The first person waiting at the settlement entrance wanted to know whether Tessa had brought the hunters with her.
She could not answer no. Eli and Bram’s warning had reached the relay while the witness group was still crossing the last public passage. She knew the maintenance route beneath headquarters was exposed. She did not know whether anyone had followed its wet trail beyond the surface grate. Pretending uncertainty was reassurance would make the people opening this door bear a danger she had hidden from them.
“A retrieval route was discovered,” she said. “We changed our approach after the warning. We have no confirmed pursuit.”
The resident looked behind her at the people waiting on the shallow steps. The woman with the damaged aid sat near the wall, wrapped in one of the workshop blankets. Two witnesses had chosen other refuge contacts rather than come below. These were the people who had chosen to approach the settlement, and they had still not been promised a bed.
The liaison met Tessa inside the entrance. They were carrying a bowl whose rim had been repaired with a different-colored material. Tessa moved aside so they could set it on a shelf without spilling the grain inside.
