The Lady Machinist (Curiosity Chronicles Book 1) by Ava Morgan

Both Lydia and Nikolaos were hit with a blast of warm air and steam.
    The man heaved a sigh of relief as he was once again free. Lydia recognized him as the young, ginger-haired crewmember Smythe. Over his shirt and soaked trousers, he wore a leather engineer’s apron with a toolbelt around his waist. “I’ve been calling for I don’t know how long. O’Neil and me went down to see about the engine when it started to take in water.”
    Lydia saw a second man slumped against the left wall below the engine, water creeping up to his chest. A thin trickle of blood ran from a gash at his temple. She navigated through the jungle of pumps and drainage pipes and uptake valves to get to him. He was unresponsive, eyes closed. “What happened to him?”
    Smythe straightened O’Neil into a seated position. He shouted over the metal drum that made up the engine’s lower half. “Engine valve struck him. The pressure got too high. We were changing it to draw water to the pump.”
    Water shot out from where the valve separated from the drain pipes. Steam combined with it, heating the room an additional twenty degrees. Near the back wall, the water pump gurgled uselessly as the pipe that connected it to the engine hung loose and scraped against the floor.
    Lydia assessed the clutter of clogged engine and drainage system. “Can you reattach the valve?”
    “Aye.” Smythe swiped a thick-gloved hand across his freckled brow. “But I need someone to hold the main line steady.”
    Lydia felt Nikolaos’ cold, wet hand clamp down on her shoulder. “We’ve no time.”
    She edged out of his grip. “There’s still a chance to drain the water. And even if the ship can’t be saved, we can’t leave these men.”
    His eyes became hard. “Do you want to die like your husband, Lydia? Come with me now.”
    “The door’s closing.” Smythe raced to the stairs.
    With an agility Lydia had never thought Nikolaos possessed, he sprang past Smythe and clambered up. Before either man could get his hands on the door, it swung shut on its frame. The water pressure behind it forced a vacuum seal.
    Smythe drew air in through his teeth and cursed. “None are us leaving the ship now.”
    Nikolaos beat upon the door, failing to make so much as a dent. Lydia shut her ears to the noise as she attempted to quell panic rising in her own mind.
    “Enough,” she said aloud.
    Nikolaos and Smythe looked at her. Lydia stood up and girded her arms around the unconscious O’Neil’s chest. The water made it easier for her to drag him to the stairs. “Nikolaos, keep his head above water. Smythe and I will reattach the valve and divert the water to the pump.”
    Smythe removed O’Neil’s gloves and gave them to her before handing the man off to Nikolaos’ care. “You’ll need these. I have the valve and connecting pipe.” He fished them from the foot of the stairs, tucking the pipe in his apron pocket.
    The water line climbed to Lydia’s knees. She waded to the engine and ducked under the steam torrent where the valve broke off.
    “Careful,” Smythe warned.
    She closed her hands around the pipe, feeling water pressure and heat course beneath the copper.
    Smythe angled the valve and pushed it through the steam. The pipe shook in Lydia’s grasp as he worked quickly to tighten the valve with a wrench. Hot water sprayed his apron as it was now able to flow from two connectors. He turned the valve to divert the flow. Then he retrieved the connecting pipe and attached it to the valve body. “I need to secure it to the pump.”
    While he carried the pipe along the wall, Lydia glanced at Nikolaos. He had dragged O’Neil to the top of the stairs and stood over him. Nikolaos faced the door, waiting for the slightest indication that the water seal would break.
    Smythe called for Lydia to let the pipe go. She moved over to the valve and waited as he maneuvered the pipe to the water pump attachment.
    “Is it fixed?” Nikolaos turned around and took notice of