The second anchor’s observer could hear the creatures before she could see the breach. Something struck the outside of the storage wall, followed by the scrape of loose stone. Her own instrument stood on a packing case beside the regulator. Its needle agreed with the operator’s reading even when the floor shook beneath both.
“Not a repeated alarm,” she told Juno. “The adjacent gate has opened at its lower seam. Our outer circuit is isolated. The regulator is still inside its band.”
Juno asked which parts of that statement came from her own position. The observer could see the gate seam through a narrow inspection opening. She could see the circuit lever disconnected. A defender had reported the creatures on the other side of the storage wall; she could hear their impacts but could not count them.
“Stay inside,” Juno said. “We have scouts on the protected approach.”
The operator beside the observer was working with one hand while holding a temporary stop in place with the other. Another operator would normally have stood there. He was moving tools for the repair because the technician could not leave the housing open unattended.
A defender thrust her head through the doorway. “How long before you can close that seam?”
