“Don’t usually see you up here,” Nigel said, still dabbing at the mustard stain on his shirt.

  “No boilers for this test. Harry said I could sit in the posh seats for once,” Brian replied.

  “Have a seat, mate,” Malcolm said, nodding toward an empty console. “Front row—no prawn sandwich required.”

  Gordon gnced around the control room. “Can’t remember the st time this room was this full.”

  “1896?” Malcolm offered. “Day she first came online?”

  “Could be,” Gordon said with a small smile. “She’s had good innings, our old girl.”

  Wendy Draper looked at her checklist. “Where are we starting from? Turbine Roll and Synchro?”

  Gordon stopped next to her and looked over her shoulder. “Since Brian’s right here, I think you can line out everything before that.” He looked at Ed Martell. “No fueling, no warm up no steam...you’re sure about this?”

  “It’s what was agreed,” Ed said with a nod. “Direct drive of the turbines.”

  Wendy looked at Ed before looking over her shoulder at Gordon. What she saw on his face didn’t make her more comfortable.

  “Direct drive? Using what, exactly?”

  Ed Martell couldn’t answer because he didn’t have the slightest idea. The only one word expnation that came to mind he had no intention of sharing.

  Aric.

  Ed knew nothing about power pnts. That much he was sure of. So if he knew nothing, Aric knew half of nothing.

  But it hadn’t taken long. Once inside the turbine gallery, while Tariq expined the equipment, Aric had moved from unit to unit, his hands gliding across the cold steel of each housing. The air began to hum—a sensation they were all starting to recognize—and then the smile appeared.

  He gave Ed a small nod. A simple gesture. But it was enough.

  He knows what he’ll do,” Ed thought. Even if I don’t.

  “He knows what he’s doing. That’s all I can tell you,” Ed said. It was the only truthful response he could give.

  Gordon walked back to his desk and punched the intercom button. Everyone on the pnt would hear everything now.

  “Tariq? All set down there?”

  Tariq’s voice was equal parts excitement and fear when he spoke. “As set as we can be, given the fact that we have zero steam pressure.”

  Gordon wasn’t sure what was going to happen. But shutdown or no, he wasn’t going to let anyone damage his power pnt’s heart. No matter what HQ authorized.

  “We understand. Keep an eye on our guest. Make sure he doesn’t get into trouble. All his equipment check out?”

  “Equipment?”

  "“His drive equipment. Whatever he brought to drive the turbines without steam.”

  “I thought that was all somepce else, that you were operating that from control.”

  Gordon looked at Ed who simply smiled and shrugged his shoulders and said into the intercom. “We’re ready when you are.”

  Gordon shook his head. The time was 1:06 PM. He nodded to Nigel who picked up the direct line handset.

  “CEGB HQ, this is Croydon B Central Control, we are starting our checklist for test 2. Confirm startup authorization, please.”

  A moment ter, at the sound of Gordon’s voice, they started.

  “Check lubrication systems for turbines and generators.”

  Tariq had only had to worry about one turbine during the first test. Now he had four, and it took him time to check them all. It gave everyone else time to think. And Talk.

  “Finally something to do besides sit around and listen to other people talk,” Roy Tilley said. His maintenance board had been idle throughout the entire first test, and his impatience had begun to get on Paul Chambers’ nerves.

  “Anything, so long as I don’t have to listen to you whine,” the control room engineer said as he wrote notes into the operations log.

  “We’re all itching to get going, Chippy,” Tom Dakers said. He was Gordon’s second in command, senior most; Jeff Bakers in Four passing the duty on to him. Jeff and Gordon were a pair of the old breed. The world would miss them when they were gone. Before that happened Jeff thought he should share his expertise with the younger generation. Namely - him.

  Tariq’s voice quieted all their chatter.

  “Oil temp and flow rate green. Bearing temps green.”

  The next step should have been Open steam admission valves. But unlike the first test, they weren’t using the boilers.

  “Direct drive?” Chippy Chambers asked. “What’s that when it’s at home?”

  “Sorry pal, that would be telling,” Carol replied as Carlos simply shrugged.

  “CEGB HQ, this is Croydon B Central Control. We are spinning up Turbines 1 through 4.” Nigel’s voice announced.

  The boards looked wrong. Every shift supervisor, engineer, and maintenance technician could see that. Too many dark lights. Or maybe not enough. Nothing should be running.

  But something was.

  Tariq’s voice was unsteady, uncertain when he spoke.

  “Umm...I think we’re ready for the next step.”

  He could have tried to expin what was happening. But he’d given Brian so much grief at lunch, and seen his coworkers do likewise, that he didn’t want to be their next target.

  Brian was seated in One. He knew what Tariq was experiencing. The look on his face, if put into words, would be I told you so.

  “Roll turbines up to synchronous speed.”

  Tariq responded immediately, excitedly. “Rolling up to 3000 RPM.”

  Now each control room became a center of activity. Now they had something to watch. Something to record. In each room, people forgot questions about fuel, or direct drive. Their equipment was coming to life again. It was like celebrating a rebirth. They had no idea how true that statement was.

  The intercom stayed open, the entire pnt could hear Tariq as he talked Aric through the process.

  “Like we talked about. Small controlled steps. Get the feel for it.”

  “Got it. Small controlled steps. Here we go.”

  Every engineer began to see their turbines come to life.

  “How’s he doing this?” Marcus Redfern, the engineer in Three asked Alex. “What’s he got in there that allows him to run those turbines without steam?”

  Alex and Hank had an advantage that Carol didn’t have.

  “Don’t know, mate. The Americans brought it. It’s all Greek to me.”

  Keith “Kiwi” Naylor had heard enough of that phrase.

  “Oh, for Christ’s sake,” the maintenance technician said with a shake of his head.

  “2500 RPM,” Marcus said as his eyes stayed glued to the indicator.

  Tariq’s voice was more rexed now, more confident. “Doin’ great, Harry. Real smooth. Half steps now. Watch the indicators.”

  Aric was watching them, but he didn’t need to. He could feel it—like it was a part of himself. 2550. 2600. 2650. It was like small breaths. And it was getting easier to control, like a child learning fine motor control.

  “3000 RPM,” Tariq announced. every eye in each control room could see it for themselves. 3000 RPM. Steady as a rock.

  Gordon hadn’t thought it possible. He’d hadn’t believed they’d pull off the first test, but this was a different level of...something. A technical marvel.

  “Confirm vibrational sensors, shaft alignments and temperatures all green.” Gordon said.

  “All systems green. Center of the range and steady,” Tariq announced after a short dey.

  Aric had been burning energy for half an hour. He could feel it building inside him. It wasn’t bad. Not yet. He hoped they would finish while he still had a handle on it.

  “Match generator frequency.”

  Engineers from each control room announced the same thing in turn as they aligned the turbine to the phase and frequency of the electrical grid before switching the generator online.

  “Matching frequency to 50 Hz.”

  “CEGB HQ, this is Croydon B Central Control. We are matching frequency, standing by to attach to the grid,” Nigel’s voice announced for the entire pnt. Four turbines instead of one. 200 megawatts instead of 50. CEGB HQ Grid Control would see the added power show up in just a moment.

  Gordon’s voice was serious.

  “Close Generator Breakers in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Close.”

  Four hands in four control rooms pushed the heavy switch down until it locked in pce.

  200.0 MW

  The time was 1:45 PM.