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The electronets switched off

The caders

It was all silent on the black-and-white monitor But the effect was immediate The vibration of the turbines, the steady huround, suddenly dropped in pitch

Lights flickered The monitor picture wobbled then stabilized

“Is it safe to go in?” Caine demanded

“Sure, what could be dangerous about a nuclear—”

“Shut up!” Caine shouted “Open it up, Jack”

Jack obeyed

They stepped into a vast room that seemed to be made almost entirely of stainless steel Stainless-steel floor Stainless-steel catwalks Cranes Caine had the iantic restaurant kitchen

What wasn’t stainless steel was safety yellow Safety railings The risers on steps Signs in yellow and black warning of what surely no one who had made it here needed to be reminded of: radiation hazard

The do out of a cathedral But there were no frescoes decorating the painted concrete

Caine felt abashed by the scale of the place

At the center of it all, a circular pit, like so pool Not that any sane person would ever be tempted to jump in

A catent all the way around And a robotic crane hovered over it Down there, below, in the sinister depths, were the fuel rods Each filled with gray pellets that looked like nothing ht as easily be lead

A ht where the driver left it when he poofed