Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 493
terraforming system."
That is what Armiger came here to do.
"So the Swans are protecting themselves. They’re
frightened." Not of me--but of Armiger. They want me
because I’m all they’ve seen of Armiger’s presence.
Tamsin interrupted. "You quoted a book earlier," she
said. "Does that mean you have a library somewhere?"
"There is a library. It does not exist in physical form, but
Mediation can quote to you from it."
She grinned at Jordan. "Is that what you wanted?" she
asked.
They approached the flickering lamp. It was mounted on
an outside wall of the chamber, where buttresses of salt reared
on either side of a dark square doorway. The buttresses were
rounded and misshapen, appearing like a mad sculptor’s
attempt at carving two guardian beasts for an entrance to hell.
The doorway did not lead to stairs or even a corridor; it
was simply a niche with a pit inside. Jordan had been afraid of
that.
He leaned over the dark maw and looked down. He
could see no bottom, and it was dark down there. A faint
rumbling sound echoed up, as from a river in flood.
Tamsin recoiled. "What’s this? You don’t expect us to
go down there?"
"You will be safe. The desal highway was not designed
for human use. There are no cars or lights."
"Is that water? You can’t be serious," she continued.
"There’s gotta be some other way out of here."
Jordan shrugged. "The queen travelled this highway
once; it’s how she crossed the ocean from the place where she
was shipwrecked."
"But the queen is..." She waved her hands ineffectually.