They met in a receiving room after the patients who needed quiet had been moved behind the borrowed partition. It was the only space the host had offered, and the offer ended before the next intake. Eli set the time where everyone could see it. The room would not become theirs because their disagreement lasted longer.
There were fewer supplies than the packed lists suggested. Some had been left at headquarters. Some had been consumed in the tunnel reinforcement. Two bundles had reached a different refuge contact and could not be counted as available until someone confirmed their contents and a route for returning them. The reference case had survived. A replacement recorder had gone to investigate the upstream discrepancy, postponing another trial.
The key had not returned.
Mira’s supporters sat nearest the door. One had stayed to help carry patients after the scout party departed; another had brought the acknowledgment from her monitor. They wanted to follow her toward the reservoir, keep Rook from taking the mechanism, and develop the collapse plan before it became impossible to act. They did not all defend the theft. One called it a theft openly and still said Rook holding the key would be worse.
