Chapter 2

Mark watched his golden retriever, Remus, lunge across the well-groomed lawn in pursuit of the ball his son, Billy, had just tossed into the far corner of the yard. Mark was proud of his landscape. He had spent all day yesterday working on it. He had mowed, edged, fertilized and trimmed all morning while Rachel and the kids had gone to church. Mark disliked the indoctrination his children received in that church, but he had agreed to let any children they had attend church before he and Rachel had married. Rachel still tried to convert him, but he always stood his ground. When the kids were older, he was sure they would see the logic of his position and ditch all this church going.

Remus picked up the ball and bounded back to Billy with his tail wagging and his eyes bright. The big retriever absolutely adored Billy. Mark corrected himself. The dog worshipped Billy; he adored the rest of the family. Remus dropped the ball in front of Billy and waited for another throw.

"Good boy," Billy said. Billy picked up the ball and threw it again. Remus once again pursued it with total abandon.

Well, thought Mark, at least Billy's not getting dirty. His T-shirt was still unstained, for a boy of eight playing with his dog that was pretty good.

Rachel stepped from the kitchen into the open back doorway, blocking Mark's view. Dressed in a dark skirt, an off-white blouse and heels, she was ready for work. Seeing her silohouetted like that made Mark remember their night alone last week.

"Billy, that's enough," Rachel called, raising her voiceto get the boy's attention. "Your father's leaving for work and you've got to catch your bus."

Rachel stepped back into the kitchen, and Mark could see Billy look over his shoulder toward the doorway. Remus came lumbering up with the ball. Before he could drop the ball, Billy grabbed it. He patted the dog on the head.

"Gotta go, boy, " Billy said. "I'll play with you this evening."

Billy patted Remus's head once more, then sauntered toward the back door. Mark studied him, trying to remember what it had been like to be a boy that age. He could not.

Billy closed the sliding glass door behind him after he entered the house. He looked like he was being punished rather than simply being sent to school. Heather, dressed in a white T-shirt and pink coveralls looked up from her coloring and studied Billy momentarily. Evidently satisfied with what she saw, she returned to her task.

Mark glanced at her artwork and repressed a comment. He never seen a purple-leafed tree, but his five year old seemed to think that vivid hue was the appropriate color. The green crayon lay on to one side, unused.

Rachel gathered up the last pplate from the table and retreated behind the kitchen counter to the sink where she scraped the plate clean, then put it in the dishwasher. Mark stepped over to Billy, scooped him up and gave him a hug. How much longer would he be able to od that? The boy was growing.

"I'm leaving," Mark said. "You ready for school"

Billy nodded vigorously. "You bet. I'm going to take the valve you gave me for show and tell."

"Great."

Mark put Billy down and stepped around the table to Heather who stood up in her chair and reached her arms out toward him. Mark leaned over, and Heather clutched his neck with both her arms, then planted a kiss on his cheek. He lifted her from the chair and hugged her back.

"Bye, Daddy," she said.

"Bye, bye," Mark said as he deposited her back in her chair. "You be good today."

Heather nodded, then sat down once more and returned to her coloring. The trunk of the tree was to be orange. Mark wondered if Heather needed her eyes tested, but Rachel who had looked at the picture and smiled, seemed unperturbed at their daughter's choice of colors.

Mark's briefcase sat on the floor by the counter Rachel was wiping. As he picked it up, Rachel slid around the counter and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Have a good day," she said. "I'm going to take the afternoon off so I can run some errands."

Mark made a face at her. "Wish I could get some time off."

Rachel shook her head and gave him a swat on the rear.

"See you," Mark said, then gave Rachel a kiss full on her lips.

As they drew apart, Rachel smiled. "Get going," she said.

Mark nodded and left.



As Mark exited the expressway, he could see the Texas Rose petrochemical plant silohouetted agains the morning sky on its peninsula jutting out into the bay. Plumes of steam rose from the stacks and drifted away in the morning breeze. As he got closer, Mark could hear the sounds of activitiy at the plant, the whine of the big turbines, the clank of metal on metal and the purrs of the smaller engines.

Mark drove on. His workplace's parking lot surrounded by its ten-foot high chain-link fence was just ahead. Mark pulled up to the gate and waited. Even after all these years, this fence still made him think of a prison, not a work place. In a moment, the gate opened and Mark drove through. He found a parking place without a problem and got out of his car. He had a new project that needed some thought. Mark took a couple of steps toward the office, then remembered his brief case. He turned back, unlocked the car and retrieved his brief case from the rear seat Mark strode toward the nearest building. He couldn't help but whistle.

Mark shoved the large glass door open and stepped into the foyer. The security guard seated to one side with a clip board in his hand nodded as Mark walked by. Mark nodded in return. He had nodded to this man for the last six months, but never learned his name. He really should stop some morning and chat. Mark wondered why the clip board. Mark did not remember seeing the guard with one before. Well, this morning there was no time for a chat. I better get a move on.
Mark unlocked the door to his office and stepped inside leaving the door open. He put his brief case on his desk between the computer terminal and the picture of his family. He smiled at the picture of Rachel and the kids. He was a lucky man.

Mark sat down and reached for his brief case, starting to plan his day. Del appeared at his door. Behind Del was a security guard that Mark had never seen.

"Hey, Del. What's up?" Mark asked.

Del looked at the floor, then slipped into the office and over to Mark's desk without answering. Something about his posture made Mark nervous. Del looked Mark. Mark picked up a pencil as he waited for Del to say something. Without thinking, he began to tap it on the desk.

"I'm sorry, Mark," Del said so softly that Mark had to lean forward to hear him. "I just got the word this morning. Since Texas Rose took over the new complex, profits have dropped. The top brass say we've gotto cut back, downsize. I'm sorry, but your position's been eliminated."

Mark stared at Del not believing what he had heard. He dropped the pencil. "You're joking."

"This is no joke. Your position is gone."

Mark shook his head. "I've worked here twelve years, Del. I've done a good job for this company. You've never had any problems with my work."

"You're the best engineer I've got, but..."

"Damn it, " Mark snapped, "If I'm the best you have, why are you firing me?"

Del glanced toward the security guard still standing in the doorway. His eyes were fixed on Mark. Mark realized his raising his voice had triggered the guard's interest. Del leaned forward and placed his hand on Mark's desk, blocking the guard's view of Mark.

Del pitched his voice so that only Del could hear. "You are too good, Mark. Too good. You caught that problem with the overflow pipes at the plant. It cost a lot of money to fix it. If you hadn't noticed it...



Inside the processing section of the plant, Peter heard gas hiss from a small hole. Pete looked up in time to see a worker on the catwalk several stories up turn a valve wheel. The hissing stopped. The man leaned closer to the containment vessel, then turned and looked down. Pete recognizied Juan.

Juan yelled down to them. "Pressure's up. We've got an overload."

Pete waved to Juan, signaling he had heard. He trotted across the floor and pulled the emergency alarm. I sure hope that engineer knew what he was doing, Pete thought, or we are all goners. Pete waited, listening for the clank of valves opening and closing automatically under the sound of the alarm whistles.
Juan waved and gave the thumbs up sign. Pete sighed and pulled the chain on the alarm. For an instant there was silence as the whistles stopped, then nervous laughter filled the cavernous room as the workers relaxed.
Another worker, Mike, came up beside Pete.
"That was close," Mike said. "If that dude in engineering hadn't made the big guys make those changes we'd all be dead."
"Yeah," Pete agreed. "But scuttlebutt says those changes cost the poor slob his job. The big boss didn't like spending the money. "
"Hey, man, it worked. Just now. It worked."
"Sure, so maybe they'll hire him back. Maybe." Pete shrugged and went back to work. Those engineers should unionize, then they'd have someone to go to bat for them.
Mark headed out the double doors he had come through less than an hour before well aware of the two security guards that flanked him. Neither guard offered to open the door even though Mark carried a large cardboard box with his briefcase perched on top and the guards hands were empty.
Mark reached his car and put the box down on top of the trunk. He fished in his pocket for his keys, then opened the rear door of his car and tossed his briefcase in the back seat. He picked up the box and balanced it on one knee while he opened the trunk. He dropped the box inside the trunk and slammed the lid. The guards stood to one side the whole time, never offering to help.
Mark got into his car and drove through the gate. What was he going to do? A mile or so down the road he pulled onto the shoulder and looked back at the building where he had spent the last twelve years. How quickly life changed. He drove home.
Del had just started working on the latest performance questionaire when his phone buzzed. He pressed the blinking button and his secretary spoke.
"Mr. Ray, there was an accident at the plant. One of the lines over pressurized."
"What blew?" Del's heart thudded as he thought of telling his boss.
"That's the good news. Everything is okay. I just got the trouble report. Can I bring it in?"
"Sure."
As his secretary entered, she smiled. "I thought you would want to see this. Maybe you can get management to keep Mr. Burleson. His changes worked."
Del skimmed the two-page report. She was right. Mark's changes had done just what he had promised.
"Thanks, Ms. Eliot. I'll pass this on."
The woman nodded and left.
Del continued to stare at the report. No use making waves. He went over to his shredder and inserted the report. There was a brief, high-pitched whine, then all that was left of the report was confetti.
Del shook his head. Mark was a good engineer.