They kicked their boots all at once. They drove their balance point against the tension of the braided star-iron thick ship rope.
The sixty-pace cable groaned as it swung across the unrendered void like a huge swinging weight. The empty gray air rushed past their ears with a dry, hollow roar, tugging at the hems of their coats. Lin Tao kept his eyes locked on the black star-iron girder ten paces away, calculating the arc speed in his left eye.
The first swing carried them six paces out.
They reached the apex of the arc, hung suspended for a split second over the bottomless gray deep pit. Then they swung backward toward the center line.
“Pump your legs again, Tie Shan!” Lin Tao shouted. “Drive your core!”
Tie Shan grunted, his powerful torso contracting as he threw his heavy legs forward with explosive, quarryman’s power. The second swing surged with massive moving driving force, cutting through the void in a soaring, upward flight path.
Eight paces. Nine paces. Ten paces.
The black star-iron pipe rim of the Precursor upkeep girder rushed toward them.
