Ferra planted herself before the false door and dropped her tool chest across the passage, blocking every approach.
Down the infirmary junction, Vella held her wrapped hand beside the basin and kept her measuring gauge within easy reach. Two sentries watched its grate with lowered weapons, leaving the child's only answering pipe clear while her fingers stayed numb.
"The warning went past the nullstone," she called, tapping the gauge's handle with her uninjured fingers, "so anything coming back comes through here first."
Ferra unrolled her cord across the paving while Juna guarded the recorders, leaving Didi beyond its line with the warrant. Its seal faced the workers who kept glancing at the answering pipe, and her jaw stayed locked like a trap.
Ferra flipped the chest open, exposing wrenches beside carefully wrapped testing instruments.
