crowds include religious groups and activists like the Tinker protestors.”

  “Can we see any planning of those events from the material I gave you?”

  “It is sent to various addresses and we have no way of following future transmissions. It may be they take the transmissions and covert them to other means, for example using Facebook in one case and then going to telephones. It’s hard to follow and it’s always in a type of code we haven’t broken yet.”

  “Codes?” Loggerman asked.

  “Some of these folks are very talented and they have developed codes we have never heard of before. Right now we don’t have enough data to develop reliable addresses. The material you gave us will be very helpful and we are working on it non-stop but it will take time.”

  “What do we know?”

  “Well, as you can assume, power disruptions follow street mob activity. We can’t link the power breaks to Tinker activity but we have some circumstantial information.”

  “What?”

  “After the power goes back on, within a few days, the Tinker Institute shows a new member on its website.”

  “Who?”

  “The electrical grid which was disrupted.”

  “Do you have any knowledge of why they do this?

  “Nothing except they pay a large membership fee. We know this from our study of their bank accounts.”

  Loggerman asked, “Do we know what the blackmail system is?”

  “They penetrate the organization. These women are involved in intelligence, we think.”

  “What else?”

  “They get the computers changed so Tinker has control - a control can’t be changed by company engineers. Very powerful hacking.”

  “So they can set off the grids whenever they want.”

  “We’ve also been tracking the purchases of fuel for the utilities. From what we can see, a new supplier is added to the purchase accounts. The supplier seems to be the same in all the cases of the utilities - a firm in Louisiana we have no information about. We are checking on this. It may be a front for illegal contraband fuel from outlawed countries.”

  Loggerman said, “So the cheap fuel could make money for Tinker as well as provide free energy for the consumer. Check it out - find the identification of the fat man who was at the monthly meeting in River Sunday. You’ll see him in the videos of the Tinker visitors.”

  “We are checking. Also, the utility’s stock price usually goes up. Tinker Institute gives its new member a high rating for consumer awareness and low prices. The stock buyers appreciate this rating and the price goes up. Buyers of the stock can be traced to Tinker.”

  “I’d keep researching on the fat guy. He’s the one whose head looks like a flat football.”

  Sarah said, “I was especially interested in your recording of the two volunteers.”

  Eddison said, “Tell us.”

  “I think they are trained to find out information from employees of the target companies.”

  “What kind of information?”

  She said, “Barbara and I think this information they get may be related to the blackouts.”

  Barbara said, “If the volunteer targets a technician inside the target company who has access to the computers operate the firm, he or she could get codes. Those codes could shut off the grids.”

  Eddison said, “The grids could be manipulated form outside the firm, even from River Sunday.”

  Sarah added, “Our friends think so, too. Right now they are searching for a model railroad fan who works in the energy business.”

  “Impossible?”

  “We don’t think so. He’s married, and if we can find him we might turn him into an informer on the Tinker scheme.”

  “Meanwhile we have to anticipate what city they are targeting now. The map is a help but we have to figure out the code to understand these targets.”

  He continued. “We are watching cities around the country where the utilities are not Tinker Institute members. We figure they might be prospective areas for the blackouts or explosions.”

  “You have to check out mobs are in the street for various causes. They may take over the mobs for their own purposes.”

  “You’re suggesting a riot about wages or police activity can be used for attacking an energy company. The mob gets taken over by volunteers instigators?”

  “Yes. A street full of fanatics can be led cheaply.”

  “Scary. Tinker could shut down the whole country”

  Loggerman said, “You might want to investigate this big meeting in Baltimore. Cole Tinker is speaking. Ferrars wants me to sit on the podium as an oil expert.”

  “We have seen promotional material
on the speech. Thousands of tickets have been given out to fans of free energy on the social media.”

  “How are you involved in this?”

  “If I attend, Ferrars has promised to bring Stephanie for me to talk to.”

  “He is blackmailing you.”

  “He insisted I come. He must have a reason to go to this trouble.”

  “We’ll study the material on the meeting.”

  “A political speech?”

  “Not sure. He wants new laws so maybe his speech will emphasize free energy programs.”

  “Then it’s something Ferrars is planning.”

  “What will you say on the podium?”

  “I suspect I am just to sit there and be seen. I have no idea what they want me to do.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Loggerman drove down the tiny road in his rental car. The sun was high in the late morning heat. On both sides the high weeds and shrubs choked his car. Ruts tore at the car springs and high grass slapped sharply at the fenders.

  Chief Jimmy had provided instructions to locate the new mooring for River Niger. Nothing, even driving African back roads, had prepared him for the maze he was following. From Baltimore the route was not only difficult but hidden and claustrophobic. Around every turn he expected an ambush by Tinker fanatics. Finally he found the sign marked simply in hand written letters, “South Landing.”

  He entered marsh with high grass extending over his car from both sides. Small animals appeared and ran back into cover. With his open windows large flies and other insects attacked in the heavy hot air. Mist rose from time to time smelling of wet mud and dead water creatures deserted by the ebbing tide.

  A truck with its emergency lights blinking weaved side to side overtaking him at a high rate of speed. The lights were large and mounted in the air as high as the roof of his small car. Soon they were close behind him. He heard the roaring of a powerful engine and spotted its large silver radiator dwarfing his rear bumper. He speeded up but the vehicle behind did, too. It pulled first to one side and then to the other, its horn blasting warnings like bullets.

  He had no choice. He twisted the steering wheel hard to his left, cutting a new direction into the marsh. His wheels slipped sidewise, spinning as they tore into wet mud, spattering roots and leaves of plants on his windshield. The large tractor trailer tore by him, its back laden with encased stacks of drill pipe. The truck created a blast of wind pushing him further into the muck. As the truck passed ahead into the distance, the air was filled with spinning stems of cattails.

  Bugs smashed at his car as he reversed back into the rutted path. Once again, the ruts bounced his car from side to side.

  Ten minutes later, around a turn, he came upon an open field of ruts, marsh, and splashed puddles of water. The rampaging truck was stopped, its brake lights red at the end of a line of several vehicles. As he got closer to the vehicles, he saw two mobile cranes unloading cargo from the long flatbeds. Behind them was a small inlet with deep water stretching inward from the Patapsco River with several moored barges close to shore. Each wood skid of stacked pipe was lifted into the air and placed on a barge.

  He parked on a dry section of the wetland and walked to the nearest crane. Captain Jimmy and First Mate Ringo stood directing the loading. He looked about him and recognized the tall buildings of Baltimore City several miles distant to his right. To his left a loaded barge was being pulled out of the bay by a tug, its lights flashing. Even further on the horizon, opposite to Baltimore, he saw the masthead of his ship, anchored at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay.

  “When did you guys move the ship?”

  Jimmy said, “We got her out from the pier. Stoney knew about this place. The crowd did not notice us leave. On top, we got Joe Henry’s pipe and brought it down here.”

  “How long before we’re fully loaded?”

  “Saturday, no sweat. if them greenies don’t find us.” He was using his crew’s name for the Tinkers.

  “A good name for them.”

  “We’ll take you out to the River Niger.”

  Loggerman and Ringo boarded the barge about to leave the shore. A towing tugboat was attached to the front of the barge with a heavy cable.

  The diesel of the tug roared, forcing nearby feeding wildfowl to fly up from the nearby shores. The birds passed over the tug, their wings beating a crescendo of anger. As they approached the blue freighter, it grew in size. Compared to them, it was a mammoth, its sides high over the decks of the barge. On board Loggerman could make out the activity around the second hold from the bow, where this shipment was to tie up to be unloaded by the ship cranes and winches.

  When the carrier was in place and the freight being unloaded, Loggerman went aboard. Ringo followed him.

  “Let’s see the cargo,” he said.

  Ringo produced a file of papers. They walked forward on the deck, bypassing cranes and other holds, the covers winched open. They stopped forward of the central superstructure and climbed into the closest hold. Here, Ring had stored some of the pipe cargo directly from their flatbed trucks.

  The air was filled with the aroma of chocolate. This had been a hold carrying the exported African-grown cocoa. It was destined for a large American chocolate candy manufacturer with its factory north of Baltimore.

  “As you know, we had the cocoa in here when we came in. We have replaced it with American food products our customers can’t find in Nigeria. All these items will go the warehouse at New City and then be sent out to the stores.” Ringo’s face showed his perpetual toothy grin.

  Loggerman nodded. “More work has been done on the Nigerian highways to the stores in the north. These new trucks will help in carrying the cargo north from New City.”

  “We have the best foods of anyone. The stores know this. Also we have loaded clothing, shoes, and cosmetics.”

  Loggerman reminded his friend, “This will expand Henry’s offerings. However, you know Joe Henry wants to handle mostly Nigerian products. Anyway, the pipe is the primary import. Its value will be offset by the cocoa we export.”

  Loggerman led the way further into the hold. As they descended through the platforms built into the walls of the hold, Ringo explained what he was doing. “We have to balance the ship. Captain Jimmy has agreed with my plan to distribute the various weights of the different cargos. Of course, the stevedores have the knowhow to get this material from the holds to the pier and vice versa. The longshoremen take orders from them. Stoney’s longshoremen are loyal and experienced in this work and he’s had them on his payroll for years. You saw how they got your pipe in here.”

  They descended to the next level. “We have placed the heavier cargo at the bottom so the ship will travel correctly. However, we have put some of the heavy containers higher to make sure the ship does not wallow in the seas.” He pointed to containers stored halfway up the side of the hold.

  “I also have to place weight along the center line of the ship so the bow matches the stern and the ship does not dive into the waves or steer heavy in the rear. As we place the cargo we also have to make sure she is not top heavy to avoid capsizing in heavy weather.”

  Loggerman was impressed. “You’ve come a long way from your early days fighting alongside me at Joe Henry’s oil well installations. We took care of some bad terrorists, as you probably remember”

  “Wait a minute, Loggerman.” He pointed at a cardboard box behind a container, sitting alone against the ship’s inner hull plate. “This is not right.”

  He climbed over the restraining cables the stevedores had placed to keep the container from moving in the hold when at sea. He moved to the box and stood by it.

  “Don’t touch it,” said Loggerman quickly. He took his cell phone and called Captain Jimmy. “We may have a problem. We’ve got an unexplained small box where it should not be. We’re on the second layer in hold two.”

  Captain Jimmy said, “I’ll bring help.”

  “What do you want to do, Captain?” Loggerman asked. />
  “First, get me the men and women who worked this hold. Let’s find out what is going on.”

  The stevedore in charge came running. “What’s the matter? All this cargo is secured properly. I checked it.”

  “When?”

  The man looked at his clipboard. “I was here thirty minutes ago.”

  Ringo called to him from twenty feet away and pointed to the box. “Did you see this before?”

  “No. Marietta was here tightening the cables. She might have seen it.”

  “Where is she?”

  He used his phone. When he put it away, he said, “She had to go home for her family. She left on the last barge.”

  “She’s long gone,” said Ringo. “We can assume Marietta, or whatever her name is, is telling her buddies to set off the bomb anyway.” He looked at the others. “I’ll open the box.”

  “Wait for the captain,” said Loggerman. He added, “If we ask for the police and fire department, we disclose our location to the other Greenies.”

  Ringo pulled up the cover cardboard flap. He looked inside and carefully replaced it. “It’s an explosive rigged to a cell phone.”

  “What if she blows?”

  “The cargo will absorb the explosion but I worry about the hull plates. Some of this steel is pretty old.”

  “Let’s get the crew back on the barge.”

  Ringo looked at the hold opening above at the deck surface. “We had these bombs in Nigeria.”

  Loggerman nodded. “They will set it off when they want to.”

  “I think they will wait until she’s in deep water. If she was blown up off the coast, the oil gear will be harder to salvage.

  Captain Jimmy arrived and studied the carton. He said, “They were planning to put it against the old steel of the hull. Place it behind a container so the explosion would be channeled toward the ship hull.”

  “I agree. The woman panicked for some reason and did not carry out her job.”

  Loggerman said, “It has to be a powerful bomb.”

  “So what’s your plan?” asked Ringo.

  “If those Greenies manage to explode this bomb, it won’t be aboard the ship.”