Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 718
The northernmost Gate lay directly below. The moon
had slowed dramatically, and was also rising. They were a
good two hundred meters above the flat top of the peak. He
could see their shadow slide across the grey stone tables with
their dotted pine trees. Vapour rose from a number of
suspiciously round pits there. There were also a surprising
number of buildings; as he watched, tiny running figures
appeared around several of them.
"We're rising, not descending," Lavin pointed out. "Are
you proposing we jump?"
The bast shook its long head. "The wind gusts here are
strong and unpredictable. It would also be bad if we shorted
out on the Gate machinery. We will lower your men using the
Heaven hooks."
Even as it said this, something huge and black appeared
below, blotting out the view. It took a few seconds for Lavin
to realize what it was: a large railed platform, pinioned at the
sides by huge metal arms. The arms extended off somewhere
underneath the moon. In consternation and awe he watched it
rise smoothly and silently until it blocked the door with a deep
thump that he felt through his feet.
He turned and waved at the marshalls. The moon's other
doors were blocked too, he saw. The Hooks should be able to
lower a couple hundred men at a time to the peak. That should
be enough, depending on how quickly they did it.
"Move out!" The men had been champing at the bit for
some action; now they surged forward, and didn't have to be
prompted to leap off the stable black surface of the moon onto
the metal platforms below. When the platforms were full the
marshalls whistled and the surge stopped. Immediately there
was a lurch and the platforms began to drop away. The men on
the one below Lavin started shouting and most fell to their