At one point he suggested they both co-write stories about fictional sexual interludes. He initiated a chapter and invited her to add to it and continue the story. She wasn’t overly enthusiastic.
Uggh. Put your intimate self out there with words?
But maybe this was a way to free her hidden wild side? To own it. She’d give it a try. In the beginning, she was unsure of her own sexual voice and would write brief obligatory add-ons, bland by comparison to his more flowery, descriptive stories.
But he always encouraged her to do more. After a few exchanges, she surprised herself and summoned up her own, long-hidden fantasies, her untapped, inner desires.
The steamy epistles drew them closer, feeding a special intimacy. She learned to trust him in a way she hadn’t let herself trust a lover in the past.
One night he e-mailed her a new story casting her as the main character. She found herself at a type of hotel with a restaurant and a bar with a small dance floor. Upstairs there were rooms that weren’t just bedrooms. She was alone and meeting a man named David. Why was he introducing her to another man? Would that mean that there could be another woman? She decidedly wrote the next chapter to include Lou as another new man she liked better than David. Would she have to choose between them? She was rewriting how they met—this time in a sex house. He smiled. Wait ’til she really sees this place….
Chapter 27
The auditorium in the county building was crowded. Environmental groups and anti-nukes manned tables and worked the crowd, a bazaar of information, petitions, and free paraphernalia.
Diana flitted around the room, lining up spokespersons, making sure the press was up front. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lou walk in, quickly followed by Chrissy Dolan. Minutes later, Bob haplessly wandered in and lurked in the back, keeping a low profile.
Diana climbed on stage and tapped the microphone.
“Good evening, everyone. We have a heavy lineup this evening, so let’s get started. I’m Diana Chase. Many of you know me because I’m against the nuclear power industry, specifically ALLPower. This evening we are formally announcing a brand new group, a strong coalition of groups who want the same thing: to close ALLPower down!”
Applause broke out and signs popped up saying “Hell No! We Won’t Glow!” and “Evacuate Where?”
Chrissy looked around to get a head count and came up with roughly five hundred people. In the far back she thought she saw Bob. That little spy…
A scientist from the Union of Concerned Scientists, a watchdog group critical of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, slammed the NRC for being lax on enforcing safety regulations and changing the regulations as plants age so they could keep operating. Was the NRC really protecting the public’s health and safety?
A candidate for Congress railed, crafting his rhetoric for the riled-up crowd, repeatedly pausing for applause. Every vote counted, and campaign promises could mean a win in November.
“The only thing that will ever make a difference in Washington, D.C., is taking away the NRC’s power. The NRC doesn’t have to answer to anyone! That means they can be in bed with the nukes, and we can’t do anything about it! I will push for a constitutional amendment to change that as soon as I get into Congress as your new elected representative. That’s a promise!”
Stella sat in the second row, wearing a kerchief tightly around her head as camouflage. She knew Bob was there, she could feel it. She wanted to be part of the movement but her gut churned knowing that her son worked for ALLPower, the “enemy.” Somehow she felt like a traitor to both her son and to the people around her.
Projected behind the speakers were large images of the plant. Several showed the plant exterior from the river. An aerial shot showed the proximity of the plant to the riverfront beach and the two-lane road, the so-called workable evacuation route. There were pictures of the inside of the reactor along with simple illustrations of how it worked.
From the back corner Bob watched the crowd, shaking his head. These folks didn’t have a clue of how ineffectual they really were. They would never close the plant; it was all a lot of noise. Let them have their fun. The high-end, targeted PR campaign would drown them all out.
From a seat on stage, Jen slowly approached the microphone, every bone in her body shaking. The crowd hushed. They knew her; she had been quoted a few times on TV and was profiled in a local woman’s magazine. Her throat dry, she took a deep breath, and saw Ralph in the second row. He smiled and nodded at her. You can do this.
“Hi everyone. I’m Jen Elery. Some of you may know me as the mother of a young girl who died after swimming in the river, swimming at a beach just downstream of the plant. I’m here because I believe the plant is leaking dangerous, radioactive chemicals into the air and water. No one ever told me exactly what killed my daughter, but don’t you think we need a study to see just what is coming out of that plant and into our river?”
Stella started to cry quietly. Others dabbed their eyes. A man was moved so much he stood up and yelled, “You get ’em Jen!”
Unnerved, Jen quickly glanced back at Diana, who smiled. Jen nodded and turned to the audience. “We need your help to get this study started. Please sign the petitions before you leave. Thanks.”
Suddenly pictures on the screen showed the ruptured pipes in the containment dome wreckage. Bob froze. How the hell? He looked over at the TV cameras zooming in on the pictures, flashbulbs went off, reporters furiously jabbed away at their laptops. Bob’s jaw clenched. Gotta find this damn whistle-blower. Now. Before he causes more damage.
Each picture revealed a new level of destruction, and the scientist on the panel explained just how the radioactive steam was accidentally released. One shot showed the inside of the control room, red lights flashing, the stunned, confused men. It was a photograph similar to the one in Lou’s story.
It was the public’s chance to be heard. A long line formed at a microphone in the center aisle.
“Were we exposed to a lot of radiation or not?” one man yelled out.
“Where can we buy Geiger counters?”
“The police barricaded my kid’s school. We couldn’t get them out during the accident! Was that legal?”
“How does this affect the value of my house?”
“Where do you get K-I pills? Who sells emergency evacuation bags, radiation suits?”
Various experts and lawmakers responded to questions, but the crowd was anything but appeased.
“What about the evacuation plan? We all know it doesn’t work. Don’t they have to have a working evacuation plan to keep the plant running?”
“Yes. That’s right,” Diana said. “Now that we’ve proved it’s impossible to safely evacuate the area, our representatives can use that to close the plant. ALLPower can’t stay open without a workable evacuation plan. That’s the law.”