Commander Rusk Dain arrived on foot with six guards and a lunch wrapped in paper.
He handed the lunch to the messenger before speaking to anyone at the passage entrance. “Put that somewhere it won’t get stepped on.”
The messenger tucked it carefully into a wall niche. Dain watched him do it, then turned to the transport-board engineer, who had just come back from inspecting the temporary support with Neri.
“Report,” he said.
The engineer gave him the measurements, the condition of the floor, and the reason she had ordered the passage closed. She did not mention the mosaic until Elian offered his sketch.
Dain studied it without touching the paper. He was broad through the shoulders and wore his coat open over practical armor. His graft ran along his upper arm, partly visible where the sleeve had been rolled back. Iven had met him before, though not in a place where he could see both exits and the men guarding them.
“Who has the original?” Dain asked.
“I do,” Elian said.
“The fragments?”
“Sera has them.”
“The cup?”
Brin tightened his hands around the basket. “I do.”
Dain looked at him. “And you are?”
“Brin.”
“Brin, is the cup yours?”
“No.”
“Then why do you have it?”
“I found it.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Iven felt Neri move beside him. Before she could speak, Brin lifted the basket lid. “It was in a room no one had recorded. We brought it out so it wouldn’t be broken.”
Dain looked at the cup, then at the covered entrance. “Is the room safe?”
“No,” the engineer said. “Not without further work.”
“Then I won’t send anyone into it yet.” He turned to Elian. “The survey secretary has ordered the material secured for review. I’ll take custody of the fragments and your notes. You may keep a copy.”
Elian held the sketch against his chest. “I want a receipt naming each item.”
“You’ll have one.”
“And the reason for removal.”
“Preservation and examination.”
“By whom?”
“The appropriate office.”
“That is not a name.”
Dain’s expression remained patient. “The office will assign an examiner.”
Sera stepped forward. “I have samples from the wall and from the drill site. They need to remain separate and properly labeled. If they’re combined or exposed to heat, the evidence will be lost.”
“Then write the handling instructions.”
“You’re assuming your examiner will follow them.”
“I’ll make sure the instructions accompany the samples.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“No,” Dain said. “It isn’t.”
Iven watched him. He had expected an officer who would dismiss their objections. Dain listened to them, separated what he could promise from what he could not, and still intended to take everything. It made him harder to argue with than a man who enjoyed shouting.
Neri pointed toward the engineer. “She hasn’t finished her inspection. Your people could damage the rooms if they go in before she does.”
“My people will remain outside until she finishes.”
“And afterward?”
“They’ll secure the route.”
“From the people who found it?”
“From anyone without authorization.”
Tavin crossed his arms. “That includes the people who know where the weak floor is.”
“It may.”
The engineer cleared her throat. “I require the crew that installed the supports to show me the locations. After that, I can make my own assessment.”
Dain considered her. “How long?”
“Two hours if nothing moves. Longer if it does.”
“You have two hours. The guards will remain at the entrance.”
Neri looked at Iven. He could not tell whether she wanted him to object or remember the limit. Probably both.
They went down with the engineer, leaving Brin and the basket above. Kesh led the way through the drainage passage. The pale creature was not visible in the room, but fresh tracks crossed the dust near the old door. The engineer knelt to examine them.
“Are these from the thing the messenger described?”
“Likely,” Kesh said. “We saw two of different sizes.”
“Do they attack?”
“Yes. We’ve also seen them attend fresh damage. We don’t know why.”
The engineer made a note. “I need to know whether they can be kept out while the supports are fitted.”
“We can watch for them. I won’t promise they won’t come.”
“That’s a better answer than the one I usually get.”
Neri showed her the temporary post and the crack above it. Iven demonstrated how the load had shifted after the drilling. The engineer asked to see the old doorframe, then checked the bolts where it met the hard pale wall.
“These bolts are not on the drawing you gave me,” she said.
“We couldn’t see them yesterday.”
She tested one with a small wrench. It turned a fraction, then stopped. “They’re carrying more than the door. Someone tied the frame into the surrounding structure.”
“Can it be made safe?” Neri asked.
“Yes, with a frame that doesn’t depend on the old wood. You’ll need to clear this passage and install supports from the drainage side.”
“How long?”
“Two days with a crew and the right material.”
“We have the crew.”
“I’ll have to approve the material.”
Neri opened her mouth, then closed it. Iven could see the calculation. An argument would cost time and might give the engineer a reason to exclude them. Neri handed her the measurements for the supports they had brought instead.
The engineer read them. “These are suitable for a temporary installation. I’ll sign for them when we’re back above.”
A scraping sound came from behind the old door. Kesh raised her spear. The engineer stood very still while a pale armored head appeared through the broken frame. The creature looked at the group, then moved toward the patched drill hole.
“Is that the smaller one?” Iven asked.
“Yes,” Kesh said.
The creature pressed a forelimb against the pad Sera had tied over the hole. The cloth had shifted, exposing a narrow line of pale material beneath. It scraped at the edge, then lifted its head toward the lamp.
The engineer took one step backward. “I can finish the inspection from the other side.”
“That’s sensible,” Kesh said.
They withdrew through the drainage passage. The creature did not follow, though its claws continued to scrape the wall behind them. At the surface, the engineer signed Neri’s list and gave Dain a copy of her assessment.
“The route may be secured,” she said, “but no excavation, drilling, or removal of supports until a crew has completed the temporary frame.”
Dain read the assessment. “How soon can the crew begin?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Who will lead it?”
“Neri Quill’s cooperative installed the current supports. They can do the work if the transport board accepts their price.”
Neri folded her arms. “The price will include proper material and pay for a second crew member at the drain.”
“Put it in writing,” the engineer said.
Dain handed the assessment back. “The site remains under guard. Your crew may enter with the engineer’s approval.”
Neri looked at him. “And the people who found it?”
“If they are part of the approved crew.”
Iven saw the opening she saw. It was narrow, and Dain would be watching it, but it existed.
Elian held out his notebook. “I can give you a copy of the room measurements today. I want the originals compared against the fragments before they leave Sera’s custody.”
Dain’s gaze moved to Sera’s case. “The order calls for custody now.”
“The order calls for examination. If your examiner mixes the fragments, the drawing will be less useful.”
“Then bring them to the survey office and compare them there.”
Sera shook her head. “My samples need a cool room. Your office has a furnace under the records shelf.”
Dain regarded her for a moment. “You know the office.”
“I worked there long enough to know where it keeps its mistakes.”
The messenger retrieved Dain’s lunch from the niche. Dain accepted it but did not open it. “Tomorrow morning. Bring the fragments to the lower survey room. I’ll have a clerk make a receipt and a physician inspect the storage. Your drawings can be compared there.”
Sera looked at Elian. Elian looked at Iven. None of them seemed satisfied, which made the arrangement more credible than one that had pleased everyone.
“Copies remain with us,” Elian said.
“Yes.”
“And the cup?” Brin asked.
Dain looked at the basket. “The cup is included.”
Brin frowned. “It has a broken handle.”
“Then we’ll note that.”
“I was going to fix it.”
“Don’t.”
Iven put a hand on Brin’s shoulder before the argument could become about whether a commander understood cups. “We’ll make sure the receipt mentions the wire.”
Dain’s gaze settled on Iven. “You’re Marr.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve heard about the lift.”
“Which one?”
“The one where you crossed a beam under fire.”
“That’s a short list, then.”
“You took a risk in a crowded work area.”
“The men firing the bolts took it first.”
“That doesn’t make the crowd safer.”
“No. Stopping the men did.”
Dain did not answer immediately. He looked at the rail above the passage, the stairs behind Iven, and the space between them. Iven had the uncomfortable impression that the commander was measuring routes the way Neri measured a bridge.
“I won’t have a fight here,” Dain said.
“Neither will I.”
“Good. Come to the lower survey room tomorrow, and bring the material.”
The guards took positions at the entrance. They did not touch anyone. Jora arrived after Dain had given his orders and spoke to him privately near the stair. When she returned, she told Neri that the transport-board work could proceed as soon as the materials were approved.
“Is that your idea?” Neri asked.
“It’s the engineer’s.”
“Did you support it?”
“Yes.”
“Then thank you.”
Jora accepted the thanks with a nod. “Don’t make me regret it.”
“That’s an expensive request.”
The group left by the public walkway. Brin carried the basket with both hands. Sera walked beside him. Elian kept his notebook under his coat, and Kesh followed with the wrapped fragment from the drill site. Tavin went ahead to arrange the next day’s materials.
At the junction, a cart blocked their way. Its driver was arguing with a guard about a permit. The guard insisted the cart be moved to the side lane. The driver insisted the side lane was too narrow. Both were right, which made the argument vigorous.
Iven helped lift one wheel over the curb while Neri guided the cart around the corner. The driver thanked them and continued arguing with the guard at a safer distance.
When Iven looked back, one of Dain’s men stood at the far end of the walkway. He was not hiding. He watched the group turn toward Sera’s clinic, then followed at a pace that kept several people between them.
“They’re following us,” Brin whispered.
“They’re making sure we bring the material tomorrow,” Sera said.
“Are we?”
“Yes,” Elian said.
Iven looked at him. “All of it?”
Elian’s hand rested on the notebook beneath his coat. “The order says all of it.”
Neri shifted the basket strap in Brin’s hands. “Then tonight we make sure all of it has been recorded somewhere they can’t mistake for their own.”
The guard continued behind them. He did not interfere when they entered the clinic. He stood outside while Sera locked the door, then took a seat on the opposite step and accepted a cup of water from a neighbor.
“Very threatening,” Iven said.
“Give him time,” Neri replied.
Inside, Elian opened his notebook. “We need a better copy of the mosaic.”
“And the marks on the wall,” Sera said. “And the location of each sample.”
Brin set the basket on the table. “And the wire on the cup.”
“Especially the wire,” Iven said.
They worked until the light outside the window faded. When Iven finally looked up, the guard was still on the step. Someone had given him a second cup, and a child was showing him a toy with a missing wheel.
The guard examined it seriously. He did not look like a man preparing to attack a clinic. Iven wished that made the order in Elian’s pocket less real.