The concussion from the first trial detonation out at sea did not shatter the remaining glass transaction tubes in the upper gallery; it caused them to sing. A high, crystalline hum vibrated through the wet iron framing of the wharf gates as the displacement wave from a twelve-inch naval shell hitting the outer sandbar rolled across the shallows. The water in the canal docks dipped instantly by three inches, sucking the thick, ash-strewn foam down into the timber piles before surging back in a low, mud-choked crest.
The Northern Imperial Fleet wasn't checking the wind. They were measuring the depth of the shipping channel by weight of iron.
