"I corrected the relocated markers," Rebecca said without breaking stride. "But I corrected them based on the documentation. if the documentation itself had an error if the original placement was wrong before the relocation. She paused navigating a scramble over loose rock with three quick movements, then correcting back to the original position may have restored the error. Derek processed that while climbing, so we don't know exactly where they went. We know their last confirmed position and we know the documentationbased route.
We look for divergence from that route. 11:49 in the morning. They found the first marker. It was in the correct position. Rebecca's corrected position.
She crouched beside it and looked at the ground around it. Soft earth recent bootprints. Multiple sets moving south. They followed this one, he said. Good.
Depends on what the next one shows. The next one was 200 m south along the ridge line. And when they found it, Rebecca went still. She crouched beside it for a long moment. Talk to me, Derek said.
The marker is in my corrected position, Rebecca said. But the prints here diverge. The majority went south-southeast. She looked at the terrain south-southeast. Then at the topographic map he had folded into his jacket pocket, then at the terrain again.
There's a shortcut visible from this point. Not marked, not authorized, but visually it looks like the faster route to the assembly point. Would they take it? Depends on their team lead's experience level. A team lead who knows this terrain.
No. A team lead who is navigating by visual landmarks under time pressure in a simulation context. They took it, Derek said. Rebecca stood. She was already moving south-southeast.
The shortcut crosses the secondary canyon section, he said as he moved. The one the geological survey flagged as low stability in wet conditions. Derek moved with him. How bad is low stability in these conditions with this wind load on saturated slope? A pause.
Bad enough that I wouldn't cross it the way they're crossing it. They moved faster. 12:13 in the afternoon. They heard voices before they saw anyone. Then they came around a rock formation and saw Ma's group, seven people, clustered near the edge of a foot bridge spanning the narrowest point of the secondary canyon.
The bridge was a permanent structure cable supported rated for the facility. It was also currently vibrating in the wind with a movement that Rebecca recognized immediately as wrong. Maya was at the front of the group. She had her radio up and was trying the channel for the third time in a row. Her team lead, a heavy-set man in his 40s named Crawford, was gesturing toward the bridge with the particular decisiveness of someone who has made a decision and is not fully comfortable with it.
We cross here. Crawford was saying it's faster and the bridge is rated. It's moving. One of the group members said when does that rating accounts for wind Rebecca covered the remaining distance at a near run. Stop.
She said not loudly with the quality of a single word deployed at exactly the volume needed to be heard clearly and carry the weight of someone who is not suggesting. Everyone stopped. Crawford turned. Who are DE operations coordinator? Do not cross that bridge.
Rebecca moved to the bridge edge and crouched looking at the anchor points on the near side. She put her hand on the primary cable. She felt it, a vibration that was not wind load. She looked at the far anchor point. The anchor plate on the far side had pulled from the mounting surface.
Not completely. It was still attached, still functional in normal conditions. But the gap between the plate and the rock surface was visible from 20 feet away. And in current conditions, with seven people loading the span, that gap was going to become a failure point within the first crossing. She stood the far anchor is compromised, she said.
We don't cross here. Crawford stared at way and in current conditions with seven people loading the span, that gap was going to become a failure point within the first crossing. he stood. The far anchor is compromised, he said. We don't cross here. Crawford stared at him.
The maintenance records show this bridge was The maintenance records are 18 months old and the anchor has moved. I can see it from here. Rebecca looked at the group, counted faces. Seven people, all ambulatory, varying levels of physical condition. She looked at Maya.
She was looking back at her with the direct assessment ready attention of a trained paramedic who had been in enough field situations to recognize when someone knows what they're doing. Are you Maya Vance? She blinked. Yes, your brother sent me. Something moved across her face.
Relief complicated by the specific pride of someone who doesn't want to need rescuing. She didn't need to. She needed to, Rebecca said simply. You have any injuries in this group? Morris twisted his ankle on the descent.
He's mobile but slow. Rebecca looked at Morris, a compact man in his 30s, holding his right ankle carefully. Can you make 300 meters of uneven terrain? Yeah, good. Rebecca pulled the topographic map.
There's a secondary crossing point 300 meters north-northwest. It's a rock ford waters up from the rain, but it's manageable at this flow level. We go that way. That's out of the way, Crawford said. Rebecca looked at her.