"They run from the computer in Command, and the power plant down at the
other end of the island, right beneath where we are now and . . .
actually, one leads up to those heat exchangers there--" He was pointing
up the mountain, past a large cinderblock building at the edge of the
phased-array radar installation.
A tunnel filled with water, Vance thought. There's been enough swimming
for a while. But if the system is off, then . . .
"Then there must be an entry-point up there somewhere."
He smiled and nodded wistfully. "I assume there must be. But I don't
know where it is."
"Think it's big enough for somebody to get into?"
"It should be. Everything was over-engineered, since we weren't sure
how much waste heat there would be."
"So all I have to do is get into the heat exchanger, then hope there's
some air left in Bill's granite water pipe."
The old man looked worried. "Do you realize the kind of energy that
goes through that conduit? If they should turn on the pumps, you'd be
drowned in an instant and then dumped out to sea."
"I've already been drowned once on this trip. Another time won't
matter." He shrugged. "But I've got to get inside and find out how many
terrorists there are and where they're keeping the people.'' Once I
figure out their deployment, he was thinking, we can plan the assault.
"It's dangerous," Mannheim mumbled. "That conduit was never intended to
have anybody--"
"I'm forewarned." He was apprehensively rising to his feet and wincing
at his aches. "All you have to do is get me inside."