The Perseus fault looked like a cliff after an earthquake.
Shelves of dark stone hung at sharp angles. Beyond them, starlight stretched into thin violet lines as space pulled inward. The Local 404 rested beside the largest shelf with its landing clamps locked.
Austin set a survey scope on the observation deck. Tie Kuang held the measuring rod while Xuan Ming wrote down each reading. Pug patrolled the edge of the old ruins below them, sniffing broken walls and fallen pillars.
“Left two inches,” Austin said.
Tie moved the rod. “Here?”
“Good. Hold it.”
The scope sent a red beam across the gap. The answer came back bent and late.
“Same inward pull as Boundary-Alpha,” Austin said. “It’s like an eight-story building on a peat bog. The lower layer is sliding sideways. Mark that. We don’t just need strength under the pile. We need to know where the sideways force goes.”
