Ard’s bench book was thicker than Iven expected.
The old fitter carried it beneath one arm, its leather cover tied with a strip of woven tape. There were burns on the edge and a patch where something corrosive had eaten through the first few pages. The rest held years of work: fitted travel, material sizes, sketches made because a correct drawing had not arrived when the machine did.
He put it beside Olan’s copied warning and found the page without searching.
“I remembered this job,” he said.
Dr Halwen waited on the other side of the bench with the component custodian. Neri had come for the technical comparison after her crew turn. Iven stood beside her, leaving Ard the space to open his own book and say what he knew.
The measurements matched.
The words around them were longer than the copy Olan had kept. Ard had described the installed pocket, the temporary collar and the difference between opening pressure and useful discharge. He had drawn the moving member at its full bench lift, then at the smaller installed clearance.
“Did anyone ask you to approve the completed correction?” Halwen asked.
