When they reached the ramp angling downward into the gloom, a vague alarm got hold of him, but he followed her onto it without protest.
The way led down and down. The air was dank. Moisture dripped from the walls. It grew slippery underfoot.
Abruptly, the ramp came to an end. He could see the glint of water ahead.
Subconsciously, he knew it was a canal running beneath the streets to the Dra Dur. He knew it just as he knew that there was a network of these canals like fingers reaching into every part of the city. Just as he knew of the ledge a scant foot above the water, even as Tabak crept onto it.
The living boj fur glowed with a pale phosphorescent light as she sidled into the vaulted aquaduct. It lent her a wraith-like appearance to Jupiter, a few paces behind.
"Shhh!" she cautioned him, coming to a stop. "Don't make a sound here!"
Jupiter's mouth felt dry. He could see nothing but the girl's vague luminous outline, hear nothing but the lap of water against the shelf at their feet.
Then Tabak clutched his hand, pulled him forward and into a bisecting passage running at right angles to the aquaduct. He could see the glow of light ahead.
The passage curved, the light bursting on his eyes, half blinding him. Together they crawled to the very end of the tunnel and peered out.
It was a courtyard that Jupiter found himself looking into. The orange sun beat down warmly on the flagstone pavement, on the large shallow pool in the center of the court.