Read Online Cold is the Sea by Edward L. Beach - Free Book Online Page A

here.” He jackknifed through the steel doorway.
    There was a crowd at the other end of the engineroom, around the watertight door leading to the reactor compartment. To Richardson’s surprise, among them were the three members of the reactor duty section and the engineering watch officer, a young-faced red-haired civilian employee named Baker. Baker was staring through the glass peephole in the steel door as Rich pushed his way through to him.
    â€œWhat’s happened, Red? Did you abandon the reactor compartment?”
    â€œHad to, Rich! All our dosimeters were way up! Couldn’t take a chance on staying!”
    â€œAny idea what happened?”
    â€œThere’s steam in the lower level. I saw it through the periscope myself. Something has given way down there, is my guess!”
    â€œDid you scram?” Richardson hissed the question to Baker alone. He already knew the answer, for the turbo-generator sets which provided power for the simulated submarine were still running. Unless the reactor had been shut down only during the past few seconds, less than a minute, they would no longer be getting steam.
    â€œNot yet. Maybe I’d better. It just happened less than five minutes ago. Somebody noticed his dosimeter had climbed, and then we all checked our own and saw the same thing, and about the same time somebody looked in the lower level through the periscope and saw steam. But everything’s still running okay.”
    â€œBut Red, we can’t leave the reactor untended.”
    â€œI know,” said Baker uncertainly. “I guess we should scram, but we were hoping to finish this test run tonight. . . .” His voice dropped. He had been recently put in charge of a watch section and was known to be a good technician. Clearly, however, his training had not yet equipped him to make a decision of this magnitude.
    Richardson dropped his voice to a low note meant for Baker only. “Have you called Dusty?”
    â€œUh, no. I guess I should. . . .”
    â€œBetter do that right away. How long did it take your dosimeters to rise, and how high did they go?”
    â€œMaybe five minutes, and they’re all pretty near the top. So it was a pretty healthy dose we all got.”
    â€œIf they didn’t hit the peg you didn’t get much radiation, Red. Have somebody collect the film badges and get them checked. That will give you a better idea of it. Tell someone else to call Rhodes. He’s got the responsibility for the plant and will have to take charge of this. It will take him more than an hour to get here, though, and we’ve got to decide what can be done before then.” Richardson still spoke in a carrying whisper. Unconsciously he had been giving orders, and equally unconsciously, Baker moved with alacrity to carry out the only sensible program that presented itself.
    Richardson was staring through the glass eyeport in the door.It was not possible to look into the lower level of the reactor compartment where the steam leak existed, for that could be seen only through the two “periscopes” which penetrated the thick lead-and-plastic-shielded deck between upper and lower reactor spaces. There was a hatch in the deck, but no one could go into the lower level until the reactor had been shut down, and then only after residual radiation had died away. Everything that could be seen in the upper level was as it should be. Clearly, the only way anything could be discovered was to reenter the upper level and look through the two periscopes.
    He had felt the quickened pulse before. There were chances to be taken, a risk for what might be gained, the problem of attaining the objective with danger to the fewest number of people. Or, what was the same thing in a different sense, how to use the maximum number of people with the minimum exposure to each individual. And suddenly, there it was. An idea. But first, something more had to be known about the