Once the medical supplies were transferred, the voice returned.
It thanked the rescue team and said that the children were breathing more easily.
Sepha asked to speak with Nerin Tal.
There was silence.
Then another voice answered.
This is Nerin.
Sepha looked toward Hamish, who suddenly stood very still.
The woman sounded exhausted, but the rhythm of her speech matched the recording.
Sepha told her that Vela was safe at Meridian Exchange.
A sharp breath crossed the channel.
Nerin asked whether the girl had reached the station alone.
Sepha said she had, carrying the case and the records Nerin had entrusted to her.
For a moment there was only the crackle of a damaged transmitter.
Then Nerin whispered that her daughter had always been braver than she should have needed to be.
Sepha said the rescue team was preparing to bring everybody out.
Nerin warned that the platform contained incomplete experimental records and live skithra specimens.
She also warned that the surviving security staff had disabled several doors to prevent the witnesses from leaving.
The rescue commander asked whether those staff members were willing to negotiate.
Nerin said she did not know.
She explained that the station’s project director had abandoned the facility two days after the laboratory fire and left the remaining guards to manage the consequences.
The director had promised to return with transport and medical supplies.
Neither had arrived.
Without outside contact, some guards had begun believing the witnesses were dangerous contaminants rather than people in need of help.
Sepha asked whether Nerin could identify the director.
The woman answered that his name was Lorren Voss.
It was the name Sepha had expected and dreaded.
She recorded the statement but did not interrupt the rescue to discuss it.
The immediate priority was to protect the patients and establish safe passage.
Hamish volunteered to help carry equipment through the narrow transfer corridor.
The commander approved his request only after Imani confirmed that the corridor’s atmosphere was stable and that he had been fitted with protective gear.
Sepha watched him adjust his breathing mask and asked whether he understood that his resistance to venom did not make him immune to every danger.
He said he understood better now than he had eighteen months earlier.
Then he thanked her for reminding him.
The first rescue group entered the platform with portable lights and a medical stretcher.
They found an airlock lined with empty food containers and discarded battery packs.
