Chapter 17 - HYDRAULIC PRESSUREAlexander choked, tasting the bitter, metallic burn of the toxic water. Donning his mask by instinct, he slammed the purge button, clearing the water from his regulator and coughing violently as precious oxygen rushed back into his lungs.
The shockwave had come from above. Victoria Vance had fired the automated bypass trigger early.
Above him, a massive iron slide-gate had opened halfway, allowing a torrent of high-pressure toxic sludge to rush into the chamber. The water level in the pipe was surging, and the backpressure against the manual wheel valve was immense.
"Alex! What happened?!" Julian’s voice screamed through the earpiece. "The pressure gauges up here just spiked into the red zone! You have to get out of there!"
"I’m not done!" Alexander shouted back, grabbing the wheel valve again.
The hydraulic backpressure was fighting him now, trying to spin the wheel in the opposite direction. The force was enough to break a man’s wrists.
Alexander locked his legs against a concrete footing, wrapped his arms around the iron wheel, and pulled with every ounce of willpower remaining in his body.
Seven... eight... nine...
His muscles burned. His vision spun as nitrogen narcosis began to cloud his thinking in the deep, cold water. His left arm—the arm once prone to tremors—throbbed with excruciating pain, but he refused to let go.
Ten... eleven... TWELVE.
With a final, heavy metallic THUD, the sluice gate slammed shut into its steel seat. The deafening roar of rushing water instantly ceased, replaced by a eerie, total silence.
"The gate is closed!" Alexander gasped, leaning his forehead against the iron wheel. "Julian... the flow stopped!"
"I see it!" Julian yelled, tears audible in his voice over the radio. "The main pressure gauges are dropping! The intake line is sealed!"
"Now listen to me, Alex," Julian’s tone suddenly turned dead serious. "You need to lock the manual safety latch on the side of the housing. If you don't throw that latch, the hydraulic pressure built up behind the gate will force it open again the moment you leave."
Alexander shone his flashlight on the side of the valve housing. A heavy, rusted iron lever sat inside a notched guide track.
He reached out and grabbed the lever, pulling it toward the locked position.
CRACK.
The rusted iron lever snapped in half under his hand, the broken piece sinking uselessly into the mud at his feet.
Alexander stared at his empty, gloved hand in absolute horror.
"Alex?" Julian called out. "Did you set the latch?"
Alexander looked at the sluice gate mechanism. Without the latch, the steel stem was already beginning to vibrate violently as thousands of pounds of accumulated water pressure pushed against the gate from the other side.
The wheel valve began to creep backward—one millimeter at a time.
If he let go of the wheel, the gate would blow open, destroying the pipe and flooding the entire city.
"Alex, answer me!" Julian pleaded.
Alexander took a deep, quiet breath through his oxygen regulator. He looked down at his left hand, which was gripping the iron wheel so tightly his knuckles were white.
"The latch broke, Julian," Alexander said softly.
"What?" Julian gasped. "No... no, no, no! Alex, use a pry bar! Use the torch!"
"There’s no time," Alexander said, his voice calm, steady, and devoid of fear. "The backpressure is too high. The moment I take my hands off this wheel to reach for a tool, the gate opens."
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"Alex, you can't stay down there!" Julian screamed into the microphone. "Your air supply won't last another twenty minutes!"
"Tell Tommy..." Alexander whispered, his eyes closing as he held the vibrating wheel with all his strength, "...tell him his garden is safe."
