The underground plumbing beneath Row Eight was a nightmare of bare pipework and leaking steam joints.
Crawling through the narrow crawlspace beneath the stone floor plates, Lin Tao shone his amber spirit lamp across the junction where the discharge pipe hubs of Vessels 065 through 084 came together into the main return header. Thick blankets of green rust coated the copper flanges, and drops of scalding stone salt water hissed continuously as they dripped onto the dry dark rock bedrock below.
Lin Tao placed his palm against the four-inch return header. He felt the churning rushing of fluid inside.
Beside him, Tie Shan squeezed his massive frame through the tight granite sky-slit. His broad shoulders barely cleared the hanging steam pipes. The giant’s breathing was heavy, the heat in the confined crawlspace hovering near sixty degrees, but he didn’t complain. He carried a heavy iron toolbox in his right hand. His eyes were locked on Lin Tao’s movements.
“A tight space,” Tie Shan muttered, wiping sweat from his eyelashes. “Pipes are shaking.”
“The pipes are shuddering because the fluid speed is exceeding the smooth-flowing flow limit,” Lin Tao explained quietly, adjusting the focus of his test left eye. “Look at the junction angle. The master builders connected eighty backup discharge pipes into a single ninety-degree header tee.”
