Snippet #3 2021

The cellar was not at all what she had expected. “Cellar” evoked the image of dirt walls and floors, maybe dusty home canned pickles or wine. Nothing could be further from the truth. This cellar was filled with odd, twisting pipes that hissed and burbled and reminded her of a steampunk graphic novel she had once read. Pressure gages and other fixtures constantly moved up and down measuring…something. The whole place was lit by torchlight and seemed to go on forever, pipes meandering here and there randomly, sometimes joining up and sometimes ending abruptly in a plate with strange etchings on them. Perplexed and more than a little nervous, she crept carefully forward, flashlight held shakily in her hands