“Rob! David! I’m fine! I…”
“You’ve been hit twice!”
“But…”
“Laura, go! I’ll be fine here and in any case, I doubt there is much to do now.”
Scowling at both of them, Laura allowed Rob to guide her towards a nearby ambulance.
* * *
While Laura was being tended to at Southampton General Hospital, Rob briefed Gurning and arranged a helicopter to whisk them back to London.
“I need to speak to Steven,” Laura said limping towards Rob once she was discharged.
“I already have, don’t worry. I have a taxi waiting and a helicopter ready to take us back to London. David has assured me he is fine on his own. He’s waiting for suitable chemicals experts to arrive.”
“What did Steven say about the other refineries?”
“All under control. Following your call, he alerted the relevant authorities and raids were carried out. In all cases they found a very similar set up as we did at Fawley, mostly with less resistance, although they did have similar troubles at some places.”
“That’s horrendous. What were they planning?”
“No idea, but hopefully the experts will find out.”
“How’s it going with the recall of the tankers and closing the necessary filling stations?”
Rob marvelled at Laura’s focus and lucidity despite the painkillers. “The process has started, but will take time given the huge number of deliveries.”
“I can image. How far back have they gone?”
“We’ve been lucky, very lucky. As far as operational assessments indicate, only Antwerp refinery had the adapted Testing and Sampling building working for longer than twenty-four hours.”
“Even so, Rob – that’s an immense amount of fuel that’s been contaminated!”
* * *
David was exceedingly busy all night, adrenaline and lots of strong coffee keeping him going. For once, he was leading the charge, and it was a thrill – as was working with many highly intelligent people with the resources of the giant oil companies at his disposal. The area around FTS2 was a hive of activity with mobile laboratories and catering facilities rapidly commissioned beneath bright lights to support the work.
44
Aware that David had worked through the night, Gurning had no compunction in calling Laura, Rob, and Nat into his office the moment David indicated he had an update. All yawning for lack of sleep and pleased to see Nat safely back from Turkey, they gathered for a conference call.
“Morning, David,” Gurning started. “Everyone’s here.”
“Good. I have George Munster and some of the chemists with me.” David paused to take a long, tired yawn and another gulp of coffee.
“Well?”
“It’s not good news, I’m afraid, but a lot better than it could have been!”
“Go on.” Concerned glances were shared around Gurning’s meeting room table.
“A number of filling stations in all countries supplied by the impacted refineries sold the contaminated products. The police are currently working through CCTV to track all vehicle owners.”
Grimaces were exchanged all round, acknowledging the mammoth task required for that task.
“Okay, at least that exercise has started. What’s the risk though? Do you know yet what mixing the chemicals with petroleum products will do?”
During the uncomfortable silence that followed, David shared glances with Munster and the chemists sitting with them. Eventually Munster summoned the courage to speak. “Yes, we do know and it’s horrendous. The resultant emissions are so highly toxic that if inhaled in sufficient quantity a prolonged and agonising death is inevitable.”
Breathless, horrified exclamations of disbelief were uttered before Gurning spoke once more. “What level of concentration is required for that to happen? Surely, the fumes given off by any singular vehicle will dissipate quickly and be rendered harmless?”
“A single vehicle, if moving at reasonable speed, is unlikely to be an issue, we agree. The problem arises if even a single vehicle is stationary, for example in a traffic jam, or left idling for whatever reason, particularly at this time of year.”
“Sorry, I’m confused. What has the time of year got to do with this?”
“I asked the same, Laura,” David responded. “Think about the weather here last night. It’s cold and misty. Mist exacerbates the situation. Because the toxic emissions are quite heavy and sticky, the particles will bind to those in the air, particularly in fog or mist. They will therefore remain at human level to be breathed in. It may only require a few dozen or so breaths to inhale sufficient for serious illness. After no more than five or six minutes of breathing this stuff death is inevitable!”
“Oh bloody hell!” muttered Gurning in disbelief.
“Exactly. Looking at the weather forecast, there is a misty outlook, so timing was intentional.”
“I’ve asked my scientists to work on a scientific formula for an antidote and to send that to medical laboratories to produce medications,” Munster added.
“Good. I need to brief the DG. Without our intervention to stop this, the consequences are just too horrendous to contemplate! Unbelievable! Please inform all refineries worldwide of this security breach and establish protocols to prevent a reoccurrence.”
“Will do.”
