Eren Tal reached down to the lower pipe hub of the cedar rig. His heavy fingers gripped the brass lever of a backup diversion line. A four-inch copper pipe that wrapped around the bottom of the frame stands, connecting the high water chute directly to a backup wooden box packed with damp crushed limestone and river sand.
‘This is Sorell’s second witness return,’ Eren announced to the silent square, his voice grim and heavy. ‘Installed three nights ago beneath the Sluice Crown. When the Grand Master realized that sealing the Third Gate was causing bubbling blast in the high gallery, he didn’t unseal the vent. He laid this bypass to carry the surplus energy away from his tracking data crystals and dump it into the unmapped foundations beneath Fish Street.’
Pella picked up the red dye flask. She held its glass neck steady over the backup injection petcock. ‘Watch the red dye, Councilor Vesk. In this trial, we inject the heavy bottom silt current directly into the backup bypass under full freshet head. Eren, close the relief petcock. Bolt the lead cap tight.’
With four swift turns of his wrench, Eren battened the relief valve shut. The soft sharp air hiss of venting air vanished, and once again the cedar troughs were sealed against the sky.
