Greer arrived at the south gate three days after they returned from the Council Seat.
He came alone, as before, with a single pack and the specific expression of a man who had burned one life down and was standing at the threshold of deciding what came next. Cord brought the message to Damien. Damien brought it to Mira. She was in the training yard running form corrections with the junior unit when he appeared at the edge of the yard and waited for her to finish.
She finished the correction — left shoulder, always the left shoulder, the habit was endemic — and crossed to him.
"He's here," Damien said.
"I know." She had felt it, actually — the faint signature of an unfamiliar gift approaching the perimeter, something she was getting better at reading at range. Stage Three had a broader
