Chapter 1

Mark gazed at the metal webbing of pipes running between containment vessels and sighed. Whoever had designed this mess must not have examined the final result. There were few cut-off valves and, while the containment vessels might control everyday overflows, those containers would rupture under the pressure of a major upset.

He looked down from the catwalk through the levels below. Workers swarmed everywhere. If there was an accident up here, all their lives would be in danger. Mark was not even sure that the building would survive. If the building went, then the nearby residential areas... Mark pushed that thought away. He could see to it that such a catastrophe did not happen.

Carefully, Mark began his descent down the enclosed ladder. While the catwalks never bothered him, he did not like these caged rungs. Instead of making him feel secure, they made him feel like something was pressing in around him, crushing him, not holding him to the ladder.

Several workers nodded to him as he scrambled down. At last his feet touched the concrete of the ground floor. One of the workers, a big guy that reminded Mark of a Brahma bull he had encountered as a kid, with his thick shoulders and large ears lumbered toward him. Mark knew Pete was the shop steward for the union and was suspicious of all he considered management types-that included Mark.

"Find anything?" Pete asked.

Mark answered honestly. "Yep, there's some problems up there, but I intend to get them fixed. Until I do, if any of those lines over pressurize, you evacuate the whole place. Don't wait to see if it corrects, just evacuate. Okay?"

Pete nodded. "Evacuate," he said flatly, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Mark didn't give him time to say more or ask the question that was so obviously forming in his dark eyes. Mark strode away as quickly as he dared. He was relieved when he once more stood outside the complex. He took off his hard hat and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. He needed to get back to his office and start drawing up those plans. Now.

Mark drove back to the office complex deep in thought. At least, he had no trouble finding a parking spot.

He walked past the security guard at his office building with a nod and went to one of the elevators. His office was on the fourth floor in the engineering section. Mark had worked at the Texas Rose for the last twelve years. In anther eight, he would be eligible for retirement, although he wouldn't be able to leave his job. By that time, the oldest of his two kids would be in high school and college expenses would be on the horizon.

Mark reached his office. It was really no bigger than a good-sized closet, but it was his alone. Mark liked that. He hung his hard hat on the coat rack and sat down at his desk. A personal computer dominated the desk and left little room for anything else.

Mark punched a key and the computer screen brightened. In a few minute, Mark had drafted a memo to his boss, Delmer Ray, on the changes needed at the plant. He reread it, then e-mailed to Del. Once it was sent, he began to draw the plans for the needed changes.

About a half-hour later, there was a tap on his door. Del, a medium-sized man, who always looked unkempt, stood in the doorway.

"Hi there. Got your memo. Thought we better discuss it. "

"Sure," Mark agreed, although he was surprised that Del had come to him so quickly.

"You really think this needs to be done?"

"Yes. Del, people will die if we don't make these changes. That plant isn't safe. I almost said we should shut down production until these changes are made, but..."

"No, no. We can't do that. Profit margins are bad enough. We've got to keep that unit on-line. I'll see these changes get done."

"Good."

"How soon will you have the plans?"

"Give me a couple of days. I'll have the preliminaries, so we can get started. In two weeks, I'll have the final plans."

"Okay. I'll go break the news to the big boss."

Del stood nervously in front of the huge, curving desk.  He hated coming to this office where the thead of his unit, Ward Lowden, worked. He and Lowden had not hit it off. Del worried that the man wanted to replace him with someone with more technical know how. Someone like Mark. Lowden was frowning now, which made Del even more nervous.

"I thought he understood that he needed to keep things simple when I gave him the job, but he has a bee in his bonnet about safety." Del stammered.

"Those are mighty extensive changes. Isn't there some way we could put them off?" Lowden's frown deepened.

"Not with Mark Burleson as the engineer. I'm sure sorry I picked him to go over to that plant."

"Yeah. Well, we had to know what we bought. " Lowden shook his head. "I just wish it wasn't this bad, this soon. Maybe if I talked to Burleson."

"Oh, that wouldn't do any good. He's already threatened to go the union and have the plant shut down." Well, Del thought, Mark did say that he had thought about shutting the plant down.
 
"The hell you say. Some engineer. Does he know who pays his salary?"

"Oh, I'm sure he does. He's just a little over zealous when it comes to safety. "

"Sure is. Damn it, we don't want union trouble."

Lowden scribbled his signature on the work order and handed it to Del. "Get it done."

Del nodded and retreated from Lowden's office. That had gone pretty well, he thought.

The changes in the plant were made with surprising speed. Mark was happy with the result. There had been no cost overruns and the changes had been completed in six weeks. He had had to work a lot of overtime though. His wife, Rachel, had not been happy about that. He had told her this morning that the project was complete. He could relax tonight.

Rachel beat him home from work. She usually did. Her office was closer and her hours more predictable. She was in the kitchen when he got home. He thought he heard the clink of ice hitting glass.

Mark dropped his jacket over the back of a living room chair and plopped down on the sofa. "I'm glad that project's over. You know we kept the plant working while we retrofitted. It cost some bucks upfront, but I think it was well worth it. Bet the big boss thinks so, too."
Rachel came out of the kitchen. Her hands were empty. She smiled as she sat down beside him. He could smell her perfume. Mark reached out and stroked her hair. She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder
"I'm glad it went well," she said.
Mark nodded. "Where are the kids?"
"Billy is over at Lance's, and I left Heather with Arlene for a while. I thought we could have some time together without the kids."
Mark grinned and gathered her into his arms. "That's a first class idea."