In the distance, a group of twenty or so people were gathered around a gantry several meters high, with a large motorized winch beside it. Nearby was a small green bus with big, balloon-tired wheels. The gantry sprouted half a dozen bright orange awnings, and I could hear them snapping in the breeze. Orange cable stretched from the winch to a pulley suspended from the gantry, then dropped straight down – presumably into a hole in the ground, concealed by the circle of spectators.

I said, “They’re being lowered into some kind of maintenance shaft?”

“That’s right.”

“What a charming custom. Welcome to Stateless, tired and hungry traveler … now check out our sewers.”

Munroe snorted. “Wrong.”

As we drew nearer, I could see that everyone in the group was gazing intently at the hole beneath the gantry. A couple of people glanced our way briefly, and one woman raised a hand in a tentative greeting. I returned the gesture, and she smiled nervously, then turned back to the hidden entrance.

I whispered (though we were barely within earshot), “They look like they’re at a mine disaster. Waiting to identify the bodies as they’re raised to the surface.”

“It’s always tense. But … be patient.”

From a distance, I’d thought people were just randomly, casually dressed, but close-up it was clear that they were mostly in swimming costumes, though some wore T-shirts as well. A few were in short-limbed wetsuits. Some peoples’ hair looked distinctly disheveled; one man’s was visibly still wet.

“So what are they diving into? The water supply?” Ocean water was desalinated in specialized pools out on the reefs, and the fresh water pumped inland to supplement recycled waste.

Munroe said, “That’d be a challenge. None of the water arteries are thicker than a human arm.”

I stopped a respectful distance from the group, feeling very much an intruder. Munroe went ahead and gently squeezed his way into the outer circle; no one seemed to mind, or to pay either of us much attention. It finally struck me that the awnings overhead were flapping and shuddering out of all proportion to the gentle wind from the east. I moved closer – and caught the edge of a strong, cool breeze emerging from the tunnel itself, carrying a stale damp mineral odor.