The faction leader asked for the calibration case in front of the whole yard. He did not reach for it. He stood close enough that the two local custodians had to look past him to see the workers waiting by the equipment room.
“You’ve found a route around your own monitoring,” he said. “And your answer is another discussion between offices.”
The shift leader set the case farther back on the table. “Our answer is an independent comparison before full power.”
“Which we could order from one place.”
“You could also order it skipped.”
He said that was an accusation about a thing he had not done. She acknowledged the distinction, but left the case where it was. Sera stood beside the independent transmitter while Juno listened below. The engineer waited at the reduced-load controls, unwilling to begin the comparison while the people at the door kept distracting her observer.
Juno asked the shift leader to put the speaker where the yard could hear her. A worker carried it out with its cable held clear of the muddy crossing. The faction leader folded his arms. He seemed pleased to have acquired an audience below as well as above.
“The second instrument found what the primary meter concealed,” Juno said. “It belonged to another team. Its measurement wasn’t controlled by the person recording the first.”
