Chapter 995: The Wall Pulls on the Living

The seam widened another finger’s width. Nessa felt the ridge move under her boots before the hinge made a sound. The pull came through the stone and caught her right arm, dragging the glove toward the gap.

She turned her shoulder with it. Jade kept Ty’s chest against her forearm and planted one boot behind the upright. Ty’s right hand held the grooved rib crosswise; its far end pressed against the stone below the hinge. The wheel-cut rib was still with Dimitri. Nessa kept the recovered field finger in her left fist.

"The wall’s taking the whole ridge with it," Jade said.

Nessa shifted her left foot until its heel found a shallow notch. Her right elbow stayed against the ridge, though the glove kept sliding. "Set Ty’s weight against the upright. Don’t pull on my arm unless I lose the count."

"I can shift the rib to the lower cut. Tell me when the shelf takes weight again," Ty said.

The shelf’s metal edge rested against the second ridge. Each knock lifted it; the first bolt held while the fourth edged the seam wider.

The gap showed a stone plane beyond the hinge, too narrow for a person. Its angle hid whatever lay past it. The ridge flexed beneath Nessa’s elbow with each far-side draw. She needed to trace that load before they touched another bolt.

"Hold your rib at the lower cut, not the hinge slot. I need to see whether the ridge carries the next pull," she told Ty.

He adjusted his grip without lifting the grooved end. Jade took more of his weight under the chest, leaving him just enough room to angle the rib. "The lower cut is close to that open channel. If the track kicks, my hand could go through it."

"Keep your wrist behind the groove. I’ll call the lift before the next turn," Nessa said.

Nessa leaned until the right glove touched the stone. The suit pulled harder, and Jade caught her upper arm before the shoulder followed. Ty braced the rib below them. With the recovered field finger held in her left fist against the stone, Nessa eased her right forearm forward. Under her skin, the pulse-cage needles moved; one prick came first, two followed late.

At the next knock the shelf lifted, jolting metal into Nessa’s arm. The fourth bolt shifted; the seam barely moved. Under her glove, the ridge tightened after the bolt stopped. Nessa eased back before the suit could draw her wrist farther.

Jade pressed her shoulder against the upright. "I can keep your elbow from sliding, but your fingers are already closing inside the glove."

"Then hold the elbow and leave my hand alone. If I can’t open it afterward, that’s mine to manage," Nessa said.

Ty kept his attention on the rib. "Give me the lift when you see the rail rise. I won’t guess from the sound."

The next knock lifted the shelf. Nessa rolled her shoulder with the suit’s pull, keeping her forearm in contact with the ridge. The stone pinched beneath the glove. A pulse ran through the plate and reached her arm after the bolt had stopped turning.

Nessa looked along the seam. A pale strip, narrow as two fingers, lay beneath the hinge shoulder. The material stretched when the plate moved, then slackened as the ridge pushed back. Its far end disappeared under the living surface.

She eased away. The glove came free, but her right fingers stayed curled. "Something living is wrapped under the hinge. Leave the seam alone until I know where it pulls."

Jade kept Ty steady and leaned enough to see the strip. "Does that mean something is trying to get through the gap?"

"It means the gap isn’t carrying the whole load. I need another angle before I call it anything else," Nessa said.

The fourth bolt rose the width of Nessa’s nail, then settled into its seat when the far pull released. A short lever could turn it. Jade still anchored her upper arm. The strip beneath the bolt would move with it, and the ridge would take the force held across the hinge.

West Four needed another brace. Nessa had watched the upper field finger split, then disappear inside the living surface. This time she would leave the bolt seated and keep the living strip intact.

"The bolt is wound over that tissue. Taking it out under load will tear the strip," she said.

Ty shifted his right hand around the rib’s groove. "If I put the bone under the lower crosscut, it can take part of the twist. It won’t stop the pull."

"I only need it to keep the hinge from turning while we see where the strip goes," Nessa said. "Jade, keep Ty’s ribs from dropping when he moves the brace."

Jade bent her knees and reset her hold under Ty’s chest. "I can take his weight for a single shift. After that, I need the ridge beneath my left boot."

Nessa looked at Ty. "Move the rib on the lift, seat it beneath the crosscut, then get your hand back behind the notch."

"Call the lift before the rail drops again. I’ll move on your count," Ty said.

The next knock traveled through the edge. Nessa called the lift. Ty moved the grooved rib to the lower crosscut, keeping his fingers behind the notch. Jade took his weight while he turned his wrist. She planted her left heel across the ridge and leaned into Ty’s chest. The bone scraped stone and caught. The shelf dropped before he could reset his hand.

Nessa’s glove slipped toward the seam. Jade held her elbow while Ty’s fingertips fought the rib’s slide. Both of Nessa’s hands were occupied: the left around the field piece, the right curled against the glove lining.

"The bone is sliding toward the slot. Keep your wrist behind the cut and push from your palm," Nessa said.

Ty shoved the rib with the heel of his hand. Its groove caught the stone. The shelf hit the end of its travel, and the pressure changed through the ridge. The hinge stopped turning. Under Nessa’s glove, the pale strip tightened around the bolt’s shoulder.

Nessa felt the tug reach the lower ridge, then draw the hinge toward it. Ty held the rib with his palm heel. "The bone’s holding. Tell me when your arm slips, not before," he said.

The pulse cage marked another crooked trace. Nessa read the pressure, not the marks: bolt, delayed tug beneath her arm, then tension running away along the ridge. She leaned down as far as Jade’s grip allowed and saw three shallow channels below the crosscut. Each held a wet pale ring.

The nearest pale ring tightened. Its channel narrowed first; the other two followed, and the iron fitting shifted last.

Jade’s eyes stayed on the pale rings. "If we keep the rib there, does it protect the living strip or only delay the pull?"

"It buys a turn. The next fitting is under us, and the rig can pull through it while we stand here," Nessa said.

Ty looked down at his hand. The grooved rib bowed against the crosscut. "I can hold it until my grip fails. I can’t reach the next fitting from this side."

Nessa tried to open her right hand. The thumb moved, then the middle fingers caught and folded back. A thin line of blood had worked out around the glove seam where the stone pinched it. The pulse cage had recorded enough. She had no fine movement left to risk another test.

"Leave the bolt seated. I won’t trade that strip for a piece of metal," she said.

Jade tightened her hold on Ty before the shelf moved again. "Tell me what gets us below the ridge without pulling his chest away from my arm."

Nessa pointed with her left elbow. The three channels met under a lip of living surface at the shelf’s lower edge. The lip had begun to lift. Behind it, an iron ring turned against the pull, separate from the four hinge bolts and sunk into the ridge.

The grooved rib slipped half an inch. Ty caught it with the heel of his hand. Jade’s left boot skidded off the ridge, and she shifted her weight to keep him against her. Nessa’s right wrist stayed pinned to the stone by the suit’s pull.

The nearest pale ring cinched first. Its pull ran down the other two channels, tightening their rings in order. Beneath them, the iron ring turned until it struck its stop. The shelf jerked sideways, and the lower lip peeled back enough to show the taut living band beneath the ridge.

Nessa leaned against Jade’s hold and followed the band’s pull with her eyes. Beyond the stopped iron ring, a lower fitting beneath their boots turned against the stone, drawing the ridge after it.

"We follow that load around the lower edge before another turn. Ty, keep the bone seated. Jade, count the next lift with me," Nessa said.

The West Four field finger pressed into Nessa’s left palm. Her glove kept the right fingers curled; only the thumb answered when she tried to flex them. Below her, the lower fitting turned another quarter turn and pulled the living ridge with it.