Mira asked whether the third instrument had been struck.
It was the first question anyone had spoken since the preliminary report arrived. Eli watched her face tighten around it, as though she had heard an accusation in her own voice. A bad instrument was possible. The quiet interval had been real too. Neither possibility let them keep driving away from the new mark without checking.
“Ask the operator,” Juno said. “Don’t ask the map.”
The reserve commander had stopped his lighter vehicles short of the receiving turn. His heavy carriage was still approaching the bridge under restrictions that would make reversing difficult. Through the independent line, his engine sounded like a second person waiting to speak. He wanted a destination before the crew crossed a stretch with no passing room.
Juno repeated the preliminary report’s limits. One instrument had risen sharply. The second instrument and the visible reference were being checked. She asked the third site’s operator whether either instrument had taken a blow, been moved, or lost its reference since the quiet interval.
“No movement,” the woman answered. “Same position. Second reading is up. Waiting on the gate.”
Mira set both hands flat on the table. The second site’s trend still lay under her left wrist. Eli could see why she had chosen it. He could also see how easily having good reasons could become a reason to stop listening.
