Lin Mei clicked the side-button of her mechanical stopwatch.
SNAP.
One hundred and eighty seconds. Three minutes.
The vertical copper riser pipe beside her head vibrated with a terrifying, high-pitched scream. Through the green lagging, heat radiated outward in a suffocating wave that fogged her tortoiseshell glasses instantly.
“One hundred and forty-four degrees,” Lin Mei said, her voice fast and flat as she read the bronze dial thermometer tapped into the pipe collar. “Thermal transfer rate is three point eight degrees Fahrenheit every ten seconds. At this rate and pressure, the water in the Hubbard tanks upstairs will reach one hundred and sixty degrees in two minutes and forty seconds.”
From the brass speaking-tube mounted on the railing, a chorus of agonizing coughs echoed down into the sub-basement.
“Julian!” Dr. Helen Vane’s voice was hoarse, shredded by rising vapor.
“The steam... it’s forcing the drain plugs upward!”
