The inferred range was narrow enough, and Eshel called it.
He did not call it at once. He read the single line on the board, where the band had closed. He read probe two’s live figure and probe four’s. He read the jacket return. He read them all twice, and then he worked the line’s position against each, on the board’s edge, where the room could see.
Then he called it.
“The branch sits in the range,” he said.
He put his chalk on the line.
“Not the middle of it,” he said. “Near its lower edge. Branch three’s gradient is a hair cooler than its neighbors’. That’s the collar’s tilt. Jack four’s side is a little further from the boundary now.” He looked at the line. “In the range. And the range is short.” He put the chalk down. “Short enough to run the quench on.”
“Run it,” Mara said.
Her voice was hoarse. She had not noticed until she heard it.
