Kellan returned through the gate with the supports balanced on a cart. Nia had helped him load them outside, then stayed at her watch position.
The cart’s wheels rattled over the gate threshold. Eli helped guide it around the barrier while Kellan checked the locking pins. Nia maintained the line to the site officer from outside the gate.
“Jalen’s alive,” Eli said. “He says he’s near the valve, under something. Water hasn’t reached him.”
“What moved?”
“He heard grinding above him. Dust fell. He says he warned Rell about the wall.”
Kellan looked at the red warning marker, now facing outward. “Who moved that?”
Rell said, “It was in the way.”
“In the way of what?”
“Equipment.”
Dane shifted beside the door. He had told Eli he did not know who moved it. Rell’s answer did not say who had turned it or when.
Kellan set the first support down. “We need a route inspection before anyone enters. We need someone outside to call for help. And if we get Jalen out, we need written access to the pump for the cache run.”
Rell held out the keys. “Fine. Take them.”
“That’s not the agreement.”
“You want paper while he’s trapped?”
“I want to know that once we take the risk, you won’t close the station and say you never agreed.”
Eli heard another cough beyond the door. He wanted to take the keys and begin. Kellan had not stopped preparing; he was asking Rell to make a promise that could be written in less than a minute.
Rell pulled a sheet from his pocket and wrote on the back. Kellan read it.
“This says we can enter the control room. It doesn’t say we can use the pump.”
“I won’t authorize someone who doesn’t know it to start it.”
“Neither will I. Write that we may inspect and use it if the operator and I agree it’s safe.”
Rell added the sentence. He signed and gave the page to Eli. Dane witnessed it, writing his name beneath the time. Kellan photographed both sides and sent a copy to Nia at the entrance.
“Who goes in with us?” Eli asked.
Rell glanced toward the service door. “No one from my team. The rest are working the upper route.”
“Dane can help carry equipment to the doorway,” Kellan said. “He stays outside to call the officer.”
Dane nodded. Rell did not object.
Eli checked the supports, rope, lamps, and water. He put the medical kit where he could reach it without opening the main pack. Kellan tied a communication line to a fixed point outside the door. The line would not replace a voice connection, but a series of pulls could signal that they needed help if the radio failed.
“Two pulls for stop,” Kellan told Dane. “Three for emergency. If we don’t answer when you call, contact the officer. Don’t come in after us.”
Dane repeated the signals. Nia confirmed the return deadline on the radio and promised to call the officer if they missed it. The site officer had acknowledged the report but still could not give a response time.
Rell unlocked the service door. It resisted halfway, scraping against debris on the other side. Kellan stopped him before he forced it.
“Lamp through the gap.”
Eli angled the light inside. A broken shelf lay against the door. Beyond it, the passage sloped down toward the valve room. Dust coated the floor, interrupted by a narrow trail of water. A second warning marker lay on its side farther in.
Kellan studied the ceiling. A crack crossed the first span. He checked the wall where the support would stand and tapped the floor with the end of his tool. The sound changed near the water trail.
“Solid enough on the left,” he said. “We place the first support there before moving the shelf.”
Rell handed him a shorter brace from the checkpoint. Kellan inspected it, found a bent pin, and gave it back.
“Not that one.”
“It’s held before.”
“Then it can hold something else after the pin is replaced.”
They carried one rented support through the gap. Eli held the lamp while Kellan positioned the base. The ceiling was low enough that the support did not need its full extension. Kellan tightened it in small increments and checked for movement.
“Eli, look at the frame,” he said.
Weak-Point Sight showed strain where the door had twisted against the shelf. A brighter line ran through the plaster above, but it did not spread while Kellan adjusted the support. Eli marked the area with chalk and described what he saw.
“Can we move the shelf without striking the frame?” Kellan asked.
“If we lift the near end and rotate it toward the wall.”
“Let’s do it slowly.”
Dane held the door while Eli and Kellan moved the shelf. One leg scraped across the floor; all three stopped. The ceiling did not move. They continued until the opening was wide enough for a person carrying a support.
“Jalen?” Eli called.
“Here.” The voice was clearer now. “Don’t hit the wall.”
“We won’t. We’re coming with braces.”
Rell remained behind Dane. “Tell him to shut the valve when you get there.”
Kellan turned. “First we get him out.”
“If the water rises, your cache is gone.”
“If the valve can be reached safely, we’ll assess it. Jalen isn’t a tool you can use while he’s pinned.”
Rell’s jaw tightened. He stepped back from the doorway.
Eli and Kellan entered the passage. Dane held the line and watched the support from outside. The first few steps were dry. Farther down, water covered Eli’s boot soles. He tested each step with the end of a pole before putting weight on it. The floor felt uneven but did not shift.
The passage bent left. A section of masonry had fallen across the entrance to the valve room, leaving a gap near the floor. Jalen’s hand protruded from beneath the debris, fingers moving weakly.
“I’m here,” Eli said. He knelt outside the pile. “I’m Eli. Kellan is with me.”
“Don’t pull me.”
“We won’t.”
Jalen’s hand disappeared, then returned holding a small metal tag. “Valve key. It fell off the ring.”
Eli took it and set it beside the wall. “We’ll keep it safe. Where are you caught?”
“My leg. Something across my hip.”
“Can you move your other leg?”
“A little.”
“Any trouble breathing?”
“Dust.”
Kellan raised his lamp to the ceiling. A crack extended from the fallen section into a beam above Jalen. The beam had not fallen, but one end rested on broken masonry. Removing the wrong piece could change the load.
Eli focused on the pile. Weak-Point Sight showed a bright line through a block near Jalen’s hip. Breaking it might free him quickly. Eli started to reach for the hammer, then remembered the slab falling where he had stood during Belen’s test. He stopped his hand and asked Kellan to check what the surrounding stone supported.
“Wait,” Kellan said.
“The block’s already split.”
“And the ceiling is resting on what surrounds it. We brace first.”
Jalen coughed. Eli could hear the effort in each breath. The bright line seemed to offer a solution within reach, and every second spent positioning a support felt like another second the worker might not have.
Kellan pointed to the beam. “If you strike that block, the load may move into the gap. I need a stable base and a second brace.”
Eli kept the hammer in its loop. “Tell me where.”
They measured the opening. Kellan chose a position away from the water trail and checked the floor with the pole. Eli carried the support forward, keeping it clear of Jalen’s hand. Together they raised it beneath the beam.
“Not yet,” Kellan said. “The top plate needs a wider surface.”
Dane brought a short timber board to the doorway. He did not enter; Eli took it from him and passed it to Kellan. The board spread the support’s contact across the beam. Kellan adjusted the height until it touched, then secured the pin.
Jalen’s breathing became noisy. Eli called Tessa through Nia’s line. The signal broke once, then connected. He described the worker’s position and symptoms without attempting to diagnose the injury.
“Can he answer in full sentences?” Tessa asked.
“Short ones.”
“Is the water rising around him?”
“Not yet.”
“Watch his breathing and the color of his lips if you can see them. If the structure starts moving or water reaches him, tell the responders and reassess immediately. Don’t pull him from under a load that will fall on him.”
Eli repeated the instructions. Tessa asked to hear Jalen if the line would reach. Eli held the radio near the gap. Jalen gave his name and said he could feel both feet. Tessa told him to keep answering when they spoke and not to try to force himself free.
Kellan found a narrow gap beneath the beam and slid a wedge into it without striking. The wood touched the stone but did not yet carry weight. He adjusted the support by a fraction, then asked Eli to watch the crack while he released pressure on the wedge.
The crack held. A trickle of dust fell from its edge.
“Was that new?” Kellan asked.
“I can’t tell. It fell when you moved the wedge, but I didn’t see the crack widen.”
“Then we treat it as movement until we’ve checked.” Kellan marked the ends of the visible crack with chalk. He waited through three breaths and checked the gap again. The marks had not separated.
Jalen asked, “How long?”
“We don’t know,” Eli said. “We’re testing each piece before we move it.”
“I can help.”
“You can tell us if the pressure changes. Don’t push unless Kellan asks you.”
The worker managed a short laugh that became a cough. “I’ve spent the morning wishing someone would tell me what to do.”
Tessa heard him through the radio. “Tell me if the cough gets worse or you can’t catch your breath. I’m staying on the line as long as the signal holds.”
Eli shifted the radio nearer the gap. Kellan asked Dane to bring the spare line to the entrance and leave it where they could reach it. Dane did as directed, then returned to his position by the door. The guard’s hands were shaking, but he repeated the signal for an emergency without looking at his notes.
A fine stream of water appeared beneath the masonry. Kellan touched it with one finger and checked the mark on the wall. It had risen less than the width of a fingernail, but it was moving toward Jalen’s lower leg. He asked Eli to tell Tessa. She repeated that a change in water level could alter the urgency and told them to keep reporting it.
Kellan checked the brace again. “We can remove the small piece at the edge. Not the main block.”
Eli found the piece with his sight. It was separated from the load above by a narrow crack. He left the hammer in its loop and used his hands to ease the piece out. Dust spilled over Jalen’s sleeve, but the beam stayed still.
The worker’s arm became visible to the elbow. Eli passed him the water pouch and helped him take a small sip. Jalen’s fingers trembled around it.
“Rell said nobody was here,” he whispered.
“We know you’re here now.”
A knock sounded from the entrance. Dane called that the site officer had received the updated location and was sending the first available responders. There was still no arrival time.
Kellan slid another small stone free. The main obstruction remained across Jalen’s leg, but they could now see where it rested. Eli held the lamp steady while Kellan examined the contact points.
“We’ve made room,” Kellan said. “Next we lift in stages. If the brace shifts, we stop.”
Jalen closed his eyes. Eli called his name until he opened them again.
“Stay with me,” he said. “Tell me about the valve when you’re ready. Not because we need you to operate it. Because I need to hear your voice.”
Jalen swallowed. “Blue handle. Turns left.”
“Good. What did you see before the wall came down?”
“Cracks. I wrote them in the station ledger.”
Eli held the radio closer. Tessa was still on the line, listening as Kellan checked the existing ceiling support and prepared the next wedge.