Chapter 16 - EIGHTY FEET BELOWThe water was pitch-black, choked with suspended silt, rust, and oily residue. Alexander’s flashlight beam could barely penetrate three feet ahead of his mask.
He swam down through the narrow concrete pipe, the sound of his own breathing rasping loud and heavy through the scuba regulator. In. Out. In. Out.
"Alex, do you read me?" Julian’s voice cracked through the underwater bone-conduction earpiece.
"I’m through the main intake," Alexander replied, his voice distorted by the mask. "Visibility is near zero. I’m at forty feet."
"Watch out for the structural intake grates," Julian warned over the static. "The schematics show three sharp steel debris screens installed during the original construction. If your air line snags, you'll be trapped."
Alexander kicked his fins slowly, using his left hand to feel along the cold, slimy concrete wall. His fingers caught on a jagged iron bar—the first debris screen. It was rusted through, its sharp edges pointing toward him like mechanical teeth.
Carefully, Alexander squeezed through a narrow gap in the iron mesh. The metal scraped harshly against his air tank, but the hose held.
He descended deeper. The water pressure pressed against his chest, making each breath harder to draw. At seventy feet, the ambient temperature plummeted to near freezing.
"I’m at the bottom," Alexander reported. "I see the hatch."
Ahead of him, illuminated by his torch beam, was a circular steel hatch embedded in the concrete floor, marked with a faded yellow hazmat symbol. Beside the hatch was a heavy iron wheel valve covered in thick layers of calcified rust.
Alexander swam closer and grabbed the wheel valve with both hands. He pulled with all his strength.
It didn't move.
"It’s frozen solid, Julian," Alexander gasped into his communicator. "The rust has welded the threads."
"You have six minutes before Victoria's automated bypass trigger fires from her office," Julian’s voice sounded desperate. "If that trigger fires, a hundred thousand gallons of raw contaminant will be injected directly into the city's water mains!"
Alexander unholstered the underwater cutting torch from his belt and ignited the chemical flame. A bright, blue-white flare erupted in the dark water, illuminating the cavernous pipe.
He pressed the searing chemical flame directly against the calcified rust on the valve stem. Bubbles of superheated steam boiled off the metal, rising rapidly toward the ceiling.
For three agonizing minutes, Alexander held the flame against the iron, watching the rust glow dull orange beneath the water.
He shut off the torch, grabbed the wheel valve again, and threw his entire body weight against it.
SCREECH.
The metal groaned. Slowly, millimeter by millimeter, the wheel began to turn.
"It’s turning!" Alexander yelled.
"Keep turning!" Julian urged. "You need twelve full rotations to seat the manual sluice gate!"
Alexander turned the wheel: four... five... six...
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Suddenly, a violent hydraulic shockwave rippled through the pipe. A massive surge of dark water slammed into Alexander’s back, tearing his hands from the wheel and knocking his diving mask loose.
Water rushed into his nose and throat.
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