In the Gardener's Service
Novelette 14,180 words Recommended by 2 award/anthology sources
"Sirius kho Delsi swam in the muddy water filling the abandoned conduit leading to Wisdom Lake, a tear-shaped pond enclosed inside the Imperial Preserve. Fingering the cracked walls in total darkness and bumping against gooey obstacles had taken longer than he expected, pushing his lungs’ patience to their limits."
Quasar links out; the story lives on Asimov's, where the author gets the click.