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Sera did not rescue him. “She is fit to travel if she carries extra water and follows rest limits.”

“Security risk.”

“Keth?” Kesta asked.

Keth leaned back. “She is the only person who can reliably identify human medical traces and Helix codes. Her presence increases risk and mission value.”

“Claim protection,” Dreven said.

The implication landed between them. Kesta’s hand went cold around the edge of the table. “Protection does not give you command over my movement.”

“It gives me responsibility for your survival.”

“Responsibility is not authority.”

The Hallow relatives watched with painful attention. Their families had vanished while leaders elsewhere decided which risks were permitted. Dreven’s expression closed into the warlord mask. “I will not take you into terrain where the empire may be waiting.”

“Then do not take me.”

Silence.

“I am volunteering as Ash Camp’s medic,” Kesta continued. “The council can accept or refuse that service. You can command the expedition if they appoint you. You cannot redefine my role as your possession because you are afraid.”

His silver eyes flashed. For one moment she thought he would use the room, the law, and his authority to win. Instead he looked at Pela. “Record my objection.”

Pela’s stylus moved as the council approved the expedition by seven votes to three. Dreven was appointed commander; Kesta, field medic and evidence specialist. Their separate authority traveled with them through the gate, giving Kesta a formal basis to challenge him whenever medicine and tactics diverged.

The expedition included Dreven, Kesta, Keth, Jessa, Sera, and a tracker named Olan whose species could taste electrical discharge in stone. Tavi remained at camp to monitor the recovered drone core and the condenser sabotage investigation. Lina packed Kesta’s supplies and tied a strip of yellow cloth around the medical case.

“So we can find you if the ash turns black,” Lina said.

“Is that likely?”

“No. But the last human who asked whether something was likely left through a locked gate during predator season.”

Kesta accepted the criticism. They traveled south along the old water line. The landscape changed gradually from open ash flats to ridges of fused black stone. Broken pylons emerged from the ground at irregular intervals, each carved with symbols older than imperial occupation.

Dreven kept the pace moderate without announcing that he was doing so for Kesta. He assigned Jessa to rear watch and Keth to forward sweep. When Kesta asked for a halt to examine a strip of synthetic fabric caught beneath a rock, he stopped the entire column without argument. The fabric carried human skin cells.

“Female,” Kesta said after scanning it. “Severe dehydration. Cortisol elevated.”

“How old?” Jessa asked.

“Three to six days.”

Olan crouched beside the rock. His forked tongue touched the air. “Machine discharge. Small vehicle. It moved east.”

“Toward the ruins,” Dreven said.

At midday, they found the first sabotage link. A maintenance seal identical to the one used inside Ash Camp’s condenser lay crushed beside a pylon. Tavi had listed three possible infiltration routes: an outsider entering during market day, a camp resident using copied seals, or imperial microdrones delivering components through the ventilation shafts. The seal complicated all three. Keth turned it over with a knife. “Ash Camp inventory mark.” Sera examined the stamped edge. “Real, not copied.”

“Then someone carried it out,” Jessa said.

“Or someone from Hallow carried it in,” Kesta replied.

Dreven’s gaze swept the ridges. “We are being directed.”

“To the ruins?”