“I can’t be sure, sir,” Carr replied. “Nothing like this was covered in the procedures manual, sir. But I think this is our best shot.”
Captain Weber blew out his breath, then nodded. “Very well, Lieutenant Carr. Let’s proceed.”
Carr nodded to one of his engineers, who placed a five-gallon plastic bucket under the tank’s valve and turned the handle. Tim half expected something green and luminous to come oozing out, but the irradiated water looked as if it could have come straight out of the tap. Carr waved his Geiger counter over the top of the bucket.
“One-point-eight roentgens, sir. That’s less radiation than your average X-ray at a dentist’s office. Harmless to you and me, sir.”
“But to the vampires?”
“Hopefully strong enough to burn them if it touches them, sir,” Carr said. “But there’s no way to test what effect it will have on a living vampire until we put your plan into action, sir.”
“Understood, Lieutenant,” Captain Weber said.
The plan was to send out someone who would use the coolant to clear a path from the reactor room to the control room—and maybe take out a few vampires along the way. Once the path was safe enough to proceed, the others, armed with wooden stakes, would escort the captain out of the reactor room and up to the control room. The only ones who would stay behind were the engineers, who made up about half the group and who would have to make sure the engines ran properly when Captain Weber regained control.
For the first time since this madness began, Tim was starting to feel truly optimistic. There was a chance this could work, and that was something to hold on to. In the back of his mind, he had to wonder what would happen if they did survive. Once they told their story, the navy brass would probably write them all off as delusional. But hell, even living in a mental hospital beat getting ripped apart by vampires.
When the time came for someone to volunteer to spread the coolant through the boat, Tim stepped up. Captain Weber turned him down flat.
“Request denied, Spicer,” the captain said. “I need you to hang back. There’s no telling how far we’ve sailed into Soviet territory by now. That we haven’t already been spotted and attacked is nothing short of a miracle, and getting out again without being seen is going to take finesse. When we retake the control room, I’m going to need men who know what they’re doing. That includes a sonar tech—and as far as I can tell you’re the only one left.” He turned to the rest of the men assembled in the reactor room. “Any other volunteers?”
The men shifted their weight, coughed, looked down at their shoes. They were scared to leave the safety of the reactor room. Tim understood why. He had seen firsthand what the vampires could do, but he couldn’t help feeling a sting of disappointment. These were trained, professional navy men. He expected better from them. And from the angry expression on Captain Weber’s face, he did too. But before the captain could say anything, Jerry White stepped forward.
“I’ll go, sir.”
“You should be resting, White,” Captain Weber said. “Those injuries need time to heal.”
“Sir, time is a luxury none of us have,” Jerry said. “Send me. I’ve been out there already, sir. I know what to expect. I can clear a path to the control room faster than anyone else. Besides, sir, I can’t just sit here while the bastards who did that to Lieutenant Abrams have control of the boat. If there’s anything I can do to help take them down, I want to do it, sir.”
“You sure you’re feeling well enough, White?” the captain asked.
“Positive, sir. Let me do this.”
Captain Weber nodded. “Fine. You’re on. But if we’re wrong about the coolant, you’ll be alone out there with God only knows how many of those things. You won’t be able to signal us if you need help. We can cover you from the hatch until you’re as far as the mess, but after that, you’ll be completely on your own.”
“Understood, sir,” Jerry said.
“Captain, sir, let me take a weapon and go with him, just in case,” Tim said.
“That’s a negative, Spicer,” the captain said. “I told you, I’ll need you in the control room when the time comes.”
“I’ll be fine, Tim,” Jerry said. “Besides, I can move faster on my own.”
Tim let it go. It was out of his hands. This, he realized, was Jerry in crisis mode. Confident, brave, capable—nothing like the circumspect newcomer Tim had met on launch day. This was the sailor who had run into Philadelphia’s burning auxiliary engine room while everyone else ran the other way and single-handedly saved the submarine. This was the sailor Captain Weber had hoped Jerry would prove to be when he had signed off on the transfer to Roanoke.
“All right, then, White,” the captain said. “You’d better get out there before the coolant becomes too weak to protect you.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Lieutenant Carr said. “This stuff’s got a half-life of ninety years.”
He picked up the bucket and passed it to Jerry. It was made of lightweight plastic, but filled just over halfway with three gallons of seawater it weighed twenty-five pounds. The irradiated water sloshed against the sides of the pail.
Jerry looked at it skeptically. “You’re sure this stuff is safe for humans, sir?”
“Well, that’s the good news and the bad news,” Lieutenant Carr said. “This coolant is low dose, which means you’ll be fine. But it also means the vampires won’t react to its presence as strongly as they did to the reactor itself. They won’t be happy about the radiation, but it won’t do them serious harm unless they touch it. If you run into trouble out there, you’re going to have to splash the coolant on them. That means getting up close and personal. You’re sure you still want to do this?”
“You know it, sir,” Jerry said.
Captain Weber handed him a battle lantern to hold in his free hand.
“Be careful out there,” Tim said.
Jerry nodded. “I’ll see you in the control room.”
“Would you like a sidearm from the weapons locker as well?” the captain asked.
“No, thank you, sir,” Jerry said. “A gun won’t stop the vampires.”
“I didn’t mean for them,” Captain Weber said. “I meant for you, in case the coolant doesn’t work.”
Tim went cold, but he didn’t say anything. Jerry swallowed hard, then shook his head.
“The coolant will work, sir,” he said. “It has to.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
It was Jerry’s second foray out of the reactor room and into the pitch-black submarine, and he had to wonder whether he was pushing his luck. The first time, LeMon, Bodine, and Duncan—or rather, the vampires they had become—had let him pass without attacking. He couldn’t count on being so lucky this time, especially since he was carrying a bucket of radioactive holy water to kill them with. He knew now that it was the ambient radiation from the reactor room that had held them back before. It was as poisonous to them as sunlight. But he was leaving the protection of the reactor room behind, and despite what he’d said to Captain Weber, he wasn’t entirely sold on Lieutenant Carr’s theory about the irradiated water. He hoped to God Carr was correct, not just for his own sake but for the rest of the crew’s as well. They couldn’t stay in the reactor room forever with no food or water. This was their last, best hope of taking back the boat, and if Carr was wrong, Roanoke was doomed.
The reactor-room hatch led out directly into the mess. He stepped carefully down the short flight of stairs. The mess was the closest space to the reactor room, and the captain and those protecting him would have to pass through it to reach the main ladder up to the control room. Therefore, it was vital to the success of their plan that the mess be secured first, and any vampires hiding there eliminated.