Chapter 402: Both Sides

By the middle of the next work window, the near side of the passage was carrying its share.

Ren had held the upper connections while Lenna cleared the marked strip. The excavation exposed the passage’s grown stone wall, curving back through the weak ground. She fitted the new leg beside it, leaving a gap, and joined its foot to the band. Its stepped head met the footing on the outer side; the lower, inward seat would receive the crosspiece. Once she had fitted and joined the upper contact, Ren brought the strip’s share down through it. They checked it with his hold withdrawn. Joss reached the bracket and watched his strip lift before Lenna recorded her acceptance.

The far side remained, and the footing above the mouth.

Ren shifted along the sound ledge to reach the connections on that side. Lenna worked beside the lower face, with the tray between her and the ladder. Joss kept the approach to the passage free. From above, Ren could see both prepared seats without leaning over the excavation.

Ren returned his covered palm to the upper stone. The first bay’s support carried through the band, and the diversion onto the farther uphill route still eased the adjoining section. The near leg had changed the distribution again. He followed the connections around the passage before choosing where to put the next share.

"Where?" Lenna asked.

"Some onto the near leg, if it can take more. The rest past the passage, through this connection." He indicated it. "Nothing added to the old downhill route."

Lenna read the near leg and checked the receiving connection beyond the mouth. She showed him how much each could accept, then set her rod against the head’s reference mark.

"Bring it across."

He shifted the far strip’s share in stages, reading the pressure through both receiving routes while she watched for movement. When the footing’s weight had cleared the strip, he held the new distribution and told her what he was carrying.

Lenna confirmed it before opening the ground.

Here the band lay deeper. Her excavation passed the level of the near leg’s foot, following the passage wall along one edge. Dry grey pieces fell into the tray. When she reached the cultivated stone, she measured the depth against her strip and compared it with the survey.

"There’s the slope."

The longer leg lay ready on the cloth beside her.

Joss’s strip drew toward the deepening cut. He laid his hand on the garden’s Air working and adjusted it until the cloth steadied.

"Keep the tray back," he said. "I need that approach."

Lenna moved it aside before bringing the leg forward.

She fitted its lower face against the band, checked the bearing, and made the join. From the exposed edge, Ren felt the foundation’s pattern continue into the new stone. He could follow the nearby junction beneath it; beyond that, the routes disappeared into the wall.

The leg’s longer body brought its inward seat level with the near one. Lenna laid her rod between the seats to check them, then fitted the outer part of its head beneath the footing. The shims closed the gap without lifting the old stone.

After she joined that contact, Ren adjusted the upper working and returned the strip’s share. The near leg and the connection beyond the passage gave up the extra weight he had put on them. Lenna checked both, then the new leg with his hold withdrawn.

"That’s accepted," she said. "Now we can fit the piece between them."

— • —

The crosspiece had dressed ends and a shallow recess beneath to clear the bracket. Ren supported its weight while Lenna guided it onto the two inward seats. Joss passed his hand under it to the bracket and back.

Lenna pointed to each end, then the gap beneath the footing over the mouth.

"I’ll join the seats first. Keep the upper distribution where it is."

Ren held it while she worked. He felt the near contact join, then the far one. She fitted two shims above the crosspiece and joined it to the footing, preserving the clearance Tobin had marked for the lining. Her palm followed the contacts; the rod and caliper checked their positions and the space beneath.

Both legs already carried their separate shares. The crosspiece was ready to receive the weight above the mouth.

"What do you expect?" she asked.

"More through the far head. Its lower connection is broader, and it’s carrying less."

"We’ll start with a small portion."

He brought it down from the upper routes into the crosspiece.

Most of the increase went through the near head.

Ren followed it along the short leg to its lower join. The far side took some, but far less than he had expected. Lenna held her rod beside the near head’s mark.

"Stop there."

He stopped the transfer, maintaining his hold on the weight still above.

"The near head has moved a hair," she said. "Read both sides."

The far connection was continuous. He could trace it from the footing through the crosspiece and leg to the band. There was room for more weight there, but joining the two sides had not made the working use that room as he had expected.

The near route had taken most of the added share before much reached the far one. Its shorter leg was easy to follow. That alone did not tell him why the cultivated working favored it.

"I read what they could take separately," he said. "Then treated that as what they’d take together."

Lenna kept her palm against the lower stone.

"The far bearing can receive more. Work above the head. I’ll watch what reaches it."

He held the section while changing the upper junction, directing more of the crosspiece’s share toward the far seat. Pressure increased through the longer leg. The near head returned to its checked position beside Lenna’s rod.

"Keep that portion there," she said. "Bring down the next."

As he increased the load, the far leg began taking a larger part of each addition. He paused again. The bias he had needed at the start was now sending too much toward it.

His hand tightened against the footing. He reduced that bias before releasing any more weight.

Keeping his upper hold steady, he moved his free hand to the exposed edge of the far leg. The added pressure was spreading through more of its broad lower connection as the load increased. He compared it with the near side, where the narrower route had taken most of the first portion.

The two lower joins responded differently as he brought the weight down. His first adjustment had helped the far side receive its share; holding that same bias now would keep feeding a route already taking more. He needed the upper junction to accommodate the change without depending on him to correct it after every addition.

He worked back along the junction, retaining the far route while easing the part that forced weight toward it. The near side took a little more. Below, the far bearing continued carrying without the extra push.

Lenna checked the receiving stone before nodding.

"That’s within what both can carry."

Ren eased his active support on the portion already transferred. Its division changed slightly, then settled through both legs. He left the cultivated adjustment in place and read it again.

"Still more on the near side," he said.

"It has room. Don’t move it just to make them match."

— • —

The last portion remained in the upper connections above the mouth.

Ren compared the two heads before touching it.

"The far side will take more of this addition than it took of the first. If I keep pushing toward it, I’ll give it too much. I’ll bring the weight down through the junction as it is."

"I’m reading the lower bearings." Lenna set her palm against the band. "Go ahead."

He reduced the diverted share above the passage. The crosspiece received it, and the far leg took the larger part of the increase, as he had expected. Ren followed the pressure through the upper junction without forcing the division. Lenna watched the lower receiving connections and checked both head marks.

They remained within their positions. The passage wall was still clear of the new support.

"My remaining hold is above the mouth," Ren said.

"Withdraw it. I’m watching both seats."

He let his contribution diminish, keeping his attention on the junction. The altered pattern continued distributing through the crosspiece as his hold faded. When he lifted his hand, both legs retained their shares.

Lenna withdrew her working too. They waited, then read the stone again.

She examined the crosspiece’s contacts and both lower bearings. The near side needed checking under its new share despite its earlier acceptance. Ren followed the first bay’s retained diversion while she read its receiving stone, then checked that the old downhill route had taken no additional load. They went over the four original pillars, the two later ones, and the rib. The distribution had changed around them; their seats remained sound.

"Both sides are carrying," Lenna said, and entered the readings.

Joss stepped up to the mouth and put his feet where he usually worked. He reached his long hook beneath the crosspiece, caught the strip at the bracket, and let it fall free. The cloth lifted again. He could still reach without turning his wrist against the stone.

"I can work with that."

He hung the hook on his belt and went to check the gallery outlets. Lenna carried the slate up the ladder. Alone beside the passage, Ren asked the System for his Earth result.

[EARTH: 14.8% → 16.0%.]

He touched the footing once more. The two legs were still carrying the shares he had left them. At the far head he could feel the connection that had misled him when he read it alone. Its spare width had been real. He had needed to see what it did with the other side attached.

The remaining supports went in over later work windows. Ren held each assigned section while Lenna cleared its strip, fitted the repair stone, and made the joins. He brought the weight down, adjusted the upper connections, and withdrew his hold before they accepted the work. Between visits, the keepers tended the joins and checked the supports. Joss kept the passages working. No other section needed the divided arrangement around his mouth.

By the time Lenna accepted the last support, the new stone ran along the whole damaged stretch of footing. The old pillars and rib remained among it. The relief opening and surface cover were still in place; the branch had yet to receive its new lining.

Lenna stopped beside one of the original pillars.

"We’ll start with this one."

Ren looked from its widened top to the new supports beside it.

"Taking it out?"

"Transferring its share. We check that it’s unloaded before anyone cuts it free." She indicated the supports farther along the exposed face. "The two later pillars and the rib stay for now."

He rested his palm against the pillar. Its top spread beneath the footing where he had widened it before the bed was lifted. He could still feel weight coming through that contact.

"I’ll need to read the new supports again."

"And what they’ll pass it to." Lenna set her slate beside him. "Show me where you’ll put its share."