Lian brought Mara to the yard after the wage review. Mara had kept her brother Tovin’s boots beside the door for three months. His service card said he had transferred to a distant post, but there was no travel receipt.
“He said his ears rang after the first cycle,” Mara told Qinghe. “They sent him in again before he had slept.”
Lian remembered seeing Tovin escorted toward the freight road. “I thought he was going to the barracks.”
The name appeared on a wagon manifest for empty ceramic crates headed to the old relay village. The date matched the week he disappeared. It did not prove he had been aboard, but it gave Han a route to check.
Yan reached for his pack. “I’ll go with the scouts.”
Han shook her head. “They need witnesses, not another person they can mistake for a threat. The station may still need your help.”
He disliked staying behind. Then he saw Mara holding the boots by their heels, careful not to let them touch the muddy ground. A promise to find Tovin would not help her unless it was true.
“What do you want to do while they search?” he asked.
