Qinghe found Yan alone above the furnace stores, reading the final weather report. The pressure line had shifted closer by several hours, though the outer towers had not yet sounded the warning pattern.
He set the report aside when she entered. “What do you want after the repairs are finished?”
Qinghe considered the question. “A home with a long table, daylight, and no sealed drawers.”
Yan smiled. “A deep bath and a shelf big enough for every forbidden manual I haven’t found yet.”
“Those can fit in the same house.”
They found a spare map and began sketching. Qinghe drew a small laboratory with windows that opened. Yan offered her the best wall for plants and a wide sill where she could keep her instruments. He drew a bath near the back room and a shelf that ran the full length of one wall.
“You’ll need a ladder,” she said, looking at the shelf.
“I can climb.”
