XXVIIWhelm was struggling to free himself from his cable, thrashing around in the pool at the bottom of the wire, as Finn and Diane thumped into him. For a moment all three went under. Finn swallowed a mouthful of gritty water. He found a slippery footing and stood. With Diane's help they hauled Whelm to his feet and lifted the wire over his head. Whelm gasped with pain as they raised his arm. Once they were all free, they splashed through the oily, rusty water to the mud of the pool's shore.
Wrecker guards were waiting for them. But as Aelth had promised, they didn't seem particularly alarmed to see three people sliding down the wire. The guards manned a line of barricades cobbled together from girders and metal plates, encircling the pool. Torches planted at random places in the walls p
