Power Failure

I finally ventured into the engine room, the heart of the fort system. Its four Gardner diesels once provided power for all seven towers in the cluster; their guns, searchlights, radar, as well as hoists, refrigeration, domestic power and navigation lights.

Carefully tended generator sets of once lustrous grey metal, have turned to rust. Bearings, casings, radiators and fans are melding into single homogenous forms through exposure to the moist sea air. It is a world of iron oxide now.

On leaving, I encountered a ferrus planet transiting the steel screen beside the door. It seemed to be in thrall to a band of sunlight entering via a hole in the outer wall.