Han and Vessa agreed to count households without putting names on the station map. Qinghe needed numbers for clean water and medicine. Vessa wanted the names held by the quarry council, where families could check them.
Bai made two lists. One showed totals for supplies; the other stayed with the council. A woman named Noma read each count aloud while Vessa’s keepers checked their own records. The settlement had several hundred people, livestock, a school, and two cisterns.
A message mirror chimed at the station room. Ning’s face appeared from White Orchard. She had set out maps of available rooms, cistern capacity, and carts.
“How many children? How many elders? Anyone who needs a medical wagon?” she asked.
“We’re still checking,” Qinghe said. “The lower water line may be unsafe.”
Ning did not promise space for everyone. She could secure the first group of families and arrange a water route. She asked them to include livestock in the transport plan; families might refuse to leave if the animals that fed them had to be abandoned.
Yan leaned toward the mirror. “We’ll get everyone a home.”
Ning’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t promise what you haven’t checked.”
