She said, "The communication dead zones are structural, probably always existed and weren't properly documented. Possible. " He paused. The marker relocation is either negligence or deliberate. The generator component is either incompetence or deliberate. The access road and the cash, those are not accidental.
Someone has been inside the restricted zone recently. Multiple visits based on the track patterns. Rachel looked at her desk. What are you recommending? Enhanced access monitoring on the restricted approaches.
A full equipment audit before the event. replacement of the non-compatible generator component, restoration of the evacuation markers to their correct positions, and physical verification of the route, he paused. And a communication protocol for the event that accounts for the dead zones manual relay points with personnel assigned specifically to those positions. That's significant added personnel. Yes. A pause.
Do you want to bring in outside security assessment? Rebecca was quiet for a moment. I'd recommend addressing the mechanical and structural issues immediately, he said. The access monitoring I can implement for the event itself. Another pause.
Let me get through the audit first. Rachel nodded slowly. Is this connected to the competition itself? She said. Could someone be trying to compromise the event?
I don't know. It could be unrelated, unauthorized access equipment, contractor errors, trail maintenance decisions made without authorization. It could be coincidence, he paused. But I don't operate on coincidence. Rachel looked at him.
No, she said quietly. I imagine you don't. Derek heard about the sight assessment findings. the way most things traveled at Iron Ridge imperfectly and in fragments assembled from pieces of overheard conversation and secondhand reporting. What she received was enough to confirm that Rebecca had identified serious problems with the event site and had brought them to Rachel with a specificity and systematic completeness that the contracted event management firm had entirely missed. She went to find Rebecca.
She found her in the equipment room again. Her territory, the place where she moved with the particular ownership of a woman who has defined this space as her professional domain and organized it accordingly. I heard about the site assessment, Derek said. Rebecca looked up briefly, returned to what she was doing. What exactly did you hear?
That you found problems? Significant ones? Some concerns? Yes. The marker relocation?
Derek said, "The generator, the unauthorized access. " He paused. "That's not a maintenance checklist. That's a threat assessment. " Rebecca sat down. What he was holding. He turned and looked at Derek with the steady evaluating attention that Derek was beginning to understand was not dismissal, but something closer to the opposite.
The full engagement of a man calibrating exactly how much of the relevant information the current situation required him to share. You're not wrong, Rebecca said. Is the event safe? Not yet. It will be if we address the identified items correctly.
And if something gets missed, Rebecca looked at her. That's why you don't miss things, he said. Derek was quiet for a moment. I've been asking about you, he said. I want you to know that I haven't found much.
Your record is locked down, but I found enough to understand that the things I said to you, Derek, were significantly Derek. Rebecca's voice was level and not unkind, but it stopped the sentence completely. What you said doesn't require a formal apology from this side of the conversation. You were operating on what you could see, which was a middle-aged man with a clipboard telling you how to do your job. I was wrong.
Yes, but you're not the first person to make that mistake, and you won't be the last. The mistake isn't the problem. She held Derek's gaze. What matters is whether you learn from it quickly enough to be useful when it counts. Derek absorbed that.
She said, "Is something going to happen at this event? " Rebecca looked at her for a long moment. "I don't know," he said honestly. "I hope not. I'm working to make sure not. " He paused. But there are 200 people coming to that site.
Veterans, first responders, families. She picked up her clipboard. So, I'm going to make sure the systems are right. Every one of them. She moved toward the door.
Derek said, "What can I do? " Rebecca stopped. He turned back slowly. He looked at Derek, really looked at him the way Derek was beginning to understand that Rebecca looked at things he was taking seriously and said with a quiet directness that felt nothing like condescension. Right now, be the best instructor in your classes this week. Your students train harder when you're fully present, and I need this facility operating at full capacity for the next 6 weeks. " Derek stared at him.
"That's it. That's what's needed right now. " Rebecca walked out and Derek stood in the equipment room for a long moment absorbing the particular quality of being given a real answer to a sincere question by someone who had absolutely no obligation to give her anything. Then he went to teach his afternoon class and he taught it with a focus and presence that his students noticed immediately without understanding why it had arrived. Two weeks out from the event, the site audit was complete. Most of the mechanical issues had been corrected.
The marker routes had been restored and physically verified. The generator had been properly serviced. The communication dead zones had been mapped and manual relay positions designated. The unauthorized access remained unexplained. Rebecca had reported it to Rachel, who had reported it to the property management company, who had attributed it to an unlogged maintenance contractor visit and closed the inquiry.