The first thing below Hesh had six feet.
The second dragged one broad plate.
The third climbed without touching the stairs.
Roof keeper Jori Neh heard them through four floors of concrete while 604 people held their breath above him.
He kept one hand on the copper pair and one on the lower-stair wheel.
The wheel had been welded shut after Black Grass entered the drainage level. Hesh had refused that route seven times during the final separation.
Seven refusals had kept the roof alive.
Metal tapped the other side.
Six quick impacts crossed the door from left to right.
The broad plate struck once near the floor.
Something scraped inside the wall and stopped behind Jori's wrist.
"Three bodies," he reported. "Different contacts."
Tali answered from the origin field.
"Name only what Hesh can verify."
"Six feet on the landing. One plate against the door. One contact inside the pipe wall."
"Current people below?"
Jori looked at the old drainage roster.
