Diana held the relay steady and fed the far platform's packets into the muster glass. The crossing behind her stayed sealed, one way, shut to everything but Kendra's line. Nox took the far city secondhand, and the seam that carried her would not carry him after.
The seam had already drunk four of Diana's six relay lines. She ran the whole far platform on the two that were left, rationing them into timed packets instead of a live map.
"Two lines left after the crossing, so you get her platform in packets, not real time, and I read them as fast as they climb," Diana said, holding the relay against the drain. "Want a live map of that city, you wait for my lines to come back, and they do not come back this hour."
Ava pulled her fire cell off the sealed crossing and put the two hundred forty saved under a real count on the near pad. The far city was out of reach, so she worked the side she stood on and freed Vasa to chase the toll.
