The repaired handle held through the final stretcher relay.
Keve checked it after every passage, first while the carrying frame rested on its supports and again before the next patient lifted clear. Its replacement had not become trustworthy merely because the first journey succeeded. By the last relay, the mechanic had wrapped a pale strip around the fastening so movement would show against a fixed mark. The strip stayed aligned.
Eli watched from the departure desk. He had used no inherited talent since the confusion beside the first convoy. The three equipped imprints remained inactive. Ordinary braces held the passage, ordinary hands passed the patients and ordinary guides waited for acknowledgment before sending each group around the exposed turn.
He could still see places where Anchor might have made work easier. Seeing a possible use was not permission to perform it. He read the next departure identifier to Renn and let Renn compare it with the patient card.
At the narrow turn, Deva stopped the group with a raised palm. A loose blanket had slipped near the carrying frame’s feet. The far guide could not see it from his mark. She waited for the carriers to settle the frame, retrieved the blanket with a hook and sent the full acknowledgment back.
