Blue Water

Prologue

26 April 1986

Chernobyl exclusion zone, Ukraine

They were going to die, and they knew it. Even through the clear plastic visor of his radiation suit, the look of grim resignation on Sergei Raskov's face could not be missed. Anton Brusilov smiled wryly. Even if they could escape the power plant, the radiation they had been exposed to would likely kill them within days. No, there was only one question that mattered now; could they take out the infestation if they allowed the reactor to blow?

"We have no choice, Anton. It's in the core," Sergei said, gesturing to the bank of dials before him. One one screen, symbols flashed past. Not the comforting Cyrillic of their alphabet, though. Strange symbols. Alien.

Anton looked up from his own control panel. The tinny voice, relayed by the small speakers in his suit, was barely audible over his own breathing, never mind the klaxon that shrilled incessantly in the background. He nodded, exaggerating the gesture: his radiation suit obscured normal body language.

We have no choice, Anton thought, echoing his partner. The alien liquid that had killed dozens of his comrades had somehow gotten into the reactor chamber. They would have to force the core to go critical. He understood the need, though a part of him regretted destroying the fine institution he had helped to build. His and Sergei's lives did not matter anymore, they were dead men walking. No, it was just that the nuclear power plant was a stunning success, a crown in the Soviet firmament. A shame to destroy so great a symbol of Russian technological superiority. But they could not allow this threat to their country, to the world, escape. His great grandfather would have understood. Better to destroy your military supplies than let them fall into the enemy's hands. He hoped history would remember him as kindly as it did his illustrious ancestor. What they did now was for the greater good, but that was scant comfort.

"It could take out Pripyat." Anton said, matter of factly.

Sergei shrugged, the motion barely visible through the heavy white plastic of his suit. "Yes, Anton, I know. But what choice do we have? At least some of them will have evacuated by now."

Pripyat was their home. A small city, less than a mile away, it housed the power plant's workers and their families. Almost fifty-thousand people all told, many with young children. For the last several hours may of the workers and their families had been fleeing, some helped by the military, most just using whatever transport they could find and driving the hell out. Meanwhile, a small group of men and women battled with an unknown entity that had killed many, caused a massive explosion, and partially destabilised the cooling system around reactor four. This entity, a peculiar blue water, had now found its way into the reactor itself, and God alone knew what it might do.

Their first clue that something was wrong came with an unexpected power surge. They had attempted an emergency shutdown, but this only caused an even larger spike in power output. This was unprecedented, and Anton was convinced the blue water had caused it deliberately. Almost immediately, a reactor vessel ruptured and a series of steam explosions rocked the plant. That was when they ordered the evacuation of Pripyat, and the battle for Chernobyl began.

Anton and Sergei had both worked at the station for over a decade. Ten years of flawless, clean energy production. And now, in only a single day, everything they had strived for was about to come undone. They were left with no choice and both men knew the consequences of their actions. The potential environmental disaster was going to be worse than anything humankind had ever seen. But the alternative!

Standing before the Power Plant's controls, although several feet apart, they worked as a team, monitoring the reactor's processes, feeding each other data. The control room was circular, every inch of the walls covered with dials, switches, control panels and monitors. Aside from them, it was empty; everyone else having either fled or died. They were the only engineers left. Most of the plant's other workers were killed by the explosions, or the strange, deadly blue water itself.

Anton sighed. This was the moment. There was no going back. "I'm going to withdraw the control rods," he said. He keyed in the commands, his hands clumsy in heavy gloves. Immediately a dozen control rods began to withdraw from the reactor core. Their influence over the reactor now gone, heat and energy started to build at an alarming rate.

Sergei noted the change in the core temperature. Every instinct in him demanded that he increase cooling to the reactor and compensate for the rising power and heat. Instead, with a barely audible "God help us," he shut down the cooling pumps completely. Now the reactor was nothing more than a bomb, waiting for the critical moment when it would become unstable and detonate.

A camera mounted inside the core displayed the alien liquid. It had expanded exponentially and already filled half the chamber. Metal dissolved on contact with it, only to be reshaped, repurposed. It was building something in the heart of the reactor.

Anton Brusilov and Sergei Raskov watched for a while as the blue liquid manipulated the metal, which folded and flowed like soft plastic. They did not know what the alien substance was doing but both men knew they could not allow it to complete its task. Anton glanced up at a clock: 1.23 A.M. He smiled. His family would be far away by now, well beyond the immediate blast zone; at least they were safe. That was the last thought that went through Cheif Engineer Anton Brusilov's mind as the reactor finally became critical. Neither man felt the explosion that ripped through the building, atomising them, and the blue water instantly.