A late third season story. A WHB and WHN for Destroy Seaview, with a surprising and disturbing connection to the past. Please note that I varied from the episode's runaway reactor resolution simply because the science just isn't there… you can't stop a reactor from going critical by short-circuiting the reaction with a laser blast. Not being a nuclear engineer, I'm pretty sure my handling of the Reactor Room wouldn't have done the trick either, but it is more plausible. I did, however, keep the very improbable radiation decontamination as a cure for Dr. Land, simply because this is science fiction and… I needed it. : )
Inspired by "Small Victories" story challenge at Seaview Stories.
Runaway Reactor
by Lynn
Chapter One
Lee's lucidness returned as another jolt from the runaway reactor rocked Seaview. He had no time to help a bleeding Sharkey apparently suffering from a bullet wound, or fuss over Harry, currently lying stunned by a low voltage laser gun blast administered by Dr. Land; the reactor was minutes away from reaching critical. He rushed shakily in to dampen the rods that Harry had pulled in his crazed attempt to Destroy Seaview.
"Lee, no you can't!"
The Admiral's plea to stop was followed by a jolt that knocked Lee away from the reactor rods as Harry barreled in, pushing Seaview's captain away at full force. Lee was stunned physically, Harry's booby trap explosion hadn't helped his weakened condition; by the time he recovered, the reactor was already cooling as Harry had unexpectedly found his senses.
Lee walked shakily toward him, assessing Harry's mental state and finally recognizing the familiar fire in Admiral Nelson's eyes; it was a passion he recognized as he realized that whatever had been driving Harry to destroy Seaview had inexplicably been abated.
"How did all this happen? Now, who's responsible for this?" the Admiral demanded, completely unaware of his hand in their near disaster.
"How did all this happen?!" a shocked Lee Crane countered as Harry waved him off.
"All right, you can tell me about it later. It's all right now. The reaction has been averted and Seaview is herself again," he stated, walking out of the Reactor Room with a bewildered Captain Crane following behind.
# # # # #
Three weeks earlier…
Captain Crane ran through Seaview's corridors as the sound of klaxons reverberated in the air. The red lights of the emergency generator flickered on and off, declaring its precarious state. He rounded the corner, reaching the Engineering compartment housing the faulty generator.
"Report, Mr. O'Brien," he ordered as soon as he entered.
"Thirty minutes, Sir. I'm sorry, but I can't shave off any more time than that," he answered over his shoulder, not stopping his work, even to report.
Lee leaned down, inspecting the damaged unit himself before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, coming to the same conclusion as his Engineering Officer.
"Carry on, Bobby," he urged, the seriousness of the repair easily heard in the intensity of his voice. He headed straight for the mic hanging on the wall and snapped it up, clicking to activate the boat-wide com system.
"Admiral, ETA on the generator is thirty minutes."
A slight delay was followed by the Admiral's voice. "It's not good enough, Lee. Dampening the rods just isn't enough if we can't cool the pipes," he answered intensely. "At this point the reactor will go critical in fifteen minutes," he predicted.
Lee balled the mic in his hand, tapping it against his chin as he thought desperately for a solution to save the boat and every man on board. No power meant that Seaview was sitting on the bottom, the faulty emergency generator wasn't even keeping up with air revitalization, but that wasn't their greatest problem. Though the air was fouling, they could hold out thirty minutes if only they could cool the pipes to Seaview's runaway reactor. Fifteen minutes… all he had was fifteen minutes…
"Lee? Did you hear me?" Harry inquired, just as Lee's face lit in realization.
"Admiral, I've got an idea. All we need is sea water to cool the pipes."
"Well now, that is the problem, isn't it?" Harry replied in slight exasperation to Lee's statement.
"But it can be done, Sir," Lee continued on with a quick glance at his watch. "All I have to do is manually pump the water…"
"At this depth, the water will barely be above freezing, even with dive gear it's a long shot."
"It's the only way, Admiral. You keep dampening the rods; I'll start pumping as soon as I reach the compartment."
A short pause was followed by an accepting gust of the breath as Harry apparently came to the same conclusion. "Take care, Lee."
"Aye Sir," he replied, double clicking the mic and making another call.
"Chip, I need the service access opened to the reactor coolant system and a set of tanks waiting for me when I get there."
An efficient "Aye Sir" was heard as Lee took off, yelling over his shoulder as he ran. "Keep at it, Bobby. I need those generators up!"
"Aye, aye, Sir," the Engineering Officer replied, putting aside his concern for his captain's safety and concentrating on the task at hand; but everyone on board knew that thirty minutes in the cold 40-degree water would mean a sure case of hypothermia at best; at worst… well, he didn't even want to think about that.
# # # # #
Lee made his way to the service compartment finding Sharkey and a rating both working to unscrew the access panel. He paced the deck anxiously just as Chip and Kowalski arrived a moment later with a set of tanks and a dry suit. Lee reached for the tanks, bypassing the dry suit to Chip's furled brow.
"Lee…" the first officer protested, but was cut-off in mid-sentence.
"No time," the Skipper responded with a check of the watch. "Hurry it along, Chief. I've only got twelve minutes to make it to the manual station and pump enough water to cool the pipes."
"This is the last one, Skipper," Sharkey replied, pulling out the final screw.
"Lee, you won't last fifteen minutes in there before hypothermia sets in without a suit," Chip warned in a respectful whisper, his blue eyes piercing in staunch disapproval.
Lee tested his mouth piece, blowing to make sure his line was clear, before turning toward his friend of many years. "There's no time for this, Chip. You know as well as I do that we're working against the clock here," he said, hoisting himself into the access panel before turning around to take the tank from Chief Sharkey since the opening was too small to fit through with the tank attached. "Besides," he added attaching the tank belt about his waist as he spoke, "I'll only be exposed for a half hour, you may have to thaw me out, but it's survivable," he said, adding a small half-smile before returning to the seriousness of his task. "Seal the access panel back up to ensure proper pressure," he ordered, to Chip's nod.
"Aye, aye Sir," the Exec answered dutifully, before nodding to Sharkey. "You heard the Skipper, Chief, seal it up."
Chip watched as Sharkey and a rating reapplied the screws to the access door and scoffed silently.
Survivable, he repeated sardonically, knowing that Lee was banking on the high-end of the survivability scale of 90 minutes in water below 40 degrees, and completely glossing over the fact that the low-end of the survivability table was just thirty minutes.
The flickering lights underscored the precarious position the Boat was currently in while Chip watched Sharkey tighten the last screw.
"Keep two men stationed here ready to reopen the panel, Chief."
"Aye Sir, Marcos and I will man the detail."
Chip nodded and headed out the door. He knew it would take Lee several minutes to reach the manual pump station, and now was the perfect time to check in on the Admiral in the Reactor Room. A quick glance at his watch emphasized the point that precious time was ticking away as he hurried his steps, hoping that Lee's plan worked and praying that it wouldn't cost Seaview its captain in the process.
# # # # #
"How is it coming, Sir?" Chip asked, entering the Reactor Room and finding Harry dampening rods, one at a time and in perfect sequence, trying to stay ahead of the reactor reaching its critical point.
"We're just not keeping up. Lee had better get that pump working fast, or all this will be for nothing," Harry replied in a moment of raw honesty, as he calculated critical mass in seven minutes if the pipes weren't cooled fast.
Chip nodded, realizing that Harry wasn't being callous over Lee's exposure to the cold waters at 1,200 feet, but was dealing with an imminent disaster if Seaview's Captain wasn't successful.
"Aye Sir, he's on his way," Chip replied, deciding that now wasn't the time to tell the Admiral that Lee had chosen to brave the cold waters without a dive suit in order to reach the manual pump station as quickly as possible.
"Dampen number 9, Chip," Harry said watching the gauges and making adjustments. "Come on, Lee," Nelson urged under his breath as the tension ramped up.
Nervous exchanges among several of the reactor crew were passed, as the threshold to "critical" drew near; each one keenly aware that once the reactor hit a certain point, no amount of cooling of the pipes could stop it. Anxious glances at the clock verified that the point of no return was only minutes away, as the whole Boat waited to see if Captain Crane could pull off another miracle to save Seaview and her crew.
# # # # #
Lee wasted no time crawling through the access tube toward the water tight hatch ahead, as the lighting diminished markedly as the access panel was sealed behind him. The dim red illumination of emergency lighting led his way as he cracked the first of two hatches that served as the "gateway" to the chamber he would soon be flooding with ice cold sea water. He closed the first hatch behind him, before crawling to the next hatch, the watertight chamber acting as the buffer between the wet compartment housing the reactor coolant system, and the dry access compartment. A quick roll of the wheel and the second hatch was opened, as Lee crawled in and sealed it behind him. Immediately, he crawled for the manual pumping station as sweat rolled down his temples and slid down his jaw. His shirt dampened almost at once, as the overheated pipes overhead increased the temperature of the chamber almost unbearably. He reached the pump and grabbed the lever to begin pumping, but withdrew his hand when the heated metal beneath his hand stung instantly. He tested the lever again, deciding that he could handle the heated lever and began pumping, a long slow process that required him flooding the entire compartment by hand. Soon, the frigid water of 38 degrees began pouring in. It only took a few minutes for the water to begin flooding the deck, causing him to shiver immediately when it reached his legs folded up under him. The compartment was barely tall enough for him to work, even on his knees, requiring him to bend his head over slightly to avoid the pipes overhead.
"Hurry, hurry," he urged himself as he watched the water rise, working through an involuntary shiver as the water reached his thighs. He continued pumping as the water reached his chest, invoking a gasp reflex and noting that the near-freezing water was already cooling the hot chamber, but fully aware that the danger wouldn't pass until the compartment was completely flooded.
He lowered his face mask and adjusted his regulator to his mouth when the water reached his neck, a moment later the chamber was completely flooded. He risked a quick glance at his watch and was relieved to see that he had made it; if the Admiral's calculations were accurate, he amended silently, just as his shivers moved to violent shaking.
# # # # #
Chip continued to assist Harry in the Reactor Room where nearly all the rods had been pulled.
"The temperature is still rising, Sir. Do we pull another?" Chip asked, his blue eyes piercing in intensity.
Harry shook his head, pursing his bottom lip as he studied the gauges for himself. "Negative Chip, we've got to give Lee more time. If we can keep the temperature in this range, we have a chance of the Reactor recovering; if we dampen everything, we risk a completely runaway Reactor with no further recourse," Harry explained, having completed all the complex calculations in his head.
The needle on the gauge seemed to teeter back and forth for a moment, as if reassessing its next move, before staying steady.
"Wait a minute," Harry said, as a half-smile twitched on his cheek while watching the critical temperature gauge. "I think he must be pumping the water." A small chuckle followed as the needle dropped a point and he pushed one rod in. The needle waggled again, but apparently the cooling water was doing its job as it remained steady for a moment and then dropped yet another notch on the gauge.
"He's got it," Harry declared, as the crewmen manning the Reactor Room let out a whoop of relief.
"All right men, pipe down!" Chip admonished, effectively bringing the exuberant ratings' attention back to the work at hand. The danger wasn't over yet; not until the emergency generator was up and running at full strength.
Harry continued making calculations in his head and adjusting accordingly; the dampening of reactor rods not just an arbitrary task of adjusting rods at one's whim, while Chip stood by, ready to lend a hand if requested.
"It's working," Harry said with a nod to the gauge as the needle made its way from the ominous red zone where it had been parked, toward the green zone.
Chip blew out a breath of relief and glanced at his watch. "I'll check on engineering's progress with the generator," he told the Admiral, to Harry's nod as he continued to monitor the status of the Reactor.
The progress of the generator was still vital as the Reactor wasn't ready to receive the power plant duties until the Admiral could give it a clean bill of health; but even with all the good news, Chip hadn't lost track of the fact that Lee was still manually pumping sea water without a dive suit.
# # # # #
Lee's teeth chattered against the regulator as he manually pumped fresh sea water into the compartment, all the while trying to avoid gasping as the temperature of the water attacked him like a thousand tiny pins. But it wasn't enough to just flood the compartment, he had to stay and continue pumping to prevent the over-heated pipes from raising the water's temperature and negating his efforts. His endeavor, however, was seriously compromised by the fact that he was losing the feeling in his hands. He was still shaking violently when a radio transmission came through.
"Lee, this is Chip. It's working. The Reactor is cooling and approaching the safety limit."
Lee mustered all his strength to answer, trying his best to hide his current distress.
"G…good. Generator?" he questioned.
"Still on schedule, but Bobby assures me it will be fixed within the next fifteen minutes."
"F…fine," he stuttered, blinking under his mask, and shaking his head to stay lucid.
"Lee," Chip called tentatively, hoping to talk sense into Seaview's intrepid captain. "You did it, you gave us the time we needed to repair the generator; I'll send in a replacement to pump the station."
"No!" he answered emphatically. "C…compartment will drain in transfer, have to keep… pipes cool 'till Bobby's finished," he replied, his efforts to keep pumping heard through his pained voice. "Only fifteen mmm…minutes… more," he added before hearing Chip's "Aye Sir" acknowledging that this wasn't a request, but an order.
Lee blinked again, realizing that for a moment he had forgotten to continue pumping. He shook his head to clear his fuzzy brain and put all his concentration into the task of keeping fresh sea water flowing into the compartment. His hands were wrapped around the lever, practically frozen in position and he dared not removed them, since he was losing feeling in his extremities. The up-down motion of pulling the lever was getting more difficult as his coordination started to waiver, dictating even more concentration. He recognized that the symptoms of hypothermia were manifesting themselves and knew that it would take all his effort to stay on task.
Chip said fifteen minutes, was that a few minutes ago? he asked himself, before shaking his head again to clear his mind. It didn't matter how long had passed; this was his post until the pumps came online again, he determined resolutely as his blood pressure, respiration, and pulse began to drop.
# # # # #
Chip pursed his bottom lip tightly at Lee's refusal to allow a relief to his position. He was right of course, but the thought of his friend exposed to the cold sea water for fifteen minutes longer was nearly unbearable, especially when he wasn't properly geared for the job. Nevertheless, his job was to support the decisions of his captain and answered in accordance with his naval training.
"Aye Sir," Seaview's Exec replied, trying to avoid biting his bottom lip and having made this call from the Radio Shack utilizing the phone receiver to avoid the transmission being broadcasted all over the Boat.
Sparks raised a worried brow, the only other person to have heard the Skipper who was clearly suffering from a case of hypothermia.
Chip hung up the receiver. "Monitor the frequency, Sparks. Keep me advised," he ordered, even though Lee had turned off the talk function from his end, no doubt to keep his current ordeal private.
"Aye Sir," Sparks replied, promising to be Lee's lifeline.
Chip nodded; their shared unspoken concern clearly visible. His shoulders heaved as he took an appraising glance around the Control Room. They were dead in the water, on the bottom some 1,200 feet below the surface, and completely vulnerable without sonar or hydrophones. He only hoped that the hostile sub they were forced to blow out of the water had been a solo effort against them. Without the Reactor up and running they had no power to launch torpedoes. In short, they were sitting ducks if another enemy sub came a calling.
There wasn't anything he could do with the Control Room stations dead or working minimally, so he headed to where he could do the most good for Seaview.
"You have the Con, Sparks," he ordered, before heading aft to check on the progress of both the generator and the Reactor, while Sparks monitored the frequency.
# # # # #
Harry continued to make adjustments to the dampening rods as the needle slowly crept closer within safety limits. The tension in the Reactor Room had slowly morphed to guarded optimism, seasoned with the knowledge that they weren't out of the woods yet, as the Admiral's concentration and on-going concern served as an example for the young rating's own diligence in their duties.
Harry, however, was silently thinking through another problem even as he worked to bring the Reactor under control. Washington had issued a "credible threat" warning, received only hours before the run-in with the unidentified enemy sub had sent Seaview to the bottom. Fortunately, Lee's able-handling of the Boat had brought about a direct hit on their adversary, as the smaller submarine without country markings, was destroyed by the expert seamanship of Seaview's Captain. The victory was short-lived however, as they still had the task of outrunning a live torpedo on their sixes. Lee had employed a risky, but effective tactic, maneuvering the sub close to a sea mount, before deploying counter-measures and then high-tailing it out of the torpedo's path. The tactic worked, with the torpedo following the countermeasures and hitting the sea mount, unfortunately, Seaview was too close to the explosion and the strong shock waves did their damage, the result being a damaged Reactor. To make matters worse, the emergency generator was also damaged, along with a list of fixes DC was currently working on.
Harry eyed the temperature gauge, ascertaining that the Reactor was no longer a threat and pursed his bottom lip in satisfaction. Though not in the green yet, the Reactor was under control and well on its way to operating safely once again. He expelled a sigh of relief before returning to the issue of the enemy sub.
Washington hadn't elaborated in the short communique, but he was certain that he knew exactly what had been the instigator of the threat… Seaview's deep diving capabilities and Zycron 143.
# # # # #
Lee's pumping began to slow as his limbs slowly began to stop working. Unfortunately, he was breaking the first rule of cold water survival, which called for the victim to stay as still as possible as expending energy only cools the body faster. Thus, the continual pumping had lowered his resistance to the cold, and hypothermia had well set in; much faster, in fact, than if he were observing the rules of pulling one's legs up to the torso to conserve body heat.
Despite the fact that he was slowing down, he still managed to pump even though the shivering had stopped, another sign that the hypothermia had progressed in severity. It was now taking all of his concentration to move the lever up and down as his mental faculties turned sluggish until finally, he couldn't pump any longer. His arms just refused to work anymore as his coordination took a deep dive south. He sat looking at the lever for a moment, his mind drifting until he suddenly remembered Seaview's plight. He couldn't let his crew down, so he focused all his attention on the lever beneath his hands and pulled downward, the whole maneuver taking all his strength as he leaned against the lever. His mind drifted once again, lost in a lethargic blissful world until the red lighting inside the compartment brightened. He blinked as a gurgling noise caught his attention even in his compromised state, and looked up to realize that fresh sea water was now pumping without his aid. His awareness barely caught the signs that power had been restored as the weight of his task finally lifted from his shoulders, releasing him from his responsibility as his eyes stared blankly and he fell forward.
# # #
A/N - This is a novel length story and I'm going to try my hand at chapter postings. Hope you stay with me and enjoy. Lynn