The Watch Below Read Online Free PDF Page B

used with the oxyacetylene gear. I don't know how many there are

exactly, we'll have to make an inventory of these and similar useful items

as soon as possible, but the forward tanks are littered with them.

"However," Wallis continued more seriously, "while there is no immediate

danger from shortage of air, we must take steps to see that it lasts

as long as possible. There must be no wastage in the shape of fires for

warmth or for heating meals. Instead of direct heating to keep warm we

will have to exercise and/or insulate ourselves against the cold. Perhaps

you, Doctor, will be able to suggest a high-calorie diet to help us in

this when we have a better idea of how the food cargo is made up -- "

Dickson raised his good arm suddenly, making Wallis break off. The first

officer said, "You're talking as if we had all the time in the world.

I don't think we're as watertight as you think, sir. There is a leak up

top somewhere. It's small, but it could get worse, and there may be others

like it. The sound of the drip kept me awake. . . ."

Obviously the thought of the leak was bothering Dickson so much that

he had practically forgotten about his ribs. He had only stopped for

breath twice.

Wallis said, "I know about that drip. It bothered me as well until I

tracked it down. There is a section of piping, cut off and sealed at both

ends during the modifications, going to the aft pump room. It projects

about four feet from the forward wall of this tank at a height of about

sixteen feet. The water dripping from it is gritty but not salty, which

means that it is caused by condensation. . . ."

When Lieutenant Radford had asked for another sick bay to be set up below

decks, a corner of Number Ten had been partitioned off for him. This had

been done by wedging wooden uprights between the metal floor and ceiling

of the tank, lacing ropes between the uprights and hanging sacking and

old tarps from the ropes so that the new sick bay would have a measure of

soundproofing as well as be able to retain most of its heat. Now that the

residual heat from the ship's engine room had long since been sucked away

by the frigid ocean, the sick bay was the warmest place in the ship. The

reason for this was the body heat and respiration of the five people in

the compartment, but since the projecting pipe was at the much lower,

outer-hull temperature and since the ship was down by the stern, their

hot little breaths were condensing on it and dripping off the end.

". . . which brings us back to our most serious supply problem, that of

drinking water," Wallis continued. "That pipe, when we clean off the

rust and dirt so as to make the process a little more hygienic, will be

an important means of reclaiming lost water. Perhaps the doctor will

be able to suggest other methods for reclaiming water when he has had

a chance to think about them -- "

"I am thinking about some of them," Radford broke in, his tone and

expression reflecting extreme distaste. "We would have to be very thirsty

to use them."

"We probably will be," said Wallis.

There was a long silence after that, during which the quiet background

noises from the ship seemed to grow in volume until they became downright

obtrusive: the muffled clanking and creaking of loose deck gear and plating,

the gurgle of water from the bilges and storage compartments where air was

still trapped, and the soft sighing of the slow underwater waves running

the length of the ship. It was so quiet that the breathing of the two girls

at the other side of the compartment could be plainly heard, while the

breathing of the men was visible as well as audible as it hung in the air

between them, outlining the tiny beam of the flashlight so sharply that

it looked like a miniature searchlight.

Suddenly the doctor spoke. He said, "Distillation is the simplest method,

but it has the disadvantage of requiring heat, which means wasting oxygen.

However, we know that there were