thrashing, more to scare off the creatures than to injure them. Blood oozed from one that was not quite swift enough.
The men were bunched together forming a rough semi-
circle, their backs to the shaft. Culver found himself next to Ellison who, like Strachan, held a flashlight.
‘Put the torches under the water,' Culver ordered. 'It might just dazzle them enough to keep them away.'
They did so and shuddered when the dim light revealed shadowy forms swimming below the waterline, like giant piranhas milling around the two men who had fallen, darting in to shake and worry their victims, backing off only when their jaws were full of ripped flesh.
Fairbank kept the lamp above the surface, afraid it would be extinguished in the water. 'Oh, Jesus...' he said as the light showed the mass of humped shapes gliding towards them.
You two - together!' Culver snapped at two engineers between Ellison and Strachan.
'I can't swim,' one of them said pleadingly.
'Move, you silly fucker!' Culver roared.
His companion pulled him down and their shapes disappeared through the opening.
'Give me the torch,' Culver said to Ellison, who looked at him suspiciously before doing so. 'Go through,' Culver told him. You too, Strachan. You can keep your light.'
The two men wasted no time in arguing. Bubbles rose where they had been standing.
Now only Culver and Fairbank remained outside the shaft. Just beyond the foaming patch where the unfortunate victims were under attack, the surface was covered almost totally, scarcely a break between them, by gliding dark humps, an army of vermin, now unhindered, streaming through the doorway like a thick, black oil slick, spreading outwards.
No words were necessary: both men swallowed air and dived.
Fairbank went through first and turned to help Culver.
The pilot was almost inside when something dragged at his ankle. He whirled beneath the water as sharp pain shot up his leg. His hands found the bottom of the frame and he pulled himself into the shaft, his right leg held back by the rat that had sunk its teeth to the bone of his ankle.
Culver kicked out with his other foot, but the water would allow no force. The blow glanced off the vermin's back.
Fairbank pulled at the leg, slicing down with the blade at the same time. The lamp, its light gone as soon as it was below the surface, had been discarded, but Culver had the presence of mind to keep his light on the creature. The blade sank into the animal's shoulder, but not deep enough to shake its grip. Fairbank tugged the leg through and drove the cutter down again into the rat's back. Inky fluid almost blinded him.
He let go of Culver's leg and pulled at the metal grille, closing it as much as the rat and Culver's foot would allow. Something heavy struck the outside and he felt a sleek body brush against his fingertips. A sudden nip made him quickly withdraw them from the meshwork.
Culver managed to get his foot below the bottom rim of the opening, the rat still clinging, its neck stretched over the strip of metal, the rest of its body outside. Even though visibility was poor, Fairbank was able to understand Culver's intention, and he struck quickly, pressing down on the flat side of the blade with one hand, slicing through the creature's spinal cord at the neck.
The rat squirmed for several seconds before becoming rigid, then limp. In desperate need for air, Fairbank helped Culver prise the teeth from his ankle. The pilot kicked the corpse back through the opening and punched out at another long snout that was wriggling its way through the narrow gap.
Surprised, the rodent backed off.
Both men pulled the grille shut, feeling the tremors as their attackers darted forward and struck the other side. They snatched their fingers free before they could be bitten off, then rose to the surface together.
A clamour of relief burst out around the shaft as they emerged and hands clapped them on the shoulders and back. The two men shielded their eyes against the glare of torches. Several rungs up on the ladder, Kate laughed and wept at the same time, hysteria close, a trembling weakness threatening to dislodge her.
Culver brought the cheering to an abrupt halt. We're not out of it yet!' he told them, the words unusually loud in the confines of the tower, noises from the shelter itself completely cut off. There's no way we can keep the grille closed, so start climbing that ladder -fast!'
He saw there were already three figures perched on the ladder, Kate being the highest He just hoped it would take all their combined weight. 'Jackson, get past Kate. You're going to have to smash a way out through the top.'
They began moving upwards, those below crowding around the foot of the ladder, anxious to be clear of the water. A bright flash from above, followed almost immediately by a deep rumbling. For a heart-stopping moment they feared the worst, another nuclear attack. But they soon realized the reverberation was thunder, the white light its precursor. They continued the journey to the top of the ladder.
Those rats are going to be in here at any second,' Fairbank muttered to Culver as they watched the others climb.
'If we just had something to keep the door tight against its frame ...'
'A belt? We could thread a thin belt through the grille,
hold it closed from this side. We wouldn't need much pressure to keep it shut.'
You want to put your hand outside to push the belt back in?'
'Not such a good idea, right?'
Strachan drew close, unscrewing the bottom of the rubber torch he held. 'Just an idea,' he said.
The light went out and Culver shone his own torch on the engineer. The tight-fitting bottom section of Strachan's flashlight came away and he held it in the palm of his hand, exposing the tough length of curled wire inside. He dropped the main section into the water.
We can shape this so it'll fit around the grille,' he said. 'It isn't strong, but maybe we can keep the grille shut long enough for all of us to climb out.'
'It's an idea,' Culver agreed. 'If we push it through near the top, one of us can stand and still hold onto it. Let me have it.'
'No, you come down with me and hold the light.' Strachan pulled the spring out, then bent it into a curve.
They took deep breaths and allowed themselves to sink. The rats outside were thumping their bodies against the grille, aware that their prey was just beyond the thin barrier. Teeth gnashed at the wire as it was threaded through.
The other end came back a few notches lower and Strachan quickly twisted it around the part still connected to the torch base. He gave the loop a testing tug then straightened, his fingers still holding on.
Culver checked the improvised lock before rising himself.
'It looks good,' he said, after taking a breath.
Yeah,' Fairbank commented. The only question is, who hangs onto it while the rest of us get clear?'
'Or how long will it take for the water to cover whoever that person is,' Culver added, noticing that Strachan was stooping to maintain the hold, his chin touching the water's surface.
‘You two go,' Strachan said. ‘Ill hold it for as long as I can.'
Culver and Fairbank glanced at each other and the latter shrugged. 'Who's arguing?' he said. He offered the blade to Strachan. ‘You want this?'
'No. When I climb that ladder I want to get up fast. That thing's going to get in the way.'
'Anything you say.' Fairbank reached out for a rung, the heavy blade gripped precariously between his teeth.
