The authenticated message reached Solitude with the current reference attached.
Private bridge completed. Link isolated. Old instrument dark. Felix alive and clear of the fitting.
Tamsin read the state to the local operator. The operator checked it against the independent reference and repeated the accepted next action.
The loss had been known before launch.
It was still a loss.
Tamsin let herself feel it for one breath, then looked at the gauges that had not depended on the deck being lit. Intake. Local reserve. Output. Return. The physical cutoff remained in ordinary authorized reach.
The next duty belonged here.
Around her, the qualified crew did small useful things without waiting to be reminded. One worker checked the age of the incoming reading. Another verified the local return before accepting the stated load. The recorder put arrival in one column and readiness in another.
