Disclaimer in Part 1.

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Chapter 1

Monday, March 14, 2005

Charlie leaned back in his chair, staring out his office window. It looked like another beautiful day in sunny California. The week of rain had drawn to a close, and the gaggle of prospective students that he could see marching down the walkway behind the tour guide were getting a taste of what early March in Los Angeles could be: gorgeous. He wondered how many of them were from colder climates and would decide to come here based on the fact that they were wearing shorts right now instead of scarves and gloves.

He turned back to his desk and picked up his red pen again. It was becoming apparent as he worked his way through the pile of calculus homework that a lot of his students weren't getting it. Too many. Maybe he needed to present the material differently somehow…

A faint sound disturbed his mental riff on strategies for teaching the chain rule. When the sound came again, he blinked and focused on the door. Someone was knocking. "Come in!"

Larry Fleinhardt pushed the door open. "Am I disturbing you, Charles?"

"No, no, you're fine." Larry understood that sometimes trying to talk to him when he was wrapped up in something was not only futile, but could break a fragile chain of thought that would take hours to reconstruct. He would leave immediately, no questions asked, no offense taken. It was one of the things he appreciated most about his friend and mentor. "Have a seat."

The physicist lowered himself onto the small couch in one corner of the office and began without preamble. "Charles, I need your help."

"Sure. I'm sorry I haven't had time to look over that paper you sent me, but -- "

Larry was waving his hands in the air. "No, it's not that. It's something completely different. You've shown a proclivity for aiding your brother on his cases, and I was hoping you would be able to offer the same assistance to me."

Charlie stared at his friend. "What, are you consulting for the FBI now, too?"

The physicist shook his head impatiently. "No, it's been in the papers. The landslide in San Morento last week."

"Yeah, the one they think 'eco-terrorists' had something to do with. The Earth Action Front. Ever since those new houses were burned down in Fontana last summer, the media seems to jump to the eco-terrorist conclusion every time a natural disaster happens."

"Well, I not only join you in your disdain of the usage of that term, but I have a personal problem with its particular application." When Charlie raised his eyebrows in query, he went on, "It's being applied to one of my students."

"They think one of your students caused that landslide? Who?"

"Brett Rangadar. He's -- " Larry fluttered his hands. "He's been in trouble with the law before. Some minor vandalism in high school, and he's been known to associate with members of the EAF. He's probably on some damn government watch list somewhere, no offense to your brother."

"I haven't really been following the story, Larry. Why do they think it wasn't a natural occurrence? There've been plenty of small slides in the past couple of weeks with all the rain."

"Well, someone called the L.A. Times and took responsibility for this Earth Action Front. Their 'media response' person says they had no foreknowledge of the event, but the organization is a loose group of individual cells spread around the world, and it's probable that one or a group of people acted on their own."

Charlie's brow furrowed. "But how do you actually start a landslide? The fires were one thing, but how do you get that much material moving down a hill?"

Larry shook a finger at him. "Ay, there's the rub. That's what they haven't figured out, and it's driving them crazy. So they keep interrogating poor Brett because they think he's going to crack."

"They've questioned him?"

"Twice. And searched his house. They found a pair of boots with mud that matches the material from the slide, but Brett goes hiking quite frequently, and the same soil is characteristic of multiple locations in the San Gabriel range. They even came to talk to me about his thesis project, to verify that the equipment in his storage shed is part of his dissertation work."

"What sort of equipment?"

"Some PVC pipe, some pumps, some smaller plastic tubing. He's studying fluid mechanics and finds it necessary to build a physical model from time to time to aid in his thought processes. Unfortunately, there was some tubing found at the site that matches what is in Brett's possession."

"And they think he used it to add extra water to the slope and cause it to fail?"

Larry nodded. "Based on some e-mails of his -- yes, they've subpoenaed his e-mail -- they know he's expressed sentiments opposing the construction of new housing in areas like San Marento that are adjacent to designated wilderness. Based on that and the so-called physical evidence, I think they're building a case against him."

"So what do you think I can do?"

Larry steepled his hands and looked at Charlie over his fingertips. "Can you get me any inside knowledge about the case?"

He shook his head. "I haven't been asked to consult on it."

"That's not what I mean. You have, well, connections. A few subtle questions here and there could work wonders."

"You want me to pump Don for information? That's not exactly ethical, Larry."

He waved a hand. "I know, I know. It's just -- he didn't do it, Charles. I know he didn't do it. I know his political views tend towards the extreme end of the spectrum, but I can't see him doing anything worse that keying an SUV in the parking lot. Certainly not something that could lead to someone getting killed."

Charlie flung himself out of his chair and started to pace the room. "Larry, I can't do that. I can't spy on the FBI."

"Charles…"

He put up a hand. "Wait." Something had occurred to him, and he rolled it over in his mind. Larry, obviously recognizing him in thinking mode, stayed blessedly silent. Finally he slowly said, "What if there was another way?"

"Another way to what?"

"To get Brett off the hook. What if we could show he didn't do it? They're still not sure it was caused by human activity, right? It might have been a natural slide, after the storms we've had, and someone's taking the opportunity to make the EAF look bad."

"Well, yes, but you're not a geologist, Charles. What do you know about mass wasting?"

He grinned. "That's what the Internet is for. That, and our colleagues across campus. What do you say to a little interdisciplinary research, Larry?"