Irena was doing a fantastic job, I thought. She still hadn’t committed to joining the mission, but I needed her on it. She was calm and collected, already part of the independence movement, so I knew that she would be reliable. Grace Winton wouldn’t have sent her to me if she didn’t completely trust her. Irena was highly intelligent and obviously capable. She was almost like a professor as she explained what we needed to do.
We needed her in that reaction chamber on board the dreadnought.
She continued, “We have to get into the reactor room and perform a series of steps. First is to fully remove the control rods. These control the reaction.”
“So why remove them?” Lau asked.
“The control rods are composed of a material that absorbs neutrons. In these old-school reactors, if the reaction turned into a runaway event, the controllers would trip the control rods. Gravity would pull them back into place, inside the core. Their purpose is to stop the reaction. It’s like taking the oxygen out of a fire. It prevents the chain reaction of fission from occurring. Boron or cadmium make up the control rods. In Chernobyl, just before the meltdown, controllers withdrew the rods for a test. When they realized there was an event in progress, they couldn’t get them back in to stop the reaction. The heat dissolved the containment structure and the corium melted downwards into the lower levels of the facility.”
“Why weren’t the control rods inserted to stop the reaction?”
“They fractured during the overheating. They got stuck and wouldn’t lower.”
“But I thought gravity was supposed to pull them down quickly?”
“Yes, you’re right.” Irena frowned. “In the States, controllers would have hit a button marked SCRAM. It means to release the electromagnetic hold on the control rods. It was a failsafe. Also, should power to the plant fail, and there was no way to control the reaction, the control rods would automatically slide downward into the core, stopping the reaction. This didn’t happen at Chernobyl. They found the corium in a massive hardened sculpture in the basement. They called it ‘The Elephant’s Foot.’ Engineers who went looking for it died soon after. It’s still there today, entombed by concrete. It was even highly radioactive ten years after the incident. A few minutes of exposure was still fatal.”
Johnny said, “Mac, I’m behind you on this one hundred percent. You know that. But I still don’t know how this is going to sink the dreadnought. The reactor is in one of the lower levels, near the hull.” He pointed to the diagram, which once again was circling before us. The red dot that Irena had added was still there. “Say we manage to pull the control rods, stop a SCRAM, and cause it to go critical. This reactor might not be as large as Chernobyl. It might not melt down.”
I shot him a sly look. He didn’t know yet.
“There’s more. I know what you’re saying might be true, but the reactor must be huge in order to generate enough power for the SCAV drive. But just in case it’s not, the solution is to add to the reaction, just in case. Make it more violent. Hotter.”
More blank faces.
I pressed on. “I went to speak to three of our nuclear engineers here at Trieste and came up with an option for this. It’s simple. All we have to do is add more uranium.”
Creases appeared in Johnny’s forehead. “But we don’t have any.”
“There’s a way.”
“You can’t just order it, you know,” Meg said. “It’s controlled by the US Department of Energy.”
“There’s a way,” I repeated. They stared back at me now. “Thorium. It’s an alternative. It’s radioactive and decays naturally. It has other uses that don’t set off alarms, like arc welding, so no one will think it’s odd that we’re using it.”
“Do we have thorium?” Johnny asked.
I grinned at him. “We’re in the process of getting some. We’ve opened a mine. We should have our first refined batch soon.”
“And will injecting thorium into the core—”
“No. But part of what makes it special is the Thorium Fuel Cycle. In essence, if we bombard Thorium-232 with neutrons, it’ll produce Uranium-233. U-233 is fissile. The US has even used it in some nuclear bombs. We can use it for this, to take down the dreadnought.”
My suggestion echoed in the close confines of SC-1 as the group looked at each other. Irena looked enthusiastic at the suggestion, while it had perplexed the others.
“But where will we be able to expose the thorium to neutrons?” Meg asked.
“We have a fusion reactor here at Trieste that generates 1,110 megawatts of electricity. Fusion creates neutrons.” I shrugged. “We just have to expose enough thorium to neutrons and we’ll have our uranium.”
They couldn’t believe what I had come up with. Their expressions shifted from the mystified to confounded, and Benning’s bordered on rage. It had astonished Renée, however; there was a look of admiration in her features.
Meg closed her eyes. “Let me get this straight. You want to infiltrate the dreadnought, march to the reactor room, remove the control rods, and somehow insert more uranium into the core. Uranium which we’ll manufacture, using thorium, here at Trieste.”
“You’re right so far. But there’s more.”
She frowned and gestured for me to continue.
“We’re also going to introduce oxygen to the core. Remember Irena said that Russians like to use graphite as their moderator? Well, oxygen and graphite don’t mix under heat. It’ll cause a graphite fire, to really start things moving.”
“So, the core will melt . . .” she prompted.
“Hopefully. It’ll turn into a liquid hot mass of radioactive metal. It’ll dissolve through containment. Meanwhile, our USSF, Sheng City, Triestrian, and hopefully Cousteauian fleets will engage the dreadnought to keep it occupied.”
Benning at least nodded at this. He wanted to fire some torpedoes at this damned ship, but it would all just be for show. The meltdown would be the real weapon.
“But Mac,” Johnny said, “you’re not hearing me. This won’t be enough.” All eyes turned to him. “Look at the location of the reactor. It’s too close to the hull. Maybe two or three decks away.”
Meg nodded. “He’s right. It’s why the reactor is there probably. If it melts down it’ll plunge toward the lower hull and out into the ocean. But designers no doubt compartmentalized engineering. Those areas will flood, but it won’t be enough to sink the dreadnought.” She snorted. “It’s the same as punching holes in it with torpedoes. No real effect, and they’ll just fight us off and use conventional methods to escape.”
I said in a quiet voice, “I’m not done yet, Meg. You’re assuming this ship is going to be floating, neutrally buoyant and upright during the battle.” I shook my head. “No way. I’m going to do something unique to this dreadnought.” I paused and then, “I want to turn it upside down.”
—••—
Now I really had them confused. Then all at once a babble of voices hit me and I had to raise my hands to fend them off. “Listen to me, we’re going to get the ship inverted. And then we’re going to cause a meltdown. They won’t be expecting any of this. They’ll be fighting a battle outside, but we’ll be inside causing shit. It’s the last thing their captain will expect. And once we get the ship upside down, the corium will really cause some damage. It’s twenty-seven decks or so to the top of the hull. When it melts out and into the ocean, voila. Water will flood all the way to the engine room, breaking containment in multiple areas of the ship. There’s no way that fucker will stay afloat.”
—••—
Meg swore. “It’s insane. You’re suggesting a . . . a multi-stage plan. If any one of the steps doesn’t work, we’ll be in serious trouble. And we’ll be on board, inside an enemy warsub!”
“That’s right.” I ticked the steps off on my fingers. “One, we get on board and damage the trim and ballast tanks to make the ship list to the port or starboard. We’ll do this from either engineering or the bridge. The fleet outside will focus on one side of the ship to help us along. They’ll be flooding compartments and distracting the command staff in battle. Two, we then make our way to the fission plant, eliminating any security along the way. We remove the control rods and cause a runaway chain reaction. Irena here will be with us because she’s a nuclear engineer—she’ll know how to do this. Three, we have to destroy the coolant system and simultaneously insert our created U-233 into the core, along with oxygen to start the graphite fire. And four, we’ll then have to make sure the dreadnought is fully inverted, possibly by using the control surfaces on the warsub itself, which means we’ll have to have some people on the bridge. Then the corium will dissolve its containment, and melt its way to the top of the warsub. Compartmentalization will be lost and the warsub will sink.”
Jaws were hanging open at my list.
Lau said, “But the corium will dissolve metal and become diluted, which you said earlier was a failsafe. It might cool before it hits the hull.”
I shook my head. “The corium will be moving through the corridors and will hopefully drip through hatch openings. It won’t melt much at all except for hatch frames and some bulkheads near hatches, further destroying containment.”
“This is insane,” Benning growled. “Absolutely crazy.”
I turned to him. “It’s going to work. It has to.” I paused and took a deep breath. “And if it doesn’t, Benning, then you’ll get what you want. Use all the torpedoes you want. Use a nuke if you want. Just give us a chance first.”
Meg said, “Mac, do you realize we’re going to be in a capsized ship with a mass of radioactive core material moving around, melting its way through bulkheads?”
“Yes, of course.”
“In the dark most likely, as torpedoes pound away at the warsub.”
I nodded.
Their mouths were still hanging open. I knew I had to appear confident with this. I had thought long and hard about it, and this was the only thing I could think of to fatally destroy this vessel, and not just damage it for a short amount of time. “The Russians will think the reactor went critical during battle. After all, it’s a fission plant and dangerous to begin with. They might not question how the meltdown occurred.”
“How did you know we’d need thorium?” Johnny asked. “Did you know it was a fission reactor?”
The truth was that I’d messed up. I’d been hoping to cause a meltdown by putting uranium into the fusion core, getting neutrons to hit the radioactive metal and somehow create a runaway reaction. I’d been wrong, and Irena told me it never would have worked.
But the news that it was a fission reactor had been fortuitous.
Instead, we would use the uranium to cause a China Syndrome in the dreadnought’s fission chamber.
Benning was now looking calmer than he had earlier. Back to his normal self. In fact, he appeared as though the plan appealed to him, if only because if we failed, he’d still get to do what he wanted.
“And who is going on this mission?” Lau asked.
I motioned at the group there, in SC-1, with me. “We are. All of us in this cabin. Johnny, Meg, Lau, Renée, Benning, and Cliff, once he returns from his mission.” I glanced at Irena. “I asked you to think about it. What’s your decision?”
The nuclear engineer stared at me for long heartbeats. Then she took a deep breath. “It sounds like I’m crucial to the success of this.” She glanced around. “I guess I’m in.”
“That’s eight,” Lau said with a grin. “In China, it’s lucky number eight.”
“We still need a pilot though.”
Benning said, “Wait a second, McClusky. I’m the commander of the USSF fleet. I’ll be outside, leading the attack, dammit.”
I spun on him. “Why? I need you with me on this. We’ll be in Russian uniforms. Once we sneak on board, they won’t even suspect.” I narrowed my eyes. “We’re sacrificing everything for this, Benning. Triestrians are. And you’re saying here, in front of a group of people who are putting their lives on the line, that you’re not willing to do it too?”
He looked around and sank to the couch. “I wanted to lead the attack.”
I stepped toward him. “Think about this, Benning. We’re going to be the cause of that warsub’s destruction. We’re going to be inside during it.” I grinned. “What better claim on your résumé than that? It’ll get you anywhere you want in the USSF. Hell, you could use it to move upward and beyond, even.”
He was staring at me and his eyes narrowed slightly. “You’re trying to manipulate me now, McClusky.”
“I need you with us. Let’s do this together. Let’s take the fight to Russia for what they did.”
And then a smile slowly crept across his face.
I pressed on, “Let’s do this, Admiral.”
He grunted. “It might be a good way to die as well.”
I glanced at Meg and Johnny. I realized that he now knew too much about us and, afterward, should we be successful, he would likely cause increasing problems at Trieste when all this was done.
That would not be an issue, however.
—••—
The group dispersed following the meeting. They were quiet and reserved, mulling over what I had suggested. There was still the problem of how to get on board the warsub, but Cliff would help with that. He was a former USSF sailor. I just hoped he’d return safely, and soon.
Another issue was the thorium enrichment. It would take twenty-eight days, and I was still waiting for the batch from Laura Sukovski. Once we got it, my three nuclear engineers and Irena would expose it to the core in our own fusion reactor, bombarding it with neutrons, and begin the conversion process to uranium.
Hours later, I was in my office when security contacted me. I still hadn’t been able to take care of any administrative work—I was busy with the mission plan—but knew I had to take the call. Kristen Canvel had transferred it to my desk.
“Go ahead,” I muttered as I stared at the image of the dreadnought that Lazlow had given me. I was taking notes about possible infiltration sites. Closer to the fission plant would be better, but we did need a team to tamper with the ballast and trim tanks. Perhaps two infiltration sites with two different teams would be better, I thought.
“Mac, it’s Jamieson down in security.”
He was filling in for Cliff. “Go ahead.”
“We’re having some trouble with the USSF.”
I looked away from the diagram. It had been too good to be true. The troops on furlough had been relatively well-behaved until this. “Continue.”
“There have been a few fights. Drinking was involved.”
“Of course.”
“I haven’t bothered you with things before now because we’ve handled it. Escorted the offenders back to Devastator to allow their own people to deal with them.”
“So what’s the—”
“We just had a fight in a pub. There’s been a death.”