Uldra Ker opens the soundings book and the crew’s pre-entry inspection cards at the East Seam, four galleries below the old cart rail. Before anyone moves a cart or changes a mark, the crew checks a hairline change in the slate above the second timber brace. The thaw season air brings its own pace to the passage.
The latest page holds 39 soundings recorded before entry. Uldra Ker reads the previous count (40) before the next mark is made. It is a small pause, long enough for the people at the rail to hear what the number leaves out.
The foreman calls the readings a useful warning; the survey office says the marks need a second instrument before they can justify a closure. The current record does not settle that disagreement. The difference between those accounts is visible here: a rule on the board and a working condition just beyond it.
The affected crew has tried the revised procedure under ordinary working conditions. The entry belongs to the inspection order file at the East Seam, four galleries below the old cart rail. The next check will be made by another crew, asked to repeat the measure without borrowing the first crew’s conclusion.
When the shift closes, the file remains beside the marked place. A second surveyor will repeat the readings from the opposite wall. Until then, the route, schedule or allotment stays as it was at the opening bell.
