The empty chamber had already been disconnected when Eli asked Juno how quickly they could open the next six channels.
She was kneeling beside the local sequence board, copying a pressure change from the independent instrument. She finished the number before looking up. Behind her, two operators were preparing the next contact. Their captive could answer, although each response arrived after a delay long enough to make Eli watch the supply trace as if watching might hold it level.
“Preparing or detaching?” Juno asked.
“Both.”
“Those are different answers.”
“Then give me both.”
His tone brought Tessa’s eyes toward him. He knew it, heard it himself, and still could not make the question less urgent. The observation chamber was empty. The reservoir was not. Every interval they spent here was being taken out of people who had never agreed to remain.
Juno set the pencil down.
