The Andamans

Lorne Gifford is one of a handful of professional subseaengineers developing the worlds remaining offshore oiland gas fields. Starting on home territory in the North Sea,his work has taken him on a global journey from Trinidadto Thailand and from the Arctic to Africa. He is degreequalified, a Chartered Marine Engineer and one of lessthan a hundred registered subsea engineers.He lives in London with his wife and two children and iscurrently working in Angola.

The Andaman Express

Lorne GiffordThe Andaman Express Vanguard Press

VANGUARD PAPERBACK © Copyright 2008 Lorne Gifford The right of Lorne Gifford to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All Rights Reserved No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced,copied or transmitted save with the written permission of the publisher, or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended).Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. ISBN 978 1 84386 410 3 Vanguard Press is an imprint of Pegasus Elliot MacKenzie Publishers Ltd. www.pegasuspublishers.com First Published in 2008 Vanguard Press Sheraton House Castle Park Cambridge England Printed & Bound in Great Britain

Dedication For Wendy, Assisi and Reuben. Adventures are pointlesswithout someone to share them with.



This book and the characters, companies and actions oforganisations and governments it contains are completelyfictitious. With the exception of course of Lt Johno Hanks,PFC Batkin and Admiral Miller, who have all insisted theyare nothing like their characterisations and would neverallow themselves to be portrayed as they have been.Sorry guys.A major natural gas gathering system exists off the coastof Thailand, with the gas being piped to shore along twopipelines; one running to Bangkok and one to the countriesmajor industrial area.The Thai offshore gas gathering system, along with manyother offshore oil and gas platforms, are insured principallythough the London insurance markets.Burma, or Myanmar as its ruling government calls it alsohas a significant offshore gas industry and exports largeamounts of that gas to Thailand via a single pipeline. Weall have heard of Aung San Suu Kyi and her protestsagainst the governing regime. I for one support her wholeheartedly.The Isthmus of Kra, a thin strip of land between two seasthat is owned by Burma on one side and Thailand on theother, exists as described.Hydrogen Sulphide, H2S, also exists, and is a deadly gasoften found within natural oil and gas reservoirs. In verysmall quantities it is characterised by the smell of badeggs. And as described in this book, in higher doses itquickly deadens the sense of smell and becomes highlytoxic. It is also the major cause of embrittlement [email protected]



The Andaman Sea, South East AsiaA gentle hiss of escaping gas instantly killed the conversation.Nkong glanced up from the pipework and saw panic in his friends’eyes. He dropped his tools, turned and ran for the exit. Theautomatic door proved quicker than he was though. As the alarmsbegan to sound, its hydraulic rams closed it at an astonishing speedand held it shut with a force he couldn’t hope to push against. Nkong banged in frustration on the steel door knowing therewas no other way out. He took a last deep breath of the rapidlyfouling air and turned to look for the emergency breathingequipment. Both sets had been claimed. Their new owners alreadyhad the air tanks on their backs and were hurriedly donning the fullface masks. There were only two sets of breathing equipmentbecause there was only ever supposed to be two people in the room.The difficult task of manhandling the gas tanks into positionrequired at least half a dozen though. And like the rest, he’dwillingly taken the risk because to do otherwise would have costhim his job. Nkong realised now that going for the door had been a stupidmistake. Still holding his breath, he rushed one of the men and setabout tearing a mask off. Four of his former companions had cometo the same decision at the same time and a hard elbow in the facemomentarily stunned him before he was pulled off balance andflung to one side. He dropped to his knees, trying to control the rising panic. Hisheart was pumping, his lungs were beginning to tear his throat open,but he commanded himself not to breathe. He must maintaincontrol. There must be something else he could do. He watched as the first man doubled over and vomited onto thefloor, causing an immediate rise in savagery from those still fightingfor the masks. Exhausted from the battle, they also quickly fellvictim to the poisoned atmosphere and were violently battered to the 13

floor. The transformation from human to wild animal to violentdeath had taken mere seconds. There was only him left now. Him and the two men withbreathing equipment. As darkness began creeping into his vision, Nkong put hishands together and pleaded. He begged with his whole being to beallowed a breath of clean air. Sweat was pouring down his face andmixing with the toxic gas and tears he didn’t know he was crying toburn at his imploring eyes. Although he could hardly see, he knewthe two men were backing away from him, taking all hope withthem. Oblivion was rapidly closing in now, and Nkong faced up tothe reality that he was about to die. There were no other options leftfor the few seconds he still had of conscious thought. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair on him or his wife and children. As oxygen starvation finally enveloped him, Nkong collapsedto the floor. His unconscious mind now took over, releasing thestale air and drawing in a lungful of pure poison. An instinctivefeeling of relief was followed by the sudden conscious dread ofwhat he had just done. 14

The North Sea, EuropeThe metallic snarl of the twin Panther outboards quickly grew to ahowling chorus as Finn pushed the throttles wide open. Theirpropellers tore deeply into the frigid water and the fast rescue craftresponded by lifting its nose and surging forward. Finn pulled away from the sixty thousand tonne floatingfactory and set about shortening the distance through horizontalsleet and a turbulent sea to his destination. The coxswain shouted inhis ear to take it easy. Finn smiled. He was in no mood to takeanything easy. After six weeks on that damned factory, the pipelineconstruction barge Independence, he was as stir crazy as thePanthers he’d just unleashed. Fifteen hundred dollars a day might have kept his outer displayof emotion in check, but internally he’d boiled over into a cagedmadness long ago. Now he was going to release his pent up cravingfor escape and freedom with a high-speed rush of pure adrenalineand enjoyment. It was a total release he needed to get back to theright side of sanity. Finn knew he should have used the videoconference system forthis meeting with his opposite number on the nearby Norgeslav, or,failing that, taken a helicopter on the short hop from one barge toanother. A boat transfer hundreds of miles out in the open seawasn’t an authorised method of travel. He’d do the paperwork tojustify his decision later, coming up with something that didn’tmention how much he hated helicopters and that all he wanted wasa little excitement and liberation. Finn had the speedboat positively flying now, spending nearlyas much time out of the cold grey water as on it. The coxswain wasbitterly regretting giving in to the client’s request to drive and sworeloudly as a cloud of half-frozen spray hit him full in the face. Hecrouched down beneath the small Perspex screen, pulled up thehood on his survival suit and held on for dear life. 15

Finn figured that after this little show of exuberance he wasn’tgoing to be allowed to drive the boat on the return trip. He thereforedetermined to make the most of the outward journey, watching thecrests of the irregular and broken sea and judging his route tomaximise the fun and the amount of full throttle he could get out ofthe Panthers. ‘Low flying’ was how he described it. A comfortablycontrolled point of complete synergy between man and machine thatlived a hair’s breadth below the level where it would all go raggedand he’d lose control. Finn guided the fast rescue craft around the bigger waves, butdeliberately ran over the crests of the longer swells, flying into theair and being rewarded with a brief but magnificent view of athousand white and stormy peaks between him and the massivedrilling towers of the brilliantly lit Norgeslav. It was an enchantingand spellbound moment of complete enjoyment that held absolutelyno fear of death or disaster. He felt good to be alive again. Later that day, and back on the Independence, Finn was deepinto a post-euphoric depression. Finlay Nichols, now feeling muchcloser to middle age than he would like, was slumped in front of hiscomputer. He had been at sea for thirty-nine days on theIndependence, high up in the Northern sector of Britain’s oil richbut stormy North Sea. The Independence was a strange place to live. On the surface itlooked like one of the world’s few truly multicultural communities.Whatever was going on in the real world, its crew members wouldfit in with whoever was there and do their job to the requiredstandard or they would be on the next helicopter back to the beach.No arguments, no second chances and absolutely no room forpolitics, racism or religious zeal. Underneath this enforced harmonythough, the construction barge ran a caste system rigid enough tomake India look like a model meritocracy. The labour, those twohundred plus people who actually operated the heavy equipment,drove the cranes or welded the undersea pipelines were mainly from 16

Eastern Europe and the Indian sub-continent. Cleaning and cateringpersonnel were solely from one remote Philippine island for somereason Finn had never figured out. The chefs were Italian and themedical staff Ukrainian. Supervision and offshore management wasby a mixture of Americans, Norwegians and Brits. And then,supposedly at the top of the heap, was Finn and his six-man clientteam. Four quality assurance engineers, one safety inspector andhimself, the senior client. The client team were all British, living inWest London or Surrey, and close to where independent oilcompany Eider Petroleum had its head office. ‘Glad you made it back in time for dinner, boss,’ Howard, thesafety inspector, remarked as he came up behind the slumped formin front of him. He poked Finn in the shoulder to make a pointbefore continuing, ‘Actually, quite glad you made it back at all. Youshould have heard the language on the bridge as we watched youdisappearing off to the Norgeslav. Twelve sets of binoculars werescanning the sea for the odd glimpse of a small boat flying betweenheaven and a very wet hell. You know the captain was absolutelyconvinced you were going to turn it over and he’d have to launchthe other FRC to go fish your sorry arses out of the sea.’ Finn didn’t even bother to lookup. ‘Oh great. Dinner. I shouldhave stayed on the Norgeslav for dinner.’ ‘Not tonight,’ replied Howard. ‘Chef’s cooked us up a bit of atreat this evening.’ Finn wearily raised his head and looked into the unshaven faceof Howard. ‘Don’t tell me, steak and bloody chips, satay and rice orgarlic pasta. I hate satay. Hold another satay stick under my noseand I’ll guarantee I’ll throw up here and now.’ ‘Hey hold on!’ replied Howard, standing back with his handsup in mock defence. ‘Tonight is special. We’ve got roast lamb,Yorkshire puddings and roast potatoes.’ Howard was smiling from ear to ear and paused to let thethought of a real roast dinner reach Finn’s taste buds before he 17

added, ‘With cauliflower cheese, gravy and best of all, mint sauce!Didn’t you read today’s menu on the intranet?’ He had Finn’s undivided attention now, as any change in themonotonous menu was worth serious consideration. ‘You’rekidding me right?’ ‘No, honest.’ Howard’s smile widened even further. ‘One ofthe chefs is doing it just for us. Well just for me actually, but I don’tmind sharing seeing as it’s practically a whole sheep he’s roasting.He won the last safety incentive prize and is chuffed to bits with theiPod I gave him. Even likes the Eider Petroleum logo on it. Says itgives it a customised feel.’ ‘He won!’ Finn felt an irrational surge of annoyance in him. ‘Itwas his idea to breathalyse all incoming personnel of thehelicopters. Well I hope they set the allowable limit pretty damnhigh or we’re going to have a real manpower shortage. Why the helldid he have to make such a stupid suggestion?’ Looking at Howard’s scruffy face made Finn rub his ownweek-old stubble. He resigned himself to having a shave thatevening and perhaps suggesting the rest of the guys did the same.After all, the client team needed to keep up a smart appearance, orat least what passed for smart in this alien world. ‘I was half-cut bythe time I got onboard myself. Large G&T in the Heathrow lounge,another on the morning flight up to Aberdeen. Would have had athird at the bar before going to the heliport if you hadn’t shown yourugly face.’ ‘Yeah, I know,’ said Howard. ‘The last chance bar in the skybefore a couple of months’ purgatory. It’s only a safety suggestion,doesn’t mean it’ll be followed through. Anyway rules don’t apply tothe client team, we do what we want.’ ‘Just wait and see,’ Finn replied. ‘Once the management backon the beach hear about this we’ll be the guys at the front of thequeue setting the example. We’ll have to turn up on god knows howmany thousand tonnes of rusting steel, hundreds of miles from 18

sodding anything remotely connected to the real world, beingcompletely stone cold sober. God what a shitty thought.’ ‘Maybe I’ll modify the idea to compulsory urine tests fordrugs,’ Howard suggested as he heaved on the door to break the airlock between it and the stairway down to the mess. ‘Or how aboutincluding porn in the kit bag searches?’ Finn was on his feet, following Howard down to the mess. ‘Beserious, Howie. There’s no women out here to offend. Take the pornaway and we’d have a bloody riot.’ He paused before adding in aslightly more inquisitive tone, ‘You find out yet where the smuttytapes are kept?’ Howard faked surprise at Finn’s ignorance. ‘First day, mate.You know there’s one film with a girl that looks awfully like Liz.Makes me feel like I’m having a torrid affair with your wife.’ Finn grinned and punched him on the shoulder as the reminderof his life back home, the whole reason he was out here, broughthim back to his old self. ‘She loves me pal. Won’t ever leave me.And certainly not for someone as short and ugly as you.’ For Finn the older, day number forty started the same way asevery other, with a hurried shower followed by a dash down to themess before breakfast closed at six thirty. Trying to avoid the ever-present smell of satay, he had a waffle and a couple of coffeesbefore setting out on his daily commute back up ten flights of stairsto the client office. By half past ten the morning’s work was completed and Finnwas back at his desk wondering whether he had enough energy totackle the gym before lunch. The office espresso machine wasgurgling away, so he figured on a shot of caffeine and a chat withthe lads before taking on the running machine. The aroma of fresh coffee tempted the still unkempt Howardthrough the door just as the phone rang. He picked it up. 19

‘Independence client office, Howard Darlington speaking. Oh,hi, Mark. Yeah, just another day. No he’s here. I’ll pass the phoneover.’ He handed the phone to Finn. ‘The big boss wants you.’ ‘Bit of a strange one for you Finn,’ said Mark. ‘You’d bettergo pack your bags as I’ve got a helicopter on its way out to pick youup.’ ‘Jees, Mark, have I done something wrong?’ Finn felt a coldand illogical fear that he was about to be canned. ‘Don’t think so, pal. We’ve had a call from Wade, theinsurance brokers. They’ve urgently requested your services for amonth or so on something else. They won’t tell us what, but I pulledyour CV up and it shows you did some work for them back inninety-nine.’ Finn cast his mind back. ‘Yes, a couple of things in the FarEast. To do with contingency spares for the Thai offshore gasnetwork.’ ‘That’s what your CV says,’ replied Mark. ‘Also says you rana twelve-week project to replace the condensate FSU’. The FSU –floating storage unit – in question was a modified super-tanker thatheld the highly volatile liquid condensates produced from the gasfields. ‘Twelve weeks is pretty fast, what was wrong with the originalone?’ ‘It was leaking, boss. Not to put too fine a point on it, it waspissing condensate into the Gulf from the bottom of its hull. Youcould see the slick from miles away. One decent typhoon wouldhave put it at the bottom of the sea and shut down the entire gasnetwork. Thailand would have been blacked out from fuel starvationat its electricity generators.’ Mark laughed. ‘Well son, I guess your cut and shut FSUreplacement must be leaking as well. Get yourself on the heilo anddown to Wade’s offices. They’ve got their company jet heading upto Sumburgh airport to pick you up.’ 20

‘OK. You want me to leave Howard in charge here? We’ve gotanother ten to fourteen days to run before the pipelines are alldown.’ ‘Yes, let him have it until I can get myself out there. I’m nottoo old to be an offshore tiger every once in a while. You’d bettergo and pack. The heilo lifted from Sumburgh ten minutes ago.’ ‘What’s up?’ It was Howard, Mr inquisitive as always,questioning the look on Finn’s face. ‘They suss that little con trickboat ride of yours yesterday? Or has Liz run off with the milkmanagain?’ ‘Uh…?’ Finn was in a world of his own, back all those yearsto Thailand. That FSU should be all right. Granted the conversionfrom tanker was fast enough to have won a gold medal at theOlympics, but he’d done it properly and made sure the whole lotwas pretty much a Rolls Royce job when it went out. Howard was looking at him, waiting for an answer. ‘Sorry mate? Boat ride? No, nothing wrong with that, butyou’ve got to sort the paperwork out for me. I’m off to see theinsurance boys down in the City. You’re in charge until the gunslinger gets here.’ Howard’s normal relaxed attitude turned to one of visibleshock. ‘Mark is coming out? Holy crap. Who’s he going to fire? Ishe on his way now?’ Mark had a reputation for not messing aboutwhen it came to people he thought weren’t up to standard. ‘No, give him a couple of days,’ Finn replied, with an evilsmile of pleasure beginning to make its way across his face atHoward’s obvious discomfort. ‘Guess you’d better find abreathalyser and make sure he blows into it when he arrives.’ Forty minutes later and Finn was in the Independence’sheliport waiting for the incoming flight. His kitbag sat in front ofhim, with a well-travelled, hard-cased backpack on top of it. Thebackpack contained his most important possessions, including his 21

beloved Apple PowerBook. Even though it was often a hindrance inthe Microsoft dominated world of business, Finn loved thePowerBook for its sheer ability and the stability of its operatingsystem. A high capacity USB memory stick solved the file transferproblem with Windows-based networks and its hundred gigabyteinternal drive allowed Finn to store literally hours of digital film. Finn freely admitted to being a bit of a nerd when it came totechnology. He’d often remark that the Apollo 11 computer, whichlanded the first men on the moon in the year he’d been born, hadless processing capacity than his watch. This had been true when hewore an electronic watch, but these days he used the mechanicalMontblanc that Liz thought more fitting for an oil companyexecutive. Now each year for his birthday, Finn would suggest shebuy him a digital Casio so he could set the time on the completelyinaccurate Montblanc. It was one of the ongoing jokes betweenthem and highlighted their fundamental difference. Liz was a loverof the visual, of art, design, fashion and culture. Finn, however, wasa professional engineer who didn’t really give a damn what thingslooked like as long as they functioned correctly. Delicate technology required expensive protection if it was tosurvive in the rough world of the offshore oil industry. Hence thecarbon-fibre backpack. It provided the maximum available level ofprotection for his gear and had proved its worth on many occasions.So what if it cost as much as a Chánel handbag? It carried more,protected it far better and, with its unassuming black outer shell,was less likely to get nicked. The heilo officer brought Finn back from his daydreaming byadvising the incoming flight was two minutes away. About time thought Finn. He was already uncomfortably hot inthe survival suit and couldn’t open it to let the sweaty air outbecause the inflatable life vest and underwater re-breather set wereobstructing the diagonal chest zip. 22

A few seconds later he heard the distinctive beating ofapproaching helicopter blades, stood up to stretch as much as hecould in the all-encasing neoprene suit, put on the padded eardefenders and picked up his heavy bags. Out of the heliport lounge a single flight of stairs led up to thehelideck that the Sikorsky S76 was settling onto. Finn ducked lowas he passed under the fast running rotors and headed for the cabindoor. The co-pilot slid back his small side window, motioned Finntoward the luggage compartment for his bags and then passed him awrapped tube of newspapers and an empty flask. ‘Black with sugar,’ he shouted above the noise. Back with a full flask of stewed coffee from the heli-loungepercolator, Finn climbed in and strapped into the full restraintharness of the nearest passenger seat. On top of everything else, theharness now completely restricted all freedom of movement. Andwith the muted whine of the turbine engines reverberating in hisears, it further removed him from any semblance of comfort. Still holding the flask, he leaned forward as much as he could,tapped the pilot on the shoulder and twirled his finger in the air inthe universally understood signal for ‘Get this bird in the air andlet’s go.’ Finn muttered his helicopter prayer as the whine of theturbines quickly rose to a barely muffled scream. The helicoptergently lifted into a hover just above the helideck, the pilot holding itthere for a few seconds whilst he checked all instruments were inthe green. Finn glanced across at the bridge of the Independence andsaw Howard smiling. But before he had the chance to wave back theS76 suddenly climbed like an express elevator, the undercarriageretracting with a clunk he could feel but not hear. It then dipped itsnose straight down at the sea and shot off in a diving transition intoforward flight. The Independence and his life for the last six weekswere gone in an instant. 23

Finn stared out of the window at the weak sun glinting off thesea, the only break to the monotonous view being an occasionalfishing boat shooting beneath them as the two thousand horsepowerhelicopter powered its way back to civilisation. Always alert to what was happening on the flying coffin, heglanced back into the cabin as the co-pilot flipped a switch on anoverhead panel, twirled a little dial, and then leaned around andpointed at the hanging headset near Finn. He made the sign of aphone call with his thumb and little finger. ‘Finlay Nichols speaking.’ Finn shouted into the microphoneafter he’d put the headset on. ‘Hello, Finn,’ replied a broken, but distinctly Germanic voice.‘This is Hans Dietrickt of Wade, the insurance brokers. I’ll keep thisshort as we’re on an open line. Thank you for agreeing to come andsee us. We’d like you to update the work you did for us a whileback. Can you give me an email address I can send some files to foryou to review on the flight down?’ Finn spelled out his personal email address and asked, ‘Whythe urgency?’ ‘No reason,’ replied Hans. ‘Well, to be honest it’s Friday andwe’d like to talk to you and get you on your way before everyoneleaves for the weekend. You should be in the office by three thisafternoon. I’ll meet you in reception.’ Get on my way before the weekend? thought Finn. Not likely!The six weeks he’d spent on the Independence had been a long stint.Too long really with young children back at home. The only placeFinn was going this evening was home to Wimbledon. Thailand andwhatever Wade’s problem was would damn well wait. 24

Sumburgh Airport, Shetland IslandsFinn accepted the offer of a long deserved G&T from the sole airhostess on the executive jet. He relaxed back into the deep leatherseat and stretched out, eternally glad to be free once more of theneoprene body bag. Once airborne he dug out his laptop, logged onto his email viathe plane’s satellite phone and downloaded the files Hans had sent,plus the dozen or so other emails that had backlogged on thisaddress since he’d last checked. Hans’s email contained the original reports andrecommendations Finn had compiled back in 1999 as well as thelast few years’ inspection reports on Thailand’s offshore gasnetwork. He scanned the latter whilst eating the baked cod thatJoanna, the air hostess, had prepared, along with a light side saladand a glass of chilled Chablis. The Chablis was nice, really nice. He’d meet the Wade people at three and no doubt they’d askhim to get an evening flight to Bangkok. Finn would, of course,refuse with an excuse that meant he couldn’t leave until theweekend was over. There was nothing, after all, that he could see inany of the reports to indicate any problems or urgency. After his lunch, Finn phoned home and caught Liz clearing upafter feeding Christopher, their two year-old mischief seeking son. ‘Hi gorgeous, you’ll never guess where I am.’ ‘Go on surprise me. Tell me you’ve really spent the last monthand a half lying on the beach in Barbados and now you’re runningoff with a teenage starlet you’ve met.’ Finn smiled. ‘No, even better than that. I’m sitting in a privatejet. A really big private jet I might add, on my way to London for athree o’clock meeting in the City. Should be home in time to helpwith the children’s baths and beds.’ He heard a little yelp of joy at the other end of the phone. 25

‘Oh, excellent! We’ll have to make a surprise for when you getin. The kids will be so excited. Why are you coming back early?You said another two weeks last night on the phone.’ ‘Remember that job I did in the Gulf of Thailand a few yearsago? Well the insurance broker, Wade, have called me back to workon it again. I’ve got a meeting with them this afternoon.’ Liz was confused, the happiness of Finn’s early returntemporarily put on hold until she sorted out just what her husbandwas up to now. ‘What do you mean working for Wade again? Youhaven’t quit Eider have you? You can’t just dump them. That’s along-term job that’s going to pay off some of the horrendousmortgage on our new house. You said they were looking at otheroilfields after this one and that you might be there for years, even gostaff with them. Come on Finn, you can’t ditch that for an adventureback in Thailand.’ ‘No I haven’t dumped Eider, that’s the good bit. Wade are theinsurance brokers for the Eider field development I’m working on.They’ve asked if they could just borrow me for a bit and I guessEider said yes to keep on friendly terms with their brokers. I’ll dothis for a couple of months and then go back as the golden boy.’ ‘Wow. OK then, I’m impressed. How big a plane is it?’ ‘Oh, about the size of a Boeing. And I’m the only passenger.’ ‘Finn?’ From the tone of her voice, Liz obviously wasn’tinterested in the plane at all. ‘You know today is Victoria’s last dayof term? Well, if you go back to Thailand then do you think thechildren and I can come as well? God knows I need a break fromsorting this house out and the same dull routine every day.’ He hadn’t known it was the end of school term, hadn’t evenknown it was a Friday until the phone call in the helicopter, butLiz’s idea certainly sounded good. ‘I’ll see what I can do,’ hepromised. ‘You’d better make sure you make a good impression at yourmeeting then. Have you got smart clothes on?’ 26

Smart clothes? Oh shit, thought Finn. I look like a homelessbum. ‘Liz, I’d better go. I need to shave.’ 27

Tower Hill, Central LondonThe real life Hans Dietrickt was the exact image Finn had mentallyformed. A nearly anglicized German of around thirty. He was tall,blond and wore a dark tailored suit. It wasn’t the blond hair thatgave him away as a German. It wasn’t even the silly rectangularwire framed glasses or the way his suit jacket was cut one buttontoo high. It was the shoes. Why could no one except the Englishever get shoes right? Hans’s shoes weren’t City regulation broguesor oxfords. They were some sort of ankle boots with eye catchingbrass straps on the side. Definitely naff. Definitely German. Hans held his hand out to welcome Finn. ‘Finn. Good of you to come at such short notice.’ ‘Good to meet you too, Hans. I hear you didn’t give me muchchoice about coming to this meeting.’ Finn was wearing his trademark khaki chinos, along withTimberland loafers and an open-necked pink Ralf Lauren shirt withthe sleeves turned partway up his forearms. Pink was a good choicebecause it didn’t show any residual blood that might have got onto itfrom the half dozen nicks he’d inflicted with the razor in the smalltoilet on the plane. ‘No, I’m afraid we didn’t. Had to ask Eider very politelythough, as they are one of our best customers. I see you travel light.’Hans was referring to the backpack, the only bag Finn had with him. ‘No, not really. I’ve got a twenty-five kilo kitbag in the boot ofthe car you sent for me. The driver said it was OK to leave it thereas he’ll take me home later.’ ‘Home? Yes, of course. Come, let’s meet the others.’ Hans showed the way to the lifts where they travelled up insilence to the top floor and a very impressive meeting room. Theroom was a seventeenth century wood-panelled banqueting hall thathad been transported lock, stock and barrel from a stately home to 28

the ultra modern steel and glass offices. Three heavy looking leadcrystal chandeliers, along with an assortment of superbly polishedmahogany furniture and large oil paintings had also made the trip.Seven people, all but one dark suited men of middle age, weresitting at one end of a long table that could easily take thirty. As Finn put his bag down, the sole lady turned her back topour a coffee from a side table, while the rest shook hands andintroduced themselves. He didn’t catch many of the names, but wasimpressed at the number of times he heard Manager or Director. The coffee, white with a hint of sugar, just as he liked it, washanded to him by a face with a broad lipstick smile and sparklingwhite teeth. The lady held out her hand and introduced herself. ‘Gillian Williams, we met a few years ago when I was inRalf’s department. I handle the special risk desk now, well the FarEast part of it at least.’ Gillian, of course. She was quite the bombshell. Finnremembered she had some sort of qualification in Chinese art orsomething and had been completely clueless about oilfieldengineering. Gillian was a classic example of the confident andassertive City woman that Finn liked so much. He didn’t much carefor their attitude; what Finn liked was the way their assertivenessmade them walk too fast for their boobs and their confidence madethem wear tight tops and slender skirts. Summer in the City was aparadise of expensively dressed women hurrying around out of syncwith the natural bounce of their cleavage. Finn also rememberedhe’d caught a glimpse of Gillian’s suspender clad thighs all thoseyears ago and wondered if she was wearing any now. ‘Yes, Gillian, of course I remember you. I doubt if anyoneyou’ve met has ever forgotten you.’ It was a little flattery and unspoken suggestion in his eyes thatbought the hint of a blush to her cheeks and made her self-consciously look away. 29

Wade was a very big and extremely successful insurancebrokerage. They handled much of the energy business in Europeand Asia, placing risk with the myriad of syndicates operating out ofthe Lloyds of London building clearly visible from the boardroomwindow, as well as insurance markets in other European capitalsand across the world. Finn had been surprised to hear at least threeof the men refer to themselves as a Director of the company.Directors of Wade would be the sort of people who had countryestates in the home-counties as well as Chelsea or Kensington townhouses. He wondered just how important this meeting was to them. ‘Mr Nichols,’ said one of the dark suits, ‘First of all let methank you for coming so quickly. No doubt you are curious as towhy we’ve pulled you in to see us. Well let me explain as succinctlyas possible. We would like you to update the report you compiledfor us a while ago concerning Thailand’s offshore gas network. Andwhilst doing so, we’d like you to look into a problem. A problemwe think might be quite serious.’ ‘I’m all ears, mister, um—?’ ‘Martin, David Martin. If I could ask you to sign thisconfidentiality and non-disclosure agreement—’ he pushed a singlesheet of A4 paper across to Finn, ‘Then I will be able to explain.’ Finn briefly scanned the sheet. It was a standard confidentialityagreement, already sporting the signature of a certain David Martin,Managing Director, Wade Insurances. He signed the sheet andpassed it back. ‘Could I have a copy for my files please.’ ‘Yes, of course. Hans, will you see to that please.’ Hans departed the room, paper in hand. The gofer after all,Finn noted. ‘The problem, we think, is with the main undersea pipelinefrom the Luann Alpha platform to the shore, although it could beoriginating from anywhere in the offshore network.’ Luann Alpha, Finn recalled, was the hub platform forThailand’s offshore natural gas fields. Four pipelines merged on it, 30

bringing natural gas from the dozen or so surrounding fields. LuannAlpha processed the gas to sales specification and used its powerfulcompressors to get it up to something like two hundred timesatmospheric pressure before sending it down a single long pipelineto the shore. The high pressure was necessary in order to get enoughgas through the pipeline to satisfy Thailand’s incessant energydemand. David Martin continued, ‘Over the past four years a number ofnew gas fields have been connected into the system. All of themhave been those new subsea slave systems, with the nearestplatforms acting as the control masters.’ Slave mode meant the gas wells were placed directly onto theseabed and controlled and monitored from nearby platforms. It waspretty standard practice these days and typical of the developmentsFinn usually worked on. ‘So what’s up with Luann Alpha?’ Finn enquired. Hans Dietrickt had returned from the photocopier and buttedinto the conversation. ‘That is what we would like you to find out, Finn.’ Finn was really beginning to dislike the arrogant German. ‘Well, Hans, perhaps you could start by giving me a clue. Forinstance, why do you think there may be a problem, what do youthink it is, and why do you think it’s on Luann Alpha’s pipeline toshore? I’m not Sherlock Holmes.’ The obviously less dramatic David Martin gave Hans anannoyed look before taking over again. ‘We’ve got notification of an intended insurance claim fromone of the power stations fed from the offshore gas system. Theyhad a catastrophic failure of an electricity generating turbine. Itappears to have quite literally shaken itself to pieces whilstrevolving at over twenty thousand rpm. The engineers at thecompany that make the turbines say this sort of failure cannothappen. Or rather that it can only happen if dozens of turbine bladesall break off at the same time.’ 31

‘I see,’ said Finn, not really seeing at all. ‘Their initial prognosis is that the blades must have been—’David looked down at his notepad for the right word, ‘Inbrittled, nosorry embrittled. It means...’ It suddenly clicked in Finn’s mind what this was and whatmight have caused it. He cut in quickly, keen to make a goodimpression with his knowledge. ‘It means, Mr Martin, that the normally ductile metal of theturbine blades has become very brittle. What was once nice flexiblesteel has essentially turned into glass. Whilst still notionally strong,the blades have lost all their ductility and impact resistance, so willshatter if subjected to a sudden shock load. One blade breaks off forwhatever reason and takes out lots more as it passes through theengine. Normally you’d expect a broken blade to pass through andout the end of a turbine without destroying it.’ ‘Yes, very good Mr Nichols. In a couple of sentences you havesuccinctly summarised the problem. Miss Williams’ assessment ofyou would appear to have been correct.’ They both glanced across at Gillian, who made eye contactwith Finn and smiled shyly. Finn thought he saw a slight hint ofanother blush around her neck. Obviously Gillian hadn’t forgottenhim either. ‘Tell me,’ asked David. ‘What would you guess the cause ofthe problem is?’ Finn looked back at David. He knew very well what the causewas. The cause was the subject of a whole realm of offshoreengineering. And it always led to a play off of metallurgy againstprocessing; of the exotic, high cost chrome alloys able to resistembrittlement against the cost of the process equipment otherwiseneeded to remove the chemical culprit. ‘The problem is the fuel gas. The gas coming from one of thefields tied into the offshore network must have hydrogen sulphide init. Someone has connected a sour field into a sweet system.’ 32

Finn continued, ‘Thailand’s offshore gas has traditionally beenclassified as sweet, in that it has no hydrogen sulphide present. Assuch, all the pipelines and compressors are made from normal steelas there is no need for the expense of high chrome alloys. If you’venow got a sour field sending hydrogen sulphide into the offshoresystem then a few broken turbine blades are the least of yourworries. The whole pipeline system might be CF.’ ‘CF?’ enquired David Martin. ‘Completely err…’ replied Finn, ‘Sorry. Completely useless.Embrittled pipelines are very dangerous, especially when run at thepressure Luann Alpha generates. If it’s fully embrittled, then thewhole line could burst at the slightest provocation. And there is noway of reversing embrittlement once it has happened. You’ll haveto replace the entire system. Plus all the piping on the platforms andwellheads that have been affected. Not to mention the compressorsand process gear on Luann Alpha.’ One of the suits that had been quiet up to that point lookedaround at his colleagues in a very uncomfortable manner beforespeaking up. ‘Mr Nichols. I’m Nathaniel Piers. I am the Director of Far Eastenergy business for Wade. We find ourselves in the ratheruncomfortable position of holding almost all of an unlimitedliability insurance policy for Thailand’s offshore gas network. Wehave been…’ He looked around at his colleagues again beforetaking a deep breath and continuing. ‘We’ve been a little lax inhedging down the risk from the policy renewals to the syndicates atLloyds. If what you say is true, and since it is essentially what ourconsultant metallurgist suggested yesterday, then we have a conflictof interest if we now try to sell the policies on. We will have to footthe bill for a replacement system ourselves, probably with littlehope of recovering much of our money from whichever company isto blame.’ Nathaniel waited for Finn to take this in before explainingfurther. ‘Since its privatisation, the Thai offshore system has been 33

owned by several of the smaller independent oil and gas companies.None of them have the financial strength to foot the bill. We’d makethe offender pay until bankrupt of course, but that’s still going toleave us with a very hefty bill.’ Finn was quiet for a few moments as he considered theproblem. ‘Am I right in assuming your insurance also covers sequentialliabilities as well as re-build costs?’ ‘You are, Mr Nichols; our exposure at the moment is simplyhorrendous. The sequential liabilities from stopping Thailand’snatural gas supply are enormous. Offshore gas is used to generateeighty per cent of the electricity in the country. Every one of thepeople around this table, plus many dozens of others within Wade,will be left completely penniless. Unlimited liability really doesmean unlimited, down to the shirts from our backs.’ The immaculately dressed Nathaniel certainly looked like hewas worried at this thought. He continued, ‘If I might be so bold as to say, it is not justWade that would collapse. The entire credibility of the Londoninsurance market could disappear over night. No credibility, noinsurance market. No insurance market and the City might just aswell pack up and go home.’ A little dramatic perhaps, but Finn got the point. Wade hadbeen making a little extra money by holding on to an insurancepolicy they couldn’t possibly pay out on. Now they stood to loseeverything they had. No wonder they were concerned. Looking back toward David Martin, Finn asked, ‘Tell me, MrMartin, why am I here? If it is a sour gas reservoir then the peopleyou should have investigate would be chemists and I guess yourmetallurgical consultant. I’m a construction engineer, not aspecialist in sweet and sour gasses.’ David Martin leaned back in his chair, looked up to the ceilingand glanced around the room before replying. ‘Please. Call me David and I’ll call you Finlay, if I may.’ 34

‘Finn will be quite fine. Only my mother calls me Finlay, andthat’s only when I’ve done something she doesn’t approve of.’ ‘Finn it is then.’ David leaned forward. ‘Finn, the reason weare talking to you is very simple. We would rather not alert any ofthe companies involved in this to our suspicion. Or indeed to alarmthe whole insurance market with the possibility that Luann Alphaand the offshore network it supports may have to shut down whilst anew export pipeline is built. On the pretence of updating your oldcontingency reports you will have free access to every one ofThailand’s fifteen offshore platforms without raising anysuspicions.’ ‘I guess the Thai government would be none too pleased tohear the country might have to live without electricity for the two orthree years it would take to replace the pipeline network,’ Finnvoiced, still thinking about the enormity of the problem. Nathaniel Piers angrily cut in. ‘We don’t give a damn aboutthe Thai government. This is the future of Wade and each of us herethat we need to protect.’ Finn felt rebuffed and focussed again on the problems of thepeople around the table rather than what would happen to a countryof sixty million when the lights suddenly went out. ‘So what’s the plan? If I accept your proposal, how do I findout which platform or subsea well is the bad guy and how bad theproblem really is?’ ‘Finn.’ It was David Martin speaking again. ‘We only foundout about this in the last couple of days. We don’t have a plan at themoment. We are,’ he paused. ‘We’re working on it. Although we’rereally not sure at the moment how we can extract ourselves from thefinancial liabilities we posses. We figure Luann Alpha is a goodstarting point as the entire network flows gas to it. You could findwhich of the incoming pipelines has sour gas, just how sour it is,and then trace that branch back to the culprit. At the same time wewill be trying to figure out what to do when we find out who is atfault. 35

‘Now, as for whether or not you wish to take the job, then letme spell out the terms we are offering you. You will need to find away of detecting which pipeline is flowing sour gas without raisingany suspicions. Then you will need to use whatever you come upwith to find which particular field, or fields, is or are the culprit.Needless to say, no one should be able to deduce what you aredoing. Once you have found the culprit you will assess how bad theproblem is and let us know. Revising your report will just be a coverfor you.’ ‘As for remuneration,’ David continued. ‘We will pay you ahundred thousand pounds for your time and effort. It seems to us avery reasonable sum of money for a month or two’s work.’ Finn was so astonished at this offer that his eyes widened andhis mouth involuntarily opened. A hundred grand was a hell of a lotof money. He quickly composed himself, biting his lower lip as hethought about the offer and the people he was dealing with. InFinn’s experience of negotiation he had developed a technique all ofhis own. He would imagine what the other person looked and actedlike when they were seven. It was a reversal of the old saying, showme the boy and I’ll show you the man. It was easy to do and italways gave him a good feel for the character of the person he wasdealing with and how he should play the game with them. Betterstill was that in circumstances like this it made him feel comfortableand less intimidated. Finn imagined that David as a seven year-old was a slightlynervous kid. Smart and quick, but also keen to please and hencequite probably prone to snap decisions. The five-second characterassessment over, Finn decided his best approach would be to go fora quick closure. ‘David, I have to admit I am very impressed with your offer. Ialso have to admit that I am very unimpressed that you gentlemencould manage to put yourselves in a position where you might lose 36

everything. How about we settle for two hundred thousand. Paidupfront.’ David bit down on his jaw, the muscles in his cheeks bulgingand his lips pressing together. He wasn’t smarting from Finn’scomment, but was annoyed at the implication the man hadsuggested by asking for payment upfront. ‘As you have just shown, Finn, we are all prone to beinggreedy when the opportunity presents itself. None the less, weaccept your proposal. Gillian will fill the figures in on the contractand the money will be transferred first thing on Monday morning. Iassume you have details of the account for it to go to.’ Finn thought of Liz and the weekend before adding, ‘Give mea few days to do some research and figure out how to approach thisand then I’ll be on my way to Thailand. Just one other thing though.I’d like my expenses to cover bringing my family to Thailand aswell. I’ve just spent over a month offshore and it would be unfair onthem to leave again at such short notice. I also need a desk here fora couple of days with access to all the records and documentationyou hold on the Thai gas system and all the companies involved inits ownership.’ ‘Yes,’ replied David Martin. ‘That will all be acceptable, againliaise with Gillian and Hans, who will ensure it is done.’ 37

Wimbledon, West LondonFinn sat in the back of the car on the half hour drive from the city tohis home in Wimbledon. His mind was a mix of thoughts. Howwould he secretly check for hydrogen sulphide in the gas? How washe going to prioritise the order in which he visited the platforms?How could Wade be so stupid as to not hedge down such a massiverisk? Were they doing the same thing with other projects such as theone he had just come off? If Wade went down the tubes what wouldthat mean to Finn? Would Eider be able to continue the fielddevelopment without any insurance? Unlikely, he thought, Eiderwere too small to carry the risks on their own. It was far more likelythat the whole offshore industry except for those companies bigenough to self-insure would stall and not do anything until a newmechanism was in place. The view of West London as the Jaguar drove down the King’sRoad was familiar and yet so intense. After the dull monotony ofthe Independence and seeing only scruffy men wearing dirty andoily fireproof overalls, the sight of a flower stall, the hustle andbustle of normal life, and so many colourfully dressed people wasincredibly vivid. Finn wandered away in his thoughts back to the Independence.Some of the Philippine catering personnel had been onboard forover nine months without a break. The construction barge stayedout at sea until it needed to go in for major repairs and maintenance.Food, fuel, pipe joints and everything else it needed, were deliveredby the ever present supply boats and shuttle helicopters. The crewthemselves never saw land, never had even a single night’s runashore during their tours. His thoughts flicked back to the meeting he had just comefrom. I bet those guys at Wade are hiding some money away in casethe company goes bankrupt. They’d all have offshore bank 38

accounts: Jersey, the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, somewherewhere it would be safe. If they didn’t then they were really stupid. A buzz of excitement ran though him as the car crossed overthe Thames and headed up the hill towards Wimbledon Common.Just wait until Liz hears about this one! The children came running out of the house as soon as the carpulled into the drive, followed by Liz with a big kiss and an equallybig question. ‘Tell me then. Are we going to Thailand?’ She had all the essential details extracted before he was eventhrough the front door. Whilst he unpacked his kit bag, Lizdisappeared into the study and went straight onto the Internet tolook up hydrogen sulphide detectors. And as he was shoving hisdirty clothes into the washing machine, ably assisted by Victoriaand Christopher, she called out that there was one that could bebought over the counter at a number of trade stockists, the nearest ofwhich was in Birmingham. She followed it with an order to leaveher washing machine alone and to put his clothes in a pile on thekitchen floor. Finn went into the study to look at the detector she’d found,not believing for a second that it could be so easy to solve his firstproblem. It was though. The detector was battery powered, surprisinglysmall at about the size of an old mobile phone and would pick upconcentrations as low as one part in ten million. It was perfect. Heasked Liz to print the address of the stockist as he would drive overin the morning and buy one. The next two hours of Finn’s life was devoted to Lego, dolls,jigsaws and drawing colouring-in cartoons for the kids before theyfinally flaked out enough to sit quietly for ten minutes drinking theirbedtime milk and then be tucked up in bed with a story and a kiss. 39

‘Hydrogen sulphide, or H2S, is commonly referred to as sewergas as in small quantities it smells distinctly of rotten eggs.However, if inhaled in anything other than extremely lowconcentrations, H2S deadens the sense of smell and is highlytoxic…! Just what the hell have you gotten yourself into Finn?’ Finn leaned against the door frame of the study with a glass ofwine in his hand as he listened to Liz tell him what he already knew.He wished she hadn’t read that last bit on the Internet, as his rapidlyforming plan was simply to crack open one of the very small doubleblock and bleed valves always found on offshore pipework and putthe H2S detector in the little puff of gas that would escape. To dothis secretly he would of course have to be alone, but for twohundred grand the minimal risk that he would get a lungful of highconcentration H2S was worth it. He was, in any case, planning ontaking precautions. Well actually he was planning on holding hisbreath. Portable breathing equipment was not an option because itwas far too large to be lugged around unnoticed. Finn leant down and put his arms around his wife’s shoulders,drawing in the aroma of Chánel No. 5. ‘Gorgeous, I’m not about to sniff anything other than yourperfume. Anyway, stop telling me what I already know and find ussomewhere to stay. On the beach you said, and reasonably close toBangkok would be good. Also, can you check the airline departuretimes from Heathrow. Let’s aim for an overnight flight, so thechildren can sleep most of the trip. I’m going to take a bath and thenhit the sack. You coming up soon?’ ‘Not long, just let me skivvy through that list of things youwant done, my lord and master.’ The subtlety of the sarcasm in Liz’s voice completely wentover Finn’s head. He had other things on his mind. ‘Wearing anynice underwear?’ ‘Guess you’ll have lay off the wine so you can stay awake longenough to find out.’ 40

The little wink and smile, combined with the fresh smell ofperfume, was enough to let Finn know she probably was. It wasgood to be home. 41

Tower Hill, Central LondonBy mid-afternoon on Monday, Finn was sitting at a desk in Wade’soffice and had just about everything he needed. He’d downloadedpipework diagrams for all the platforms from Wade’s files andlocated the double block and bleed valves on each system, which, ashe’d expected, was an awful lot. The H2S detectors – he’d boughtall three the trade supplier had in stock – were in his kitbag back athome, along with a pack of fresh batteries. Right now, he was drinking coffee whilst aimlessly siftingthrough the other information Wade had on the companies operatingin the Gulf of Thailand. He wasn’t expecting to find anythinguseful, but it was worth a couple of hours’ looking as he mightcome across some nugget of information. All in all, he couldn’tbelieve how easily this was all coming together. The production and reservoir data the insurance broker held,and which was of most interest to Finn, was very limited. This wasnot really all that surprising as the owners of each gas field guardedthis type of information with great care due to its financialsensitivity. One interesting thing he did come across though, wasthe insurance costs for the majority of the drilling conducted overthe last ten years. Semi-submersible drilling rigs were insured on adaily basis, as it was an expensive and high-risk business, and thismeant the amount of insurance paid on each well was directlyproportional to the time spent drilling it. The insurance revenuesshowed that the Sancto Soperi rig, which drilled the 2001 ‘Bravo’subsea tieback to Luann Alpha, had been on station for a long time.A total of a hundred and twenty days to drill and complete just fourwells. That was an average of thirty days per well. Compared to theeighteen to twenty days for the wells drilled on the otherdevelopments offshore Thailand, it was unusual. Drilling time, notsurprisingly, was a good indicator as to how deep the wells hadgone. Luann Bravo’s wells must therefore be quite a lot deeper than 42

anyone else’s and as a result would be tapping into geological layersthat had formed in a different epoch and hence under differentclimatic conditions. This little piece of information put Luann Bravoas Finn’s prime suspect for a sour field and meant his first port ofcall would most definitely be Luann Alpha. Alpha platform was themaster to the subsea Bravo slaves and the first point where Finncould get easy access to pipework carrying Bravo gas that wasn’t ahundred metres below the sea’s surface. 43

Bangkok, ThailandThat night’s flight to Bangkok was blissfully uneventful. Travellingbusiness class on British Airways they had seats that would liecompletely flat and were way up towards the front of the plane,sufficiently far ahead of the big Boeing’s engines that the constantroar heard by passengers further back was little more than a gentlehiss. The air hostesses made a fuss over Victoria and Christopher,which the two children lapped up with glee. An hour into the flightVictoria had jumped at the chance to ‘help out’ in the galley. Aswith all two year-olds, Christopher wanted to tag along with his bigsister, but had to settle for sitting on Liz’s lap and watching cartoonson her entertainment console. As they’d hoped, three hours into the twelve hour flight andthe excitement had worn the children out. They’d been fed, changedinto their pyjamas, cleaned their teeth and gone to the toilet. Nowthey were tucked up with cushions, blankets and their favouriteteddy bears. They were asleep before Finn, who was sitting on thefoot of Christopher’s bed, had finished story time. Liz watched a film whilst Finn spent the next hour readingthrough some of the company and financial information on EagleUnited Energy that Gillian had supplied him. He hadn’t yet toldanyone at Wade that his suspicion was focussed on Eagle United,the owners of both Luann Alpha and Bravo, so he’d asked Gillianfor as much financial information on all the different owners as shecould find. Luckily this all came on a CD, otherwise, what with hisoffshore kitbag and holiday suitcases for the family, he would haveexceeded even the generous business class luggage allowance. Nine years ago Eagle United Energy had made its first ventureaway from its Texas base and bought Luann Alpha for $165 millionduring the privatisation of Thailand’s offshore gas network. 44

Luann Alpha was no longer producing any gas of its own, butit was making good money through the processing and onwardshipment of gas from the myriad of other fields that made up theoffshore network. It was a safe bet for a first move into foreignterritories and the US banks had been keen to lend Eagle United themoney to buy it. Unfortunately for Eagle, Finn’s 1999 report had highlightedthe poor state of the condensate FSU they had inherited along withthe platform. Eagle had been forced to fork out another $42 millionto build a replacement and to stock the onshore support base withadditional emergency and contingency spares. Further adding toyear 2000 expenses had been the wildcat drilling on a promisingsub-salt geological formation that would eventually become theLuann Bravo gas field. It would have been a risky play to drill that well and Finncould imagine the worries and concerns that went on in EagleUnited’s boardroom before the drill eventually hit pay dirt. But hitpay dirt it did and Eagle United quickly set about bringing the newfield on stream. The quickest and cheapest way to develop a new offshore fieldwas always as a subsea slave. The wellheads sat on the bottom ofthe sea and were controlled by an umbilical and telemetry systemfrom a nearby platform in the classic master and slave system. EagleUnited owned the nearest platform anyway so it was an ideal way ofquickly getting the gas to market. From finding the gas to bringingit on stream had taken a mere nine months, at the end of whichEagle’s financial worries would have been over. There must certainly have been some serious money worriesduring early 2000 because the company’s credit rating had beendowngraded to E status on the international grading system. Finndidn’t know how low the ratings went, but E sounded to him likethey probably couldn’t even borrow the money to buy stationery, letalone the millions required to drill a risky wildcat exploration wellin a foreign sea. The annual report for that year showed that Eagle 45

United’s management, in a bold move, had put up its own money ina partial management buyout to finance the wildcat. By late 2000 the wildcat must have shown a sizeable gasreservoir because the company’s credit rating had jumped to B andthe banks came in with the money required for a fast trackdevelopment and to complete a total management buyout. Thebuyout meant Eagle was no longer a traded stock but instead hadbecome the personal property of those executives who had riskedtheir money and livelihoods. It seemed pretty obvious to Finn that the wildcat well musthave tested positive for hydrogen sulphide. And on seeing that thebig accumulation of gas they’d just found was sour, the executivesof Eagle had been staring financial ruin in the face. No doubt theyhad run the figures and guessed they would go bankrupt if theyplayed by the rules, so they chose to bend them a little. After all, thesour gas from Luann Bravo would be mixed with sweet gas fromover a dozen other offshore fields once it reached the Alphaplatform, so the resulting mix must have only carried smallconcentrations of H2S. Unfortunately though, eight years of traceamounts of hydrogen sulphide appear to have been enough todeteriorate at least one power station turbine to the point where itfell to bits. Finn took a deep yawn and stretched out. He shut down hislaptop, reclined his seat to level with Liz’s so he could hold herhand, accepted the offered cushion and blanket from an air hostessand watched the rest of the film before drifting off into sleep. The hotel Liz had booked was beautiful. They had a smallsuite on the third floor with a large balcony overlooking the beachand the brilliant blue-green sea of the Gulf of Thailand. Thechildren took one look at the beach and were immediately tuggingat the suitcases for their swimming costumes. After a few briefminutes offloading bags, digging out costumes and suntan lotion, 46

the family descended to the beach and the beachside shop wherebuckets, spades and small nets on bamboo sticks were bought. Half an hour later the hot sunshine was getting to them andFinn was sent to find bottled water. ‘Good move to book an all-inclusive hotel,’ Finn remarked toLiz as he, Christopher and Victoria returned from the bar ladeneddown with water, cold drinks and snacks. Christopher was intentlygiggling to himself as he blew on the straw into his orange juice,slopping half of it down his tummy in the process. ‘You can always trust me to find the best deal,’ she repliedfrom behind her dark glasses, accepting the heavily iced gin & tonicwith a smile. ‘When are you going to start paying for this littleholiday?’ ‘Quite frankly up until a few seconds ago I had no intention ofever moving from this spot, but since you’ve just bought it up then Iguess the answer had better be tomorrow. I’ll go along to some ofthe offices of the platform owners and sketch out to them when I’llbe doing a round of the platforms. Gillian has already contactedthem and told them to expect me to call to arrange visits. You fancya little shopping in Bangkok tomorrow?’ Liz stretched out on her sunlounger and took another sip of hericily cold drink. ‘Not tomorrow. It’s too early for me to go chargingaround a big city in this heat without acclimatising for a couple ofdays.’ Victoria had been listening intently to the conversation andnow voiced her thoughts. ‘Can I go with daddy? Please. I promise to be very good andnot ask for any ice creams or anything. Please, mummy, please.’ ‘Better ask your father that one, young lady. He’s going to lotsof offices so you would spend most of the day waiting for him.’ ‘I don’t mind. Daddy, can I come with you? Pleeeease!’ ‘Yes, of course you can, babe.’ Finn never could say no to hischildren’s requests. 47

Early the next morning Victoria and Finn got into a taxi andwent to his meetings together. Victoria had put her new dress on,the one that she had chosen with mummy at Debenhams in theWimbledon shopping centre near her home, but now half a worldaway in cold and damp London. She’d eaten a proper breakfast andhad packed her school backpack with colouring-in things, readingbooks, pens and her purse. Mummy had put some money in thepurse and the address of the hotel they were staying at. Victoriaknew though, that if she got separated she was to wait exactly whereshe was and not talk to anyone until her daddy came back to findher. Her daddy would always come back. That was an absolute inVictoria’s life. By midday they had been to three different offices andVictoria was quite frankly bored and fidgety. ‘Where do you want to go for lunch, Petal?’ She instantly came alive at that question. ‘Do they haveMcDonald’s in this country and can I have chicken nuggets? Andice cream with a flake for pudding?’ ‘OK then. Let’s see shall we? If we’re lucky we might find aMcDonald’s in that big shopping centre over there.’ Finn held out his hand and Victoria grasped it tight as theycrossed the road and headed for the shopping centre he had pointedout. There was a McDonald’s and luckily it was just the same as inLondon. She had an ice cream for pudding, and was surprised thatFinn also had one, which was very unusual. Guess he must be as hotas me, she thought. After lunch, Finn held her bag and his own black backpackacross his chest and gave her a piggyback as they looked around theshops. ‘I’ll have to tell mummy about these shops,’ she said, holdingon tight and relishing the time they had together. ‘She’ll love all the 48

lovely clothes, and Christopher will like the toys. Have we earnedenough money today to buy things?’ ‘Yes, I think so,’ Finn replied. ‘Maybe you can bring mummyand Chris back to these shops when I’m offshore. Now, we’ve onlygot two more companies to visit and then I think we can call it a dayand head back to the hotel. Are you doing all right back there?’ Victoria squeezed Finn even more tightly and snuggled theback of his neck. ‘Urghh, strangling me, honey.’ ‘I love it here, Finn.’ She called her daddy Finn sometimes because she knew itmade him smile, and even though she couldn’t see his face, shecould sense the smile spreading across it. ‘How did it go?’ Liz asked when they finally got back to thehotel. ‘No problems, Victoria was as good as gold the whole day. Ithink her blue eyes and blond hair astonished everyone we met. Thereceptionists and secretaries doted on her everywhere we went.’ Heruffled Victoria’s hair. ‘I need to spend the next couple of dayscalling in on some more companies and then I’ll set about taking atour of the platforms.’ ‘Can I go tomorrow again, Daddy?’ Victoria asked. ‘But thistime with mummy and Christopher so we can go to those shops wesaw today?’ ‘Yes. Why not,’ Liz said. ‘A morning’s shopping in Bangkokwill be fun. Did you see anything nice, Vicky?’ 49

Houston, TexasJames ‘Mac’ MacAlister, Chief Executive Officer of Eagle UnitedEnergy, was driving to his downtown Houston office. He wascruising Houston’s equivalent of the M25, the beltway, at seventy ina new Aston Martin DB9 when the call came in from Thailand. ‘Mac, it’s Bill here, didn’t wake you did I?’ ‘No Bill, I’m on my way to the office.’ ‘Good. Well I met the Wade Insurance guy earlier today at ourBangkok office. It’s pretty much as we thought. He wants access tothe onshore logistics base and to Luann Alpha to check on ourcontingency spares and the general state of the facilities andoperation. ‘Says Wade are moving a big chunk of the insurance riskfrom one Lloyds syndicate to another and the new one will onlyaccept the risk once they have a full update on the state of thefacilities and spares. I’ve checked and he’s doing the same to all theoperators out here.’ ‘OK Bill, make sure the platform and the logistics base inparticular are cleared of anything to do with project Abzu.’ ‘Already in hand, and thanks to that leak on the Burma rig lastweek we don’t have any of those particular goods this side of theborder at the moment.’ Mac was satisfied. An insurance guy sniffing around would bea pain, but he trusted Bill to ensure nothing suspicious would befound. As far as getting any reduction on the insurance wasconcerned, then Mac couldn’t care less. He wasn’t intending onpaying insurance premiums on the platform for that much longer. ‘Bill, did you get any feeling from this Wade guy that he mighthave any ulterior motives to the sudden visit? We only had wordfrom the brokers that they needed to re-look at things late on Fridayand now they’ve already got someone out there sniffing around. It’sfar too quick for them. Way faster than they normally work.’ 50

Mac heard a loud snort of laughter from the other end of thephone. ‘I certainly did, buddy! He told me exactly why he was outhere so quick. And he even had the evidence with him, literallyholding his hand! He had to excuse himself for bringing his youngdaughter to the office, but said the whole family had jumped at thechance to get out of the miserable London weather for a holiday inThailand. His sudden appearance after being asked by Wade to re-do his report on the offshore network was because his daughter is onschool vacation at the moment. Said he was doing the fieldworkfirst and would write up the report later when he got back home andhis girl had started the new school term. His daughter’s a prettylittle thing. She had the girls in the office running rings around her.’ ‘Well that’s good then,’ replied Mac, relieved at the innocentreason for the suddenness of the visit. Then, having fully absorbedwhat Bill had said, added in annoyance. ‘Bill. You said re-doing his report? Is this guy the same onethat wrote up such a shitty report just after we bought LuannAlpha?’ ‘Unfortunately it is, but he seems nice enough. Not out foranything other than completing his work and having a free holiday.’ Mac wasn’t happy. His whole mindset had suddenly moved towhat he saw as a perfectly rational anger and irritation at thefaceless person from Wade that had nearly cost him his company afew years ago. ‘That goddamn motherfucker cost us forty million bucks lasttime he set foot on one of our platforms! I want you to make damnsure one of our guys sticks to him like glue. I don’t want himpissing all over our operation again! Kid daughter or not, he’s awild card that we don’t need at this moment.’ Bill was taken back at the spite in Mac’s reply, before recallingthat unwittingly, thanks to a certain Mr Finlay Nichols, theadditional year 2000 expenses had hurt the company very badly. 51

‘Sure will. I’ll put someone on him at all times. You want meto have him followed onshore whilst he’s here?’ ‘Yeah, make absolutely sure we know where he is and whathe’s up to. He starts looking into things we don’t want him to knowabout then I want to be the first to know.’ Mac hung up the phone without the normal salutations andslammed his fist into the heavily lacquered walnut dashboard of theAston Martin. ‘Goddamn Limey engineers,’ he shouted out loud. He hit thedashboard hard several more times, cracking the consol above theintegrated radio and navigation system. ‘Goddamn Limey piece ofshit car built by goddamn Limey engineers!’ 52