Vela pulled the western relay’s release cord when the copper band began to smoke. The local lamps went dark. The neighboring barrier stayed lit, and the shelter beyond the post kept its power.
Qiao Wen read the gauge. “Good call. The band was beyond repair.”
Vela kept hold of the cord while the crew moved the smoking piece into a sand box. She had followed the threshold on the station board, but the smoke had come before the needle reached its red mark. She pointed out the delay to Qiao. The instrument might be slow, or the sensor might sit too far from the band.
Yan checked the barrier from the road side. The outer shimmer had gone out around the western post, but the gap ended cleanly at the neighboring field. He walked the edge to the drainage ditch and found no break spreading toward the houses.
“Nothing beyond the marked section,” he told Qinghe. “The next barrier is holding.”
She looked at both gauges, then at the shelter lamps. “Keep the spare line separate until Qiao has checked the housing.”
A Registry guard arrived with two clerks. He accused Vela of abandoning the post and demanded that she hand over the release cord. Wei’s patrol stopped him before he could reach the switch.
