Chapter 19 — The Thirteenth Landmark

Nguyen Dieu Trang's ten minutes passed as quickly as water in a basement. An has no intention of leaving. She and Khoi walked along the lakeshore, finding their way to the release valve. Nam and Tung checked the lock panel, while Duy stood looking at the steel barrel floating in the water.

“Do you know what that box contains?” An asked.

“Coagulants and base treatment solvents.”

“If the valve opens, will it follow the water flow?”

“If opened incorrectly, the vault will be contaminated.”

“Is there a way to separate the barrel from the stream?”

Only a small crane mounted on the ceiling. "Old winch. Can pull up the barrel."

“You do it.”

“The winch is locked.”

Khoi gave the toolkit. “So break the lock.”

Duy looked at him, then picked up the pliers. In the narrow light, the project chairman and the rescue captain pulled together a rusty chain. The winch moves every inch. The steel barrel moves toward the shore.

Trang spoke over the radio: "Miss Lam, you are putting people's lives in danger. If the tunnel collapses, no one will know you are here."

An turns on the speakerphone. “The spade is playing.”

“You think a few onlookers can save you?”

“No. But they can testify.”

Bich confirmed that the signal from the upper floor was still fine. Hundreds of thousands of people are monitoring water maps and tunnel cameras. Newsrooms have begun publishing data, forcing the province to hold extraordinary press conferences.

Tung discovered a strange transmission into the locking system. “They are trying to close it remotely.”

Male plugs in the device, keeping the command open. The two screens struggled, one side said "open", the other side said "seal".

“I couldn't hold on for long,” Nam said.

“Hold enough for the winch,” An replied.

Steel barrel lifted off the surface of the lake. The liquid inside hit the wall, making a heavy gurgling sound. When the tank was about to reach shore, the cable broke a strand.

Khoi jumped forward, holding the rope with his hand. The wound on his shoulder reopened, blood seeping through his shirt.

“Khoi, let go!”

“If you leave it, the barrel falls into the valve.”

Duy pulled more cable, and Khoi held the box. An ran to the extra padlock. She slipped on the wet ground, but still managed to engage the latch.

The barrel was pulled ashore. Duy sat down, breathing heavily.

“I thought if I just kept the project, everything would be fixed,” he said.

“No project can fix a dead person.”

"I know."

Nam shouted: "The tunnel is about to be locked!"

The screen turns red. The main door vibrates. From afar, the sound of a pump starting up was heard. Someone is pumping water into the vault to pressurize the door.

Tung pointed to the southern pipeline. "There is a side door leading to the river. If they open at the same time, the pressure will equalize."

“Open where?”

“Under the lake.”

Khoi looked at An. “I'll go.”

“No. The wound…”

“I can still hold the crank.”

An gave him a life rope and a light. “I follow.”

They waded into waist-deep water. The lake is cold and dense, visibility is only a few dozen centimeters. At the bottom there is a crank located behind a steel mesh. An used a knife to cut the wire, Khoi turned the crank. Water began to roll into the pipe.

On the shore, Bich said over the radio: "The level of the North Shore is decreasing. But the west lake is rising."

“Open the side door,” An replied.

“If it opens all the way, water will flood into the model building.”

“The building is empty.”

“There are three workers in the basement, I just received the news.”

An looked at Khoi. “Stop cranking.”

Khoi looked up. “Are you sure?”

"Are not."

They need to save three people while the tunnel is about to close. Khoi used the walkie-talkie to call the rescue team. Phuc and two others ran to the model building and pulled the workers out by the side ladder.

“Saw them,” Phuc reported. “There's one person stuck behind the steel door.”

Khoi tightened the rope. “I'll go.”

“You can't save people and open the valve at the same time.”

“So you open it.”

An put his hand on the crank. Metal vibrates strongly. She rotated each circle, listening to the sound water bar. When the door is open enough, a large stream of water runs through the tunnel, towards the river. The level of the North Coast decreased another ten centimeters.

On the shore, Nam announced: "The main door is closed!"

An held the crank and couldn't let go. Khoi swam back toward the ladder.

“Go save people,” An said. “I keep it here.”

“If the door is closed?”

"The spades are playing. They know where I am."

Khoi left. An was underwater, his arms were tired, he heard the sound of steel grinding above. Wrist monitor indicates hypothermia. The water has a metallic taste.

Suddenly, a beam of light shined into the cellar. Duy went into the water and held the life rope.

“I keep it,” he said.

“You don't know how.”

“I know enough not to let go.”

Duy held hands and turned with An. The two turned and the door opened further. The current was so strong that it pulled their feet and slipped.

Through the intercom, Bich's voice echoed: "The workers have gone out. Khoi is coming back."

An heard the siren from the ground. The authorities finally arrived, but it was not known who to arrest.

Nam reported: "I have blocked task cycle 13. But there is a new order from the ministerial source."

“Who sent it?”

“NDT-REG.”

The site still has rights.

An said into the radio: "Trang, if you close the door, the entire tunnel will explode. You can save the project or save the residents. Choose."

Trang did not respond.

Bich released a new video: Nguyen Dieu Trang standing in the meeting room, looking at the screen. A reporter asked: "Do you know that the system was used to flood?"

Trang was silent for too long. Silence is streamed live.

An looked at Duy. He still held the crank, his face pale.

“I told her not to do it,” Duy said.

“But he still did it.”

“I think I can stop.”

“That's everyone's line in this story.”

Khoi swam over and pulled An and Duy up the ladder. As soon as they got ashore, the hatch door slammed shut behind them. The pressure system was balanced, but the entire plant vibrated as if it was about to collapse.

Outside, the water on the North Bank receded quickly. The houses are still standing. The sample urban area was flooded in the basement, but there were no casualties.

Authorities move forward. Thuan went with them, holding orders to temporarily detain Duy and Trang. Bich transmits all data without cutting any part.

An found Hoang Nam standing alone next to Mark 13. The water needle had returned to 2.41, but the clock face was cracked.

“Do you want to say anything?” she asked.

Nam looked musty. "Your father once said that water remembers everything. I think he said it to comfort himself."

“What about now?”

“Now I think he said so we don't delete it.”

On An's phone, a final message appeared from the hidden account:

The last signer has been revealed. But the first person to be saved was never just her.

An looked towards the central hospital. Years ago, her father chose to keep the transmitter for that place.

And she understands that the story cannot end with the arrest of today's people.

Ky Nam was found two days later in a motel near the border. He didn't resist, just asked for news about the North Shore. When he heard there were no casualties in the residential area, he bowed his head.

“I think the water will scare them,” he said.

An was present in the interrogation room as a technical witness. "They were afraid. He just made them know they couldn't trust anyone."

Ky Nam looked at her father's notebook. "He always thought people should see the numbers. I think only people with power need to."

“Do you still think so?”

"I do not know."

“That was the only answer he gave truthfully.”

He handed over the password to the fund account. In the data there are thousands of transactions, not only Ha Luu but also other provinces. Ky Nam has tried the flood creation model in many places, but Ha Luu is the first place to be pushed to cycle 13.

“Why?” An asked.

“Because there are people here who understand water.”

“My father?”

“And you.”

An didn't feel it was a compliment. Ky Nam knew she would come back for her father, so she used her own family as part of the plan.

After the data was published, the city paused the entire Tan Giang project. The construction site was sealed off and the chemical tank was moved under the supervision of an independent agency. North Shore residents are not required to sign any relocation forms during the investigation.

But the rescue work is not over. A real heavy rain came later, while the system was still being repaired. An is in the new Operations Center, standing next to the real data panel. Milestone 13 and the residential meter network are put on the same screen, there is no longer a "recovery model" column.

“The level is rising on Reed Street,” Phuc reported.

“Open the balance drain.”

“It has been confirmed by people.”

Nam, despite being suspended, was invited to work as an independent consultant. He stood next to An, reading the order out loud before sending it. Khoi and the rescue team went to shore and took the elderly to the upper floors.

No one can be called a hero. Each person just does their part, clearly stating the part they are not sure about.

The rain lasted three hours. The water rose, but the discharge lines opened at the right time. Reed Street flooded ten centimeters, then receded. There are no ambulances blocked, no houses listed as red-flagged.

Bich posted a photo of Milestone 13 after the rain. Below the photo she wrote: "The truth cannot stop the water. It only helps us know which door to open."

An looked at the photo, then picked up the phone to call her mother. Ms. Hanh was at the tea shop and heard a group of residents arguing about how to read the data. She no longer hides the receipt in the cake box, but sticks a copy on the wall.

“Do you need me to come home?” An asked.

"No. Mom is busy explaining to Mr. Sau that 2.8 meters is different from 3 meters."

An smiled. “Mom learns quickly.”

“Mom lived by the river all her life.”

At the end of the day, Khoi went to the Operations Center. His shoulder pain has subsided, but he still wears the bandage.

“The rescue team needs more yards,” he said.

“I will ask for the budget.”

"Don't ask. Bring up the resident data."

“I learned Bich's way of talking.”

“I learn from water.”

An didn't ask if he would go with her when the next case started. She knew the answer lay in the fact that he had placed a new ruler on her desk.

On the ruler, he wrote with an oil pen: "Read before opening."

An placed it next to his father's notebook. Two simple objects lying next to each other, one from the past, one from the present.

Outside the window, the Vam Do River flows through the city. No one can make it stop, but they have learned not to let just one person decide the direction of the water.