Chapter 2 Summary

Francis recites the Litany of the Saints as he descends again into the cave with holy water and a torch. Debris fills a third of the cavern. At the far end it blocks a great hinged door bearing the sign, "Inner Hatch / Sealed Environment," and a printed warning about the conditions under which the seal is automatically broken. Francis observes differences in color that show today's cave-in has not caused this massive damage. Seeing a gold tooth gleaming in a skull, Francis realizes this place has not ravaged, and he pulls on rusty desk drawers, hoping for a priceless find of documents or books from before the Age of Simplification. Providence has bestowed a blessing here. Francis recalls how Venerable Boedullus had erred excavating an "international launching pad," and turned the landscape into a vast crater lake filled with giant catfish. The Abbot...