Inside Alpha, Sister Yu held her hand against the glass while Han slipped Liu’s amulet over the latch. The ward went quiet. They had brought batteries for the occupied frames, as the envoy had told them. Until she heard someone draw breath without the pump, she could only guess whether they had brought enough.
The first frame took the new feed. The man inside blinked. Yu waved the bearers through. More frames came out, row by row, each with a healer holding the little ward against the glass. At Bai’s row, the old pump did exactly what Liu had feared. The moment Han raised the frame, its return line drew hard enough to drag the new battery out of Yu’s hands. Bai stopped breathing.
“Leave mine,” he said when the pump caught again. His eyes had gone to the next alcove.
Yu looked there too. A woman in silver armor was still waiting. She had no one to speak for her. Yu sent Han to get her frame off the feed first. Then she opened the cover on the ward at Bai’s feet. There was enough room for a hand. She held the connection shut while the bearers lifted him. Heat burned through her glove. She told them to keep walking.
