The sound of his voice echoed in the massive engine room, but otherwise there was no response. He looked at Veyron.
“I don’t think they’re interested,” Veyron said.
Tom swept his Uzi around the room so the light shined across it. “You have any ideas?”
“Yeah, this!” Veyron stepped out of the elevator. Shined the light from the end of his Uzi around until he found what he was looking for and then fired two, three round bursts, into the bilge water. “If anyone’s here, I strongly suggest you come out now before I light up this entire damned engine room.”
Silence.
“Jesus, Veyron!” Tom said, “Now they know we’re here!”
“Don’t worry, they already knew we were here. Remember the red light from the elevator camera? Someone’s been watching us.”
Tom shined his flashlight around the room. He felt exposed in the dark with his own flashlight forming a beacon to shoot at. A large brass miner’s lamp hung from the edge of the elevator. “What the hell is that?”
Veyron stepped closer and picked it up. “It’s a carbide lamp. Circa 1910 at a guess, but what the hell it’s doing down here, I have no idea.”
“Would it be bright enough to light up this room?”
“Something this size could light up a good portion of it.”
Veyron opened the water nozzle until tiny drops of water mixed with the carbide inside, causing a chemical reaction that released the highly flammable gas, acetylene. He flicked the striker at the back of the device a couple times. A tiny piece of flint struck the spark wheel and ignited the acetylene gas. The entire thing burned with a warm glow. He adjusted the flow of water until an adequate balance between flame and lighting was achieved.
The warm light filtered through the engine room. Not quite prominent enough to reach the back of the room, but it went a long way to making them feel less vulnerable to an ambush.
“Hey, what do you think of that?” Veyron said, placing the glowing light on the floor in front of him. A proud grin forming on his otherwise serious face.
“Great, but I think I just spotted the main light switch.” Tom looked at the wooden switch. It appeared old and ornate. Underneath, was a circular metal device like a light dimmer. Next to it a labeclass="underline" Engine Room. Main Lighting.
Veyron followed him. He looked worried. Something was definitely wrong about the whole situation. His hands gripped the Uzi’s handle, and Tom could see he was preparing for the imminent ambush. “Well don’t just wait there staring at it, turn the damn thing on and let’s see what we’ve got.”
Tom flicked the switch.
The sound of flint striking several spark wheels went, click, click, click. A tiny glow of light resonated throughout the ceiling. Veyron stepped behind him and adjusted the metal turn wheel. The sound of water hissing as it turned into gas resonated throughout the room. Moments later, the warm lights lit the room.
Tom felt instantly sick. He gripped the hilt of his Uzi for reassurance. Something was very wrong about the entire place. The warm lights flickered throughout the ceiling. Water could be heard dripping in the distance. And Tom couldn’t help but feel like he’d just entered some kind of disturbing nightmare envisioned by one of Steven King’s more outlandish imaginings.
The entire room could now be seen. The shadows dwindled away and the massive diesel engines and their outer mechanical workings were all that remained.
Somehow he saw the room for what it was — something evil.
“What the hell is that?” Tom asked.
“That’s a carbide lighting system,” Veyron said. “It appears whoever installed it has set it up to light the entire level.”
“But why is it here?”
“For lighting, of course.” Veyron grinned. “Carbide lighting was used in rural and urban areas of the United States which were not served by electrification. Its use began shortly after 1900 and continued past the 1950s. Calcium carbide pellets were placed in a container outside the home, with water piped to the container and allowed to drip on the pellets releasing acetylene. This gas was piped to lighting fixtures inside the house, where it was burned, creating a very bright flame. The house I grew up in still used carbide lighting. It’s awfully reminiscent for me. You know, it was inexpensive, but prone to gas leaks and dreadful explosions.”
“That’s really fascinating, Veyron…” Tom interrupted him. “But, what’s it doing in the state of the art engine room of a modern cruise ship?”
“Back up lighting, in case the power goes out?” Veyron suggested, although he clearly didn’t believe it.
“But this is a modern cruise ship. There must be any number of better electrical based options, such as LED headlamps to be used in an emergency power outage?”
“I have no idea, but it seems to me that whoever brought these down here was expecting to have a prolonged period without electricity sometime in the near future.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Tom rapidly performed a reconnaissance of the now well-lit engine room. Veyron, behind him, covered him with his weapon as Tom searched the rest of the room. Tom moved around the room in a counterclockwise direction. Clearing each section and confirming no one was hiding before moving on. Two locked doors were found at opposite ends of the room. Per the schematics, each one led to the level above.
He turned to Veyron. “All right, the engine room’s clear — let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Okay. You want to go stairs or elevator?”
“Stairs. Easier to secure.”
Tom scanned the room and then approached the door at the end of the room. His eyes stopped at the elevator door, which after remaining open for the past ten minutes, suddenly closed. “Shit, the elevator.”
He ran towards it. Pressed the open door button and then watched as the elevator ascended without them. He banged on the up button, and watched as the elevator numbers glowed until it stopped at the second level.
Tom hit the up button again.
Instead of descending, the numbered lights continued to raise until it stopped. The number six remained glowing.
“Shit!” Tom swore. He hit the transmitter on his portable radio. “Elise, you’ve got company!”
“I’m on it!” Elise replied. Her voice calm and confident.
Veyron swiped his card on the elevator door and pressed the up button again. The light flashed red: Access Denied. “What the hell? I thought Elise said she gave us access to every door on the ship.”
Tom stared at the elevator numbers. Six was still glowing which meant the elevator hadn’t moved from the level Elise was guarding. “I don’t know what to say, but Elise is in trouble.”
Veyron depressed his radio transmitter. “Elise, what have you got?”
“Nothing,” she replied. “I tracked the elevator from the second basement level up to the sixth passenger level. It’s stopped but the doors have remained shut.”
“Don’t let whoever the hell is on the other side of that door out!” Tom said. “We’re coming back up to help.”
“I have the M2 heavy machinegun fixed on the door,” Elise said loudly enough for Tom and whoever was inside the elevator to hear. “If anyone tries to come out those doors they’re going to be made into pureed flesh pretty quick.”
“That-a-girl!” Veyron knocked Tom on his shoulder. “Let’s find our own way out of this mess. Elise can look after herself.”
“Elevator door’s opening!” Elise yelled. “I have an M2 heavy machine gun pointed at you. Get your hands up, now!”
Tom pressed the up button again.
“What the fuck?” Elise swore.
The sound of machine gun fire echoed down the elevator shaft. Three bursts and about fifty rounds fired. Tom felt the vibrations of metal piercing metal in the door below where his hand rested.