Sera told Tessa before she touched the hatch.
“The service opening is accessible. I’m going to check the first bend and call for Nadir from inside. I’ll mark the route. If I find anything unstable, I come back.”
Tessa’s answer came through a burst of static. “Response is still on its way. I want you outside until they arrive.”
“I know. The guard called from the entrance and got no answer. The bend may be blocking the sound.”
“That doesn’t make the route safe.”
“No. It doesn’t.” Sera looked at the dark passage. “I’m going in far enough to see around it. I’ll report what I find.”
There was a pause. Tessa did not approve the choice; Sera had made it. “Leave the guard your return time. If you don’t report, he calls the response office again. Keep the radio open.”
Sera gave the guard a ten-minute check time. He wrote it on the sign-in sheet and repeated the response number. The site supervisor objected, saying the passage was not an approved route, but she did not physically block the hatch. She called the duty officer to report that Sera intended to enter.
