The first brace made the support quieter without making it sound whole. Mira listened with her hand off the adjustment tool. A low grinding continued inside the hollow, slower than before. The chalk on the gauge remained dry. The needle rested at the second scratch, trembling enough to show that it was still connected to the pressure and had not simply stuck.
Juno gave the estimate for the temporary repair. It might last through the planned release if they adjusted the second support. If they left the second control where it was, the first brace would take increasing strain until its good seat ceased to matter.
Mira looked at the passage behind the inner frame. From the near observation rail it had seemed like a dark gap. At the first support it became a route with surfaces she would have to touch: a slanting lower rib, a narrow foot ledge, a crosspiece near her shoulder. The return line had room along the upper side until the frame moved. After that its clearance was uncertain.
“Before I cross,” she said, “tell me what you have for bringing the line past the turn.”
The technician checked the recorded descent test beside the current image. Its route and Mira’s were the same through the first guide. The test weight had not gone behind a closing inner frame. The deeper turn had not been loaded under the present angle. He marked the difference without trying to make a memory of a successful test cover…
