The massive bronze valves of the central cistern chamber groaned under enormous hydraulic pressure, vibrating the damp limestone pillars with deep tremors.
Lucan stepped through the valve hall carrying Kenneth's agreed meeting seal, the borrowed watchman's badge tucked beneath his belt, his broadsword sheathed beside it.
At the center of the elevated platform stood Captain Tyler, holding a humming Choral relay baton in his right hand.
The baton pulsed with violent cerulean light, its resonant frequency overriding the mechanical governor rods of the primary intake gate.
Beneath the captain's iron boots, a terrified civilian maintenance worker knelt in chains, his hands forced onto the emergency pressure release lever.
The worker was bruised and shivering, his tattered gray canvas tunic soaked through with stagnant water and grease.
"You can stop playing watchman, Lucan, Kenneth promised your sister's return in exchange for safe passage, so where is she?"
