The Rescue Pilot

“Ah, that. Well, a couple of guys with more machismo than sense didn’t listen when I told them our seismograph readings indicated that we were about to hit a pocket of natural gas. You always hit some gas, and there are precautions to take. I mean, depending on the depth, that stuff explodes out of the well under some huge pressure and a single spark is enough to cause a conflagration. We weren’t ready to open the gas pocket, I told them to wait, but they had some kind of incentive or bet on the line and ignored me. I’m just glad I got everybody else out of the area. Then, of course, we had a messed-up rig and a roman candle to put out.”

“And the guys?”

“They lived. Nice burns, though. I don’t think they’ll ignore orders again.”

She saw him shake his head, though she couldn’t read his expression. “You live an exciting life.”

“Sometimes. Ah, I mostly like the people I meet down there. I love the little towns, the pace of life, the color, the music. Roughnecks are just a tough group anywhere. When I’m viewed as a tourist I have a great time. The problem starts when I’m the boss.”

“I guess I can see that.”

“And it would happen just about anywhere. It’s like anything—you take the good with the bad. So you were a military pilot?”

“Yeah. I flew off carriers.”

She leaned back a little and twisted, trying to see him better. “I read a story about that once. A true story.”

“What’s that?”

“It was in Korea, I think. Some navy and air-force pilots were arguing about whether the navy pilots had a tougher landing to make, and the air-force pilots claimed they could land on a carrier no problem.”

At that a snort escaped him. “Why do I know how this is going to end?”

“Probably because you’ve landed on carriers. I guess they went out and drew the outline of a carrier deck and took turns landing. Needless to say …”

“I can imagine. And the navy guys probably crowed that the deck wasn’t even moving.”

“I believe that was part of it.”

“There’s a part they probably left out, though.”

“Which is?”

“The tailhook.”

Rory wouldn’t have believed it was possible, but she laughed out loud. “You’re right. I don’t think that was mentioned.”

“Of course not,” he said drily. “Look, I won’t tell you it’s easier landing on a moving deck, but with the navigational aides we’ve got and the tailhook, it’s not as hard as trying to land in that amount of space on flat ground without a tailhook.”

“I don’t need a map to get that one.” She hesitated, then asked, “Why’d you leave? You seem too young to have retired.”

“I failed my flight physical. And before you get all upset because I’m still a pilot, let me explain. Flight physicals in the military are rigorous beyond belief. Most guys will fail before they reach thirty-five. So some little glitch shows up, one that won’t keep you from flying, won’t prevent you from getting a job with a commercial airline, but it will prevent you from flying combat missions or doing carrier landings. Those are the rules. We’re still allowed to fly, to keep our flight status, but we’re off the books for actual missions.”

“That seems extreme.”

“Probably not. We do pull a lot of high Gs. Anyway, once I couldn’t make carrier landings anymore, I didn’t want a desk job so I resigned.”

“And built your own little airline.”

“One plane and me, a long way from my own airline, but basically, yeah.”

“And now your livelihood is lying buried in snow on the side of a mountain.”

“So it is.” His voice sounded tight, but then he let out a breath. “The important thing is getting everyone out alive. Then I’ll deal with the NTSB, the company that did the overhaul and my insurance carrier. By the time all that’s taken care of, I would almost bet I’ll be ready to kill someone.”

“You’ll certainly be older.”

A quiet laugh escaped him. “Goes without saying.”

Concern for her sister, which had been eating her alive for weeks now, cracked open just a little, allowing her to feel for him. “I’m sorry. I know how miserable that crap can be. I went through it on the blowout. I don’t know what was worse—dealing with the investigators or dealing with the insurers.”

“They were probably both equally bad. They have the same goal after all—to give somebody else a hard time.”

Another chuckle escaped her. “Oh, yeah. And to pin blame, preferably somewhere that doesn’t cause them any problems.”

“So what did they decide on that blowout?”

“I feared it was going to be pinned on me as long as the roughnecks stuck together. Easier to blame the gringa than the guys you have to work with. I was more than a little surprised to find out that a certain amount of gratitude made them tell the truth, how I had ordered the drilling stopped, and then, when I was disobeyed, cleared the area. At least nobody tried to say I should have halted the drilling myself.”

“Could you have?”

“Short of shooting two men, no. And by the time I got back to the site, it was too late. I’d ordered the drilling stopped that morning, then I had to run over to another site where they were complaining that the hole was dry, and by the time I got back … well, we were minutes from disaster. All I could do was tell everyone to clear out.”

She paused to sigh. “Oil wells stink when they’re pumping oil. Gas is mixed in, of course, but the hydrogen sulfide smell—rotten eggs—is enough to make you gag. There was no smell. They drilled into a pocket of pure methane, and it was odorless. That is so freaking rare. I had no idea they had already broken through when I started shouting for everyone to get away, and screamed again for those guys to stop the drill. No idea. I expected the smell. Maybe they did, too. I don’t know.”

“So the gas was everywhere?”

“Damn near. It couldn’t have been long, though.

Methane is heavier than air. It sinks to ground level. If enough of it had been out there, people would have started getting asphyxiated, and the flash fire would have singed everything at ground level. Instead, we just blew the well.”

She twisted toward him. “That’s why we have to burn off the escaping gas if we can’t manage to capture it. Because it sinks, and when it sinks it’s deadly. In the case of that well, we may have been saved by a good breeze. I don’t know. I’ll never know. I wasn’t there when they initially busted into the pocket so I have no idea how much gas just dissipated on the wind or how little escaped right before the explosion.”

“But why would those guys press on against orders?”

“Because I’m not the only boss. I’m the geologist. I find the oil, I try to keep them on track until they get the field open. There are other bosses, there isn’t anything like unions for those workers, people get paid crap, and if the guy running the drilling operation, say, is getting paid by the well, and not by the hour, he’d have a lot of incentive not to want things to slow down. And he might create incentives for his crews to push on, regardless of safety. I don’t know. I really, truly don’t know. I know what they want me to know, and I know what I can figure out from my explorations. Beyond that …” she shrugged. “The actual business end of what’s happening is opaque to me. I hear rumors, sometimes, but that’s it.”

“Sounds like a dangerous situation to be in.”

“Not usually. Most drillers are cautious and good at what they do. Most of the people working these jobs want to bring in a sound well, not a rocket. We have more problems from faulty equipment than from greedy people. For all I know, the entire thing may have happened because someone didn’t want to take orders from a woman.”

“Will you be going back when your sister recovers?”

She appreciated the way he posed that question. Her chest tightened a bit, but she squelched the feeling. She’d been alone for a long time, and she could handle this situation on her own. She couldn’t afford to show weakness because a stranger was being kind. “I’m not sure,” she said finally. “We’ll have to see how it goes.”

She heard his seat creak as he shifted. “I’m going back to check on the candle, make sure everyone’s okay.”

“I’ll go with you.” She couldn’t stand the thought of sitting here alone in the dark with that one red, unblinking eye. And checking on Cait had become an absolute compulsion for her.