The first Compact wagon reached First Vent the morning after the attack.
It did not carry a miracle.
Leva climbed down with a coupling gauge, six workers and a list of parts that still had to fit. Behind her, the service frame occupied most of the wagon bed. Its fuel drive was cold. Its folded supports had not yet touched ground. The road crew had spent the night preparing the load for a climb that ordinary carts did not make quickly.
Iven met them beside the damaged return house.
Leth’s temporary condition had held. Reduced loads, auxiliary equipment and disciplined reliefs had kept the neighboring occupied spaces usable. Hali Renn’s injured hand had been treated at the Gate. The dead guards’ notices had begun their different journeys. Nothing about a useful night erased what the attack had cost.
Leva read the local positions before opening her case.
“Where’s the sound receiving seat?”
“Inside the fracture,” Iven said. “The outer face is gone. We can reach enough to work if the frame takes the controlled demand.”
