The Storm (NUMA Files 10)

Paul steeled himself and moved in unison with Marchetti as they pressed into the heart of the conflagration.

By now Paul could feel the heat from the deck like he was standing on top of glowing lava rocks. A new wave of fire spewed to the left of them, and a blast knocked Marchetti to the ground.

Paul pulled him back up. “This is no good!” Paul shouted. “We have to get back.”

“I told you, one of my men is down here!”

Another small explosion buffeted them, and a wall of flame rose up, only to be forced back by the water from the two hoses.

The engine room was three stories tall, four times that in length and filled with equipment pipes, hoses and catwalks. The flames were reaching the roof in places, everything was obscured. If they weren’t losing the battle, it was at least a stalemate.

“We have to flood the compartment,” Paul said. “It’s the only way.”

“We tried,” Marchetti said. “The fire-suppression system is not responding. It should have kicked on at one hundred and seventy-five degrees but didn’t. We tried to trigger it from the bridge but nothing happened.”

“There has to be an override,” Paul said, “a manual trigger down here somewhere.”

Marchetti began looking around. “There are four,” he said. “The closest should be that way. By the generator stack.”

“We need to activate it.”

Marchetti hesitated. “The doors will auto-seal as soon as we trigger it,” he explained. “Whoever does it will be trapped inside.”

“How long?”

“Until the fire goes out and the temperature drops.”

“Then let’s not waste any more time.”

Marchetti looked back down the mangled path that led to the possible safe haven of the office. The walkway was twisted and bent as if an explosion had gone off halfway across. Flames and smoke and boiling water dropping from above made it obvious: there was no way they were going to fight through that.

“Okay,” he shouted, turning toward the far wall. “This way.”

CHAPTER 28

GAMAY FOUND A STATE OF CHAOS IN THE CONTROL ROOM. Two of Marchetti’s men were working the computers with all due haste, trying to bring the robots or the firefighting system back online.

The chief, a short but burly Greek man, was monitoring the fire. In the background Gamay could hear the radio conversations between the two firefighting teams. It didn’t sound like they were winning.

“How bad is it?” she asked, thinking it hadn’t seemed quite as overwhelming down below.

“It’s grown quickly,” the chief said. “The whole engine room is burning. Fuel leak of some kind. Has to be.”

“Is it spreading?” Gamay asked, fearful that Paul would end up trapped.

“Not yet,” the chief said.

As Gamay tried not to focus on the words Not yet, Leilani came in looking scared and bewildered.

“What’s happening?”

“Engine room fire,” Gamay said. “One of the crew is trapped inside. And the automatic systems are down.”

Leilani sat down and began to shake. It seemed like she might break down, but Gamay couldn’t worry about that right now.

“What if it does spread?” Gamay asked. “My husband and Marchetti and your other men will be cut off.”

“Not if they contain it first,” the chief said. “They have to beat it back.”