Calloway watched me. My gaze didn't waver. She was quiet for a moment, then slid a tablet across the desk. Liability waiver. Authorized chaperone required. Stability metrics monitored remotely.
"You only get three days."
I signed with my off hand and walked out.
Vane was already in the corridor, leaning against the wall opposite the office door with the kind of patience that doesn't pace.
"How did you—"
"I'm going."
"You're S-class. Can you even leave."
"Sherman signed a forty-eight-hour field stability assessment this morning. Subject to bond metrics."
"You went to Sherman this morning."
His eyes drifted half an inch to the side. The tell. The smallest physical confession of a man who didn't know how to make a verbal one.
"Vane. You went to Sherman before I went to Calloway."
