The
Merciless - the Water transport from the Fountains to the Undertow (An old garbage barge) crawls into the Undertow Docks. It is
supposed to be transporting fresh water from the Fountains, but it is empty and
damaged. The engine dies, and it has to
be pulled into docks.
Crew is Captain Shan, Corporal Monk, Private Tao, Private Twice.
Private Zee, Orbit, and Red are missing – and according to the crew, the Drowned attacked them.
Shan is
badly injured, and bleeding out.
Whitmont meets Private Lime, the wizened old elevator operator, who yells out the floor for the others to hand crank the elevator up and down. He also opens and closes the doors.
Sam speaks to Nine, and we find out Nine has named his own diving suit Emma, and sleeps with it sometimes.
Bell comes over using the Rope Bridge known as the “rainbow Bridge” due to the various colors of the woven together wires on the bridge. This bridge is used when the Skywalk is submerged, which it is now. The water has risen.
A message is sent to Sam through a Bouy Boy (A floating waving smiling faded short man bouy, with a compartment to put requests to Sam. Unknown to everyone, the compartment is pulled into the refuge through a rope system, deep underwater.
Sam comes up and treats Shan, stabilizing the wound, but finding a projectile inside, a harpoon tip from a shard launcher. It has the Bell Insignia.
Bell and Whitmont recognize the ammunition as one of the Bell Keeper Weapons, one that Sand took with him when he was banished.
The Denizens of Undertow, agitated that the water shipment hasn’t arrived, begin to gather on the docks. A portion of The Crew are dispatched to control the crowd.
Bell and Grand Admiral Tulane argue, and Grand Admiral is asked by his Right hand Artiss to take a moment to calm down. Bell is then punished by Grand Admiral to drink a Gallon of Soup (the sea water).
Grand Admiral gives the order for another portion of the crew to search the Undertow room to room to find excess Hydro (Fresh Water) and bring it to the rationing station, so that half rations of water can begin.
Whitmont and Sam go to the crowd, which is starting to surge forward and the Crew are retaliating. Whitmont wants to get to the Merciless, and Sam helps Whitmont through, ignoring the injured denizens, one of which loses an eye from her injury.
Whitmont discovers that the engine housing was deliberately tampered with by a tool, which is not something the Drowned do. It was also specifically sabotaged, though Whitmont believes she can repair the engine in two days.
Grand Admiral addresses the Denizens of Undertow, taking on the blame and publicly drinking 3 gallons of soup before the crowd. This calms the denizens and buys them some time to address the water shortage.
Bell is ordered by Grand Admiral to bring back Sand for final judgement for injuring Shan. Bell packs, Ocean puts in Sand’s old rag doll, that Bell threw away but Ocean retrieved. Bell consults his ancestors, who tells him to save Sand, not hand him over to the Grand Admiral.