Mara heard the belt fail before she saw it.
The feed pump’s steady slap became a loose, irregular crack. A strip of dark material struck the guard from inside. The forewoman was already reaching the ordinary trip when Mara came through the door.
“Take it out,” Mara said.
The forewoman disengaged the drive.
The flywheel continued turning behind its fixed cover, spending the motion the motor had given it. Nobody put a hand near the belt while it coasted. Mara stood at the entry and kept the arriving crew clear until the last movement stopped.
Outside, Caldrin’s morning whistles began.
It was day fifteen hundred and fifty-three. The city’s heat-and-water service had been working through the night on its mixed supply. Coal, stored heat, ordinary pumps, and carefully maintained processing equipment did the work. Cultivated replacement linings reduced the demand for harvested tissue in the fittings where they had proved dependable. They did not make fuel, water, labor, and inspection disappear.
The broken belt had been due for replacement on the next planned service turn.
