Olan had taken the block apart without losing any of its pieces.
Iven found them laid out on the service bench in the order they came off: cover, outer guide, first pawl, intermediate catch, load pin. Each sat on its own patch of clean cloth. The arrangement was so familiar that he almost put his tool bag in the old place without thinking.
Then he saw the new transport tag beside the parts and read it first.
Service derrick. Two-stage release. Approved maintenance interval after the recovery shift.
“What happened to it?” he asked.
“Nothing tonight. The primary release has been carrying its work. This one was taken out of service because the intermediate catch wouldn’t come free predictably under load.”
“Why are you working on it?”
“The night mechanic asked whether I knew the older pattern. I do.”
