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discover about Derek to explain the seemingly out-of-character actions. The question was which side of Derek was the real one: the confrontational one or the one who rescued an abandoned dog and fought everyone to keep him safe after that? Sambit was inclined to believe it was the tender side because the confrontational side made sense as a façade, but the tenderness made no sense if the angry side was the sum of the man.
    The image of Derek sitting in the chair, eyes closed, face defeated as he stroked the dog’s head, tugged at Sambit. Nothing in that image set his teeth on edge the way Derek did the moment he opened his mouth. On the contrary, it called to Sambit’s soul. His mother had always said he was a healer at heart despite his career choices. He couldn’t walk by a person in pain or sorrow without trying to help. Derek might deny it—no, Derek would deny it—but Sambit recognized a person in need of a friend. He’d seen the images Derek hung on the wall. He wasn’t at all the type Derek would find attractive, but it was better that way. They could be friends without having to worry about attraction muddying the waters. Derek wasn’t Sambit’s type either.
    The sound of helicopters approaching drew Sambit’s attention from his musings. He set aside his tea, cold now, and went out to meet them, curious to see whom the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had sent to help them.
    The military pilots set the helicopters down with great precision, and the process of unloading supplies began almost before Sambit reached the landing site.
    “Mr. Patel?”
    “Yes, I’m Dr. Patel,” Sambit replied.
    “James Tucker from the NRC. I’m here to oversee the shutdown of the plant. Thank you for coming so quickly to help.”
    “I’m always glad to be of service,” Sambit said, his hackles rising already at the implication that the project would be taken from his hands. He didn’t know anything about Tucker, but he got the impression of a bureaucrat rather than an engineer. “We got the HPCI pumps running again, but without the computers or schematics, we didn’t want to push our luck beyond that.”
    “How did you even do that?” Tucker asked. “From everything I heard in the briefing, you shouldn’t have been able to get close enough to the reactor to turn them on.”
    “I had help,” Sambit said, smothering a smile. “I’ll introduce you to Derek Marshall from NASA. He’ll be better equipped to explain.” He could already envision Derek’s reaction to the stodgy bureaucrat. This might be one instance where Derek’s abrasive attitude could work in their favor. They needed the passwords the man could provide, but they didn’t need the regulations that went along with them. Derek had already proven that, and after seeing Number Five at work and what Derek was capable of doing, Sambit was inclined to trust him to do it again rather than wait for more conventional means of dealing with the reactor issues. “Do you have the passwords for the central computer?”
    “Yes, I brought them with me,” Tucker said. “Who is Marshall? My briefing only mentioned you.”
    “A robotics engineer from NASA,” Sambit said, escorting Tucker inside. “You did read about how they used robots to access areas of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in order to speed up the repairs and recovery there, didn’t you? I realize that’s been a few years, but someone in your position must surely keep up with advances in technology around the world.”
    “Of course I did,” Tucker blustered, leaving Sambit with the definite impression that the man had done nothing of the kind. “I just didn’t realize anyone with those skills had been brought on board here.”
    “I’ll let him know you’re here while you’re getting the computers up and running,” Sambit said. “He’ll be eager to get back to work.”
    “We’ll have to take stock of the situation and see what needs to be done and—”
    “Mr. Tucker,” Sambit