The first official to reach the power cabinet had a key and no diagram.
Juno stopped him before he turned it. Eli saw her point toward the medical vehicles, then toward the lamp that had flickered above the receiving desk. The official called for the harbor electrician instead of pulling a switch whose service he could not identify. Pressure had made the whole quay feel like one endangered surface. The wires beneath it still served different things.
“Keep the core unconnected,” Juno said. “No shore lead. No test cable into a common supply.”
An Aegis specialist stood beside a closed equipment case. Its coiled lead lay across the lid.
“We need power to monitor it.”
“You need power for the reader. That doesn’t establish a reason to connect this bay to the harbor grid.”
“Our equipment has a specified supply.”
“Show the requirement to the electrician. We can look for a separate limited source. Passive instruments can stay in use while we do.”
