NINE

"There must be something we can do," said Piper.

"I'm afraid not," said Malcolm. "The only way to shut the bubble down is to get inside. And anyone who goes inside it will be signing their own death warrant. No living organism can withstand that amount of radiation and survive. And I can assure you it's more than enough to kill any human being several times over."

"I'm only half human," said Paige. "I'm also half White Lighter. Maybe that will give me some protection."

"I'm not sure what a White Lighter is," said Malcolm, "but I can assure you that not even one of them would survive that amount of radiation."

"What if we unplugged the machine?" Phoebe asked. "The machine must be plugged into the reactor somehow."

"Yes," said Malcolm, "there's a connecting cable on the back of it. If we could somehow disconnect it the machine would shut down. But once the machine shuts down the electromagnetic fields will dissipate. All of that radiation will be released into the atmosphere. Now this room is specially shielded so that none of the radiation escapes to the outside but everyone in the room would immediately be exposed to that radiation."

"So if we shut it down," said Piper, "everyone in here will die?"

"That's about the size of it," said Malcolm. "The radiation will eventually dissipate without the machine running. But I'm afraid no one inside the building will survive it. And I don't think Paige can shut it down from out here anyway. Piper's explosive power won't penetrate the shield. There's no reason to believe Paige's ability will either."

"Isn't there any other way to shut this thing down?" Paige asked.

"I'm afraid not," said Malcolm. "There must have been a crack in the containment tank. The pressure must have widened it causing the coolant to leak out. And unfortunately the bubble is keeping the coolant inside which is why the radiation is increasing so rapidly. And according to the control panel the coolant will drop below the safe level in just over three minutes."

"We don't have any other choice," said Paige. "We have to shut that machine down. Once we do we can get Leo down here. Maybe his healing will be able to cure the radiation overdose."

"Paige you can't," said Piper. "Even if you can shut it down you'll take the brunt of the radiation. For all we know you'll be dead before Leo can orb in. And you know his healing doesn't work on the dead."

"We don't have a choice," said Paige. "We're out of time. And if we don't shut it down I'll be dead anyway. So will everyone else, including the two of you. At least this way we have a chance. And look at it like this. We're supposed to protect the innocent, right? Well I get the chance we rarely get. I can protect all innocents everywhere at the same time."

"Piper, she's right," said Phoebe. "I don't like it any more than you do. But this is more important than any of us. And she's right about Leo. His healing is supposed to be able to heal anything. This is the only chance we have."

"Okay," said Piper hesitantly. "But don't mess around. Just get in there and shut down the machine as quickly as you can. I'll call for Leo as soon as you do and he can heal you as soon as he gets here."

"Don't worry, honey," said Paige, kissing Piper on the cheek. "I don't plan to take any more chances than I absolutely have to."

Before Paige orbed inside the bubble she tried using her orbing power on the cable that attached the reactor to the device. Just as Malcolm had suggested the bubble deflected her magic away. It was quite evident that the only way to shut the machine down was to orb inside the bubble.

Paige hesitated for a minute. She knew the risk she was taking. But she also knew what was at stake. As Charmed Ones they had risked their lives on countless occasions to protect the innocent. In many ways this was no different from those other times. But she also knew that in this she would be totally alone. If something went wrong there would be no way for any of them to help her.

Suddenly Paige orbed inside the bubble. It was uncomfortably warm. And Paige almost immediately began to feel light headed. She could hear the low hum of the machine. She quickly moved over to the control panel and located the off switch. She flipped it into the down position which Malcolm said should shut the machine down.

She waited several moments. The machine continued to hum quietly. She could see the others outside the bubble but no sound penetrated the bubble. It soon became quite evident that the off switch was malfunctioning. The only way to stop the machine was to disconnect it from the power source.

Quickly Paige moved to the cable she had previously tried to orb. Her head was beginning to swim and she was lightheaded. A small headache was starting. And as she looked down at her hands she noticed that her skin was beginning to flake off.

It was the affect of the radiation poisoning Malcolm had mentioned. The amount of radiation she was being exposed to was literally beginning to cook her skin. It was like being inside a giant microwave oven. In a few minutes the radiation would completely overwhelm her and she would pass out. If that happened before she disconnected the machine none of them would survive.

She was finding it more and more difficult to move. The cable was only a few feet away but her senses were becoming distorted. Her vision was blurring and she was finding it difficult to think straight. She suddenly realized she had fallen to her knees.

She tried to rise but the exertion was overwhelming. She nearly lost her balance and fell over, barely catching herself in time. She knew she would never be able to get to her feet let alone walk the short distance and then pull the cable out of the machine. She would loose consciousness long before that happened.

Paige looked up at the cable less than five feet from her. It was so close. A couple of more feet and she would have been able to simply reach out and grab it. As she felt herself beginning to loose consciousness she stretched out her hand and called to the cable. If she couldn't reach the cable she fully intended to orb it to her. She wasn't sure if she had been successful. As she called for the cable she suddenly blanked out and lost consciousness.