The first fitting turned. The second did not.
The commander stopped her crew before the man at the far position could put his shoulder against it. The quest specified an order; the engineer had seen a load problem. Neither made a jam harmless. Through the damaged screen, Sera could see the hunter’s glove caught between the handle and a broken edge of metal.
“Hand clear,” she called.
He withdrew it. The commander asked the engineer whether taking pressure off the lower seat would bring the whole section down. He inspected the exposed seam, told them which ordinary wedge could move, and made the hunter at the near position take the tool instead of reaching past the lit fitting.
The wedge came free with a sound like a snapped tooth.
Above them the gate’s light bowed inward. Residents beyond the outer corner heard the change and began shouting. Tessa kept her receiving people from turning back toward the noise. The care group on the street had almost reached its transfer point. Almost was not the same as clear.
The second fitting moved.
At the receiver, the independent operator spoke the event time while another person wrote it. Juno watched the record from her remote station. The signal changed before the gate settled, but not in a way she could classify from a glance. She asked them to keep the instrument in place and make no adjustment until after the post-completion interval.
