‘On my god,’ he said quietly when he saw the ruptured pipe above him.
Roth staggered backwards, retreating from the innocent-looking liquid which hissed and fizzed as it hit the catwalk. Thinking fast, the Chief Engineer turned and tried to find someone – anyone – to warn. Below him numerous technicians and engineers busied themselves about the throbbing engines, all of them seemingly oblivious to the fatal situation that was unfolding far above them.
‘Get out here! Get out!’ Roth frantically cried. ‘Can’t you hear me? Get out!’
Some of his men looked up quizzically, while others continued with their checks, but the din of the machinery muffled Roth’s dire warnings.
‘Move boys!’ Roth shouted again. ‘The C-stoff fuel is leaking. Get out! Get out!’
He ran down the quivering catwalk, his pace quickening when he suddenly spotted a vividly coloured emergency button at the far end. Roth slapped the button to unleash a whining klaxon. The job done, he now looked over the catwalk’s barrier and saw, one by one, his shipmates looking up and spotting the frantic Chief Engineer. But the crew would not only have seen Roth but also the ghostly finger of energy as it reappeared like some demonic theatrical effect. He stood frozen on the spot as he too saw the ethereal invader bubbling from the very metal of the ship. Its appearance this time was totally devoid of its previous insidious and creeping approach, now it was brazen and wanton as its claw-like throngs coiled around the leaking fuel-pipe. He screamed as the plasma viciously wrenched the pipe apart, releasing thousands of litres of C-stoff. Then in one single motion the sinister entity shot across the steaming chamber and pulled apart the pipes.
Roth gripped the barrier and closed his eyes as he was engulfed by the torrent of vapour and liquid, his defiant silhouette standing momentarily before the thunderous deluge.
Within seconds, the two chemicals splashed and mixed into one another and exploded spectacularly.
The mighty explosion consumed the entire engine room and along with it, the stern of the ship. The immense fire-ball expanded rapidly to devour the rest of the Odin.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The explosion hit the prisoners within their claustrophobic prison. Almost instantly acrid smoke began to roll up the tubular chamber adding to the disorientation and confusion as they instinctively headed towards the only means of escape – a sealed airlock. Its polished surface reflected the terrified faces of the prisoners who had piled up against it. In front of the barrier their basic instincts, driven by fear and panic, overcame them as they fought and clawed like animals. Fingers gouged eyes, teeth bit into flesh.
The explosion had knocked Konrad from his cot and onto the grated floor. He could taste the smoke in his mouth, its barbs stinging his eyes and rooting into his lungs. He coughed and spluttered as he rose groggily. A ruddy glow in the distance stained the blackness that surrounded him. It was the glow of fire. The sight of the oncoming inferno cleared Konrad’s mind. What the hell had happened? What had caused the explosion? These questions would have to wait to be answered, if at all, for later. All that mattered now was escaping, and escaping with Elsa.
Konrad climbed to his feet and looked through the barred wall. She was gone. As he looked another figure lunged at the locked gate. The female figure, her face stained with blood and smoke desperately grabbed the lock. At that instant the electric current shot through her. After a few seconds, the female prisoner’s agonies were over and her smoking body slumped to the deck. The smell of her burnt flesh overcame even the pervasive stench of the smoke. He turned away in disgust and peered through the smoke and made out the shape of a young guard, baton in hand and panic in his eyes. The guard swung his baton wildly, using it to push the frightened women back into what appeared like the depths of Hell as the fire took hold. Konrad desperately searched the screaming faces and eventually saw Elsa still alive. Their eyes met and a small ray of hope spread across her face.
‘Hey! Open the gate,’ he shouted at the guard. ‘Have a heart and give the women a chance to escape!’
The guard simply ignored Konrad.
‘Let them through!’ Konrad shouted again.
This time the guard responded by swinging his baton at the barred wall, its sparking tip scraping Konrad’s knuckles. ‘Shut the fuck up!’ he hissed.
Just as the words left his mouth another blast reverberated. This time its source was closer to home.
A sheet of flame roared through the tunnel. It carried within it a giant piece of shrapnel and this jagged piece of metal cart-wheeled straight through the obstinate guard. After taking out the guard, it ploughed into the electric-gate, buckling the bars and creating a gap big enough for the petrified women to escape though without being electrocuted.
Konrad waited anxiously at the twisted bars for Elsa to emerge. His anxiety was heightened by the tremor of yet another distant explosion, but he continued to wait for his friend as the floor shuddered and shifted below him. Eventually Elsa’s small figure climbed through. For a few seconds, the two prisoners simply stared at one another, unsure as to how to react now that the barrier that had previously separated them was gone. She settled the impasse by grabbing his hand and squeezing it gently. They scrambled away from the flames that were now consuming the mutilated remains of the stubborn guard.
Mesler, the Odin’s Executive officer, pawed at a nearby handrail as the floor slipped away from under him. He watched helplessly as the ship pitched to and fro, flinging him across the clattering gantry and at the feet of the chaplain, Lang. He was wedged below a flaming panel, his knees pulled tightly against his chest and his swastika pendent pressed to his lips.
‘O beloved God, help thy warriors from the hell upon us!’ he cried. ‘Please hear our cries and deliver us from our plight. Please save us! Please save us!’
Mesler ignored the desperate prayer and rolled away as a monitor nearby exploded in a sheet of sparks and glass. He carefully made his way towards Admiral Bauer who clung to the same walkway. The Admiral had braced himself against the useless panel with his single good hand. His flesh and bone limb quivered under the strain while his other robotic arm hung uselessly as his side, obviously damaged beyond repair by the explosion. Its inner workings of valves, tubes and wires were spattered with the oily residue of the hydraulic fluid and his own natural blood.
‘Mesler!’ he shouted. ‘I need your help.’
The officer crawled his way to Bauer and braced himself against the room’s central column. It shuddered violently beneath him, demonstrating how much stress the mighty ship was experiencing. Mesler examined Bauer’s damaged arm and gingerly placed the disabled limb onto the Admiral’s lap.
‘I never have any luck with that damn arm,’ Bauer moaned. ‘There’s something I need your help with, Mesler.’
‘Of course, Admiral. What do you want me to do?’
Bauer directed Mesler to an object hidden within his shredded tunic. He pulled the jacket and shirt open to reveal a chain from which hung a short brass cylinder.
‘Take the key from my neck,’ Bauer said.
Mesler yanked the chain from the Admiral’s neck and deposited it into his grateful palm. The Admiral then looped the broken chain several times around his fingers, before falling onto a blank panel set in the central column.
‘What’s the key for?’ Mesler shouted as he joined the Admiral.
‘We need to disengage the command module from the rest of the ship before it’s too late,’ Bauer said as he fumbled with the key. ‘I can’t save everybody, but at least I’ll be able to save the crew in here.’ He tried desperately to place it into a lock set in the centre of the panel, but despite his best efforts the key bounced and scraped either side of the hole as more tremors shook the room. ‘You’ll have to do it,’ Bauer said as he slapped the key into Mesler’s hand. ‘Use the key to open this panel up. Then do as I say.’