Perchek released the door behind Harry'shead.
'There's our hamper, right where I leftit,' he said, setting the silenced revolver down as he pulled the gurney outfar enough to drop the side rail. 'Now, just the right amount of Pentothaland-'
At that moment, the nurse crumpled on thefloor moaned loudly. Perchek turned.
He gripped the needle tightly and drove itto the hilt in the soft spot just below The Doctor's right ear. Perchekbellowed with pain and surprise, and reeled backward, pawing the spot. Harrypushed himself off the stretcher and swung backhand as hard as he could,connecting with Perchek's left cheek and sending him sprawling to the concretefloor next to the hamper. Then he whirled and hit
He was on a long cement walk in thecavernous hospital power plant. The temperature was over one hundred, and thenoise level was deafening — machinery whirring and rumbling above the constantchurning of circulating water. Harry pulled off his sling and threw it aside ashe ran awkwardly away from the elevator, expecting at any moment to be shot inthe back. To his right was a safety railing, and fifteen feet below that wasthe massive turbine — a gray monolith, rising out of a concrete slab. Thepulsating, high-energy drone it emitted bludgeoned Harry's chest like aheavyweight's fist.
To his left, reaching seventy-feet towarda grimy, glass-paneled ceiling, were the boilers — foreboding giants, radiatingheat and energy. Thirty yards straight ahead and up a short staircase was theglass-enclosed control booth. Inside, his back to Harry, a large man in a tanjumpsuit and yellow hard hat was watching TV.
'Help!' Harry screamed. 'Help me!'
His cry was swallowed by the noise. Hestumbled on, sweat already cascading down his face and stinging his eyes. Theunremitting pulsations from the turbine were making him intensely nauseous. Heglanced back just as a bullet ricocheted off the steel column by his ear.Perchek had crawled over the gurney and now knelt at the head of the corridor,taking aim once more. Harry dove on to his belly, sending pain screaming fromhis shoulder and throughout his chest. The bullet missed by inches, stinginghis cheek with concrete spray. Fifty feet ahead of him were the stairs to thecontrol room, which he now realized had to be soundproof.
Then, to his right, just a dozen or sofeet away, he noticed the stairway down to the turbine floor. He scrambledforward on his left hand and knees. His right arm would bear no weight at all.The heat was intense, the air heavy and stagnant. The pain in his chest wasunremitting. He half tumbled down the steel steps, scrambled across theconcrete, and took cover behind the massive turbine. Ground zero. The droningvibration cut through his body like a chain saw.
Fifteen feet above him, on the corridorfrom the elevator, Perchek leaned over the metal railing, searching. Staying onto kill him was a foolish choice, but clearly The Doctor's pride and hatred hadtriumphed over logic.
Crouching behind the turbine, Harrycircled, trying to keep out of Perchek's line of sight. Behind him was anothersafety railing, and beyond that another drop-off to a lower level. The entirewindowless, three-tiered power plant was as vast as a cathedral. He could hearwater flowing below — probably being pumped in from the river to cool the steamfrom the boilers after it had passed through the turbine. Harry wondered if theconduit returning water to the river was large enough to carry a man out.
Perchek had already moved over to coverthe stairs up to the corridor. The stairs down to the lowest level werevirtually a continuation of those. There was no chance Harry could make iteither way. He continued inching to his left, trying to keep the hideousturbine between him and The Doctor. But at that moment, Perchek spotted him.Harry fell back as the revolver again spit flame. A piece of pipe directly overhis head split open. With a freight train roar, steam under immense pressurespewed out, instantly flooding the whole area and billowing thirty feet upwardto the ceiling. The temperature rose rapidly. The hot, wet air was painful tobreathe. Hell.
Harry knew he was cut off from eitherstaircase. But now, the swirling cloud of steam had completely engulfed theturbine. He pushed through the dense mist on his belly and slipped between thesafety rail. The twelve — or thirteen-foot drop to the lowest level looked likea hundred. But there was no choice. Painfully, clinging to the rail with hisone good hand, he lowered himself over the edge. He hung there for a moment,then dropped to the concrete floor, rolling gracelessly as he hit. Pain shot upfrom his feet through his chest, taking his breath away. It was severalfrightening seconds before he realized that he could still move.
He was at the very bottom of the hospitalnow. Beneath the concrete floor were the water tunnels, crawl space, and earth.The massive pedestal supporting the turbine extended upward from the ground,through the floor to the level Harry had just left. Ahead of him, flush withthe concrete, was a steel grate. Harry crawled over and inspected it. It wasfour feet by three, placed to allow access into a concrete tunnel, which was abouteight feet across. At the base of the tunnel, five feet below where Harryknelt, a stream flowed rapidly, discharging spent coolant water from the powerplant to the river. Beside him, a control post with four buttons permitted the waterto be stopped to service the system in either direction:
On the turbine floor above him, steamcontinued hissing out. Perchek was up there somewhere, undoubtedly guarding thestairway, Harry's only way out. But now, he realized, The Doctor had anotherproblem. Soon, dropping steam pressure had to set off an alarm. The engineer inthe control room would have to look down and see what was going on. Any saneman would flee right now.
But Anton Perchek was hardly sane.
Harry tried the grate. It was heavy, butmovable. With two good arms, it would have been rather easy. He kept glancingup at the stairs, expecting any moment to see Perchek step down from the cloud.The dreadful ache beneath his breastbone shot up into his jaws and ears. Inch byagonizing inch, he slid the grate aside. He estimated the rushing water belowto be three feet deep. Not much cushion. He was weak, dizzy, and drenched withsweat — probably having a full-blown coronary. There was little chance he couldsurvive dropping into the pitch-black tunnel to follow the outflow to theriver. It would be better to try and hide behind the turbine pedestal. Anyminute, someone had to come down.
He crawled over to the concrete base ofthe pedestal just as Perchek stepped out of the billowing steam and down thestairs. Harry crouched low, out of sight at least for the moment. Beside himwas a rolling metal cart, loaded with tools. He tried hefting a hammer with hisleft hand. It was a worthy weapon, but he doubted he would be able to use iteffectively. Still, it was something. Perchek scanned the area and peered intothe tunnel. The open gate was a giveaway that Harry had been there. But it wasalso a source of confusion for Perchek. He had to make a decision.
Harry gripped the' hammer and watched asThe Doctor crouched by the opening, debating whether or not to jump in. Thepain in Harry's chest was making it hard to breathe and even harder toconcentrate. Then Perchek stood and turned away from the grate, again searchingthe room. Harry cursed softly. He had to do something — maybe attack, maybe tryto sneak back up the stairs. Again, Perchek knelt and peered into the tunnel.
Suddenly, before he fully realized what hewas doing, Harry was on his feet, charging toward The Doctor with every ounceof strength he had left, leaning on the tool cart as he pushed it ahead of him.The hissing steam and machinery rumble covered the sound of the wheels. Percheksensed something and turned, but too late. The cart slammed into his shoulder,sending him over the edge and splashing into the water below. Harry collapsedto the concrete, gasping and perilously close to unconsciousness. Below him, hecould see The Doctor on his hands and knees, groping in the black water for hisgun.
Harry forced himself to move. He kneltbeside the grate and, with agonizing slowness, pushed it back into position.Perchek looked up as the grate clanged into place. For the first time, Harrythought he could see panic on the man's face. Then he remembered the controlpanel. If he could close the outflow, the water would deepen and the gun wouldbe harder to find. Anything that would buy even a little time was worth trying.With great effort he rolled over, reached up, and pushed the button. Fromsomewhere beneath him came the vibration of gears engaging. He slumped facedownon the concrete floor, unable to move, barely able to breathe. The lightsdimmed.
