Kellan could hear the injured engineer before he could see the frame.
The sound reached him through the braced doorway, followed by a carrier’s short request to lower the front. He held his hand flat for the nearest guard to wait. The passage beyond the door had room for a frame and one person beside it. Sending another pair forward would fill the place where a stumble had to be corrected.
The guard waited. He was younger than Kellan had first thought, with dust making every crease around his eyes look older. His orders came from the settlement captain. Kellan could tell him what the brace was doing; he could not give him a different route on the strength of being useful here.
“Front through first,” Kellan called. “Watch the left handle.”
Mira appeared, backing toward him with the frame’s leading end. A local carrier held the other side. The injured engineer stared upward, both hands locked around the strap beside his hips. Tessa had secured his leg, but every uneven movement traveled into it.
Kellan put his boot beside the raised threshold.
“Stop here. We lift together.”
They raised the front, crossed the lip, and lowered it before bringing the rear over. The engineer made no sound until the frame settled. Then he asked whether they were outside.
