The boiler room.

Thankfully, the path Margaret led the four fugitives on was shielded from view of the convent. A terrace wall and the hedge of shrubs planted along its edge screened them from anyone looking down on the gardens from the tall towers of the convent. They followed Margaret easily to the entrance of the greenhouse and once inside the structure to a stairway in the middle of the great glassed-in chamber. Under normal circumstances, Winlay would have certainly been distracted by the variety of different pants that were growing in this marvelously protected ecosystem, but at the moment she was more concerned about getting the Oracle to a place of safety.

The basement under the greenhouse was lit by more of the wondrous ceiling glow panels that Winlay had become accustom to in the convent buildings. The long room was used primarily as a storage facility, but great pipes ran through the open hall carrying hot steam to heat the glass buildings above. At the far end of the room a fracture in one of these massive pipes sent billowing clouds of steam into the room and against the cement wall. The heat was intense, and Winlay could feel the beads of sweat form on her brow as they approached.

"This looks like it's far as we can go." Observed Adam, Winlay found it difficult not to watch him and every thing that he did. Sweat was dripping off of his face from the heat of the steam and Winlay could see patches of dampness where perspiration from his back was being absorbed by his tight shirt. His arms gleamed as he stood much closer to the wall of steam than Winlay would have dared.

"It looks like it doesn't it?" Answered Sister Margaret with a smile on her face. "This pipe cracked two years ago, and although I've asked for it to be fixed in each of the monthly reports, no one is sure just how to do it." Then she added with a smile "That's why I chose to hide you back there." Pointing through the cloud of scalding steam as she spoke. "I can only shut the main pipe off for up to a minute without harming the great boilers that produce the steam."

"When I turn the valve we'll move quickly through the door to the other side and I'll show you where you'll be staying, and how to get out if you need to." As she spoke the grey haired sister opened an access panel in the wall and turned one of a dozen or so dials on the control panel. In less than ten seconds the clouds of steam diminished to a small hissing and a door suddenly became visible on the far wall. Although still very hot, without the curtain of superheated steam, the group was able to stand directly before the heavy bulkhead.

"Use this padding to open it, or you'll burn your hand." She warned Adam and watched with approval as he turned the wheel in the center of the door until the great steel portal swung freely on its hinges. Quickly all five of them moved through the oval hatch into a cooler hallway beyond. "Close the door Adam, and I'll show you the valve control on this side." Less than forty seconds after stopping the steam, Sister Margaret showed them a matching control panel on this side of the door. "This is the valve that turns off the steam." Pointing to a display needle that was climbing past the green bars and into an orange section of a display Margaret added "This gauge tells you the pressure in the boiler, as she turned the valve the needle immediately started falling back to the green zone.

"I imagine that for the next day or two, that the convent will be searched repeatedly. Do not leave the boiler room or this hall unless there is an absolute emergency." She paused, "If you do have to leave don't forget to open the valve again on the other side. If the boilers in this room explode, this entire side of the convent could come crashing down, and if some of the tales be true, perhaps most of Telnon as well." Winlay was beginning to understand why the Landers had moved away from this kind of technology. To be able to destroy that many buildings by turning a switch was a power that was intimidating.

"Come on, I'll show you where you'll be spending your next few days." Margaret led them down to the hallway to where three doors where clearly visible in the light from the ceiling panels above. "This is a bathroom; this room is the boiler room and here is a room with a couple couches and some food where you can stay." Margaret opened the door as she spoke and Winlay could see a small room maybe four meters long and three meters wide. As promised, there were a couple couches in the room, as well as a desk with a comfortable looking chair and a large black screen that hung from the far wall. Sister Margaret let them enter the room but did not follow them in.

"I have to go now before I am missed. There is food and drink in the ice chest; you can cook it using the hot plate on the counter by the sink." Winlay understood only a fraction of what Margaret said, but the other three nodded their heads in understanding, so hopefully they could show her when it was time to eat.

"Adam, can you help me with the door?" Sister Margaret asked and the two of them left Winlay, Mika and the Oracle standing alone in the warm humid room.