CHAPTER 7
A Professional Disagreement
The wind changed halfway up the access road.
Naia noticed because the smell changed with it.
She stopped.
Elena took another few steps before realizing she was alone.
"What?"
Naia raised a hand.
Elena came back toward her.
"What did you find?"
"Nothing."
Elena gave her a look.
"You've used that answer before."
"And you keep asking."
Naia turned her face slightly into the wind.
Sulfur.
Faint.
Not strong enough to trigger an alarm.
Strong enough to matter.
She looked uphill.
The access road curved toward the mid-flank monitoring point, where Elena wanted another set of measurements.
"How much farther?" Elena asked.
"Not far."
"Then let's keep going."
Naia looked at the sky.
The trade wind had been steady all morning.
Now it was cutting across the slope instead of carrying the plume cleanly away.
The change was subtle.
But the air was behaving differently.
"No."
Elena stopped.
"No?"
"We're turning around."
"I need that reading."
"You'll get another chance."
"Not if the conditions change."
Naia looked at her.
"Exactly."
Elena checked her instrument.
"The gas concentration is still within the operational range."
"Here."
Naia pointed toward the road.
"Smell."
Elena hesitated.
Then breathed in.
Her expression changed almost imperceptibly.
"Sulfur."
"Faint."
"Still within expected background."
"Maybe."
Elena looked uphill.
"I can take the reading quickly."
Naia shook her head.
"No."
"Naia—"
"Turn around."
Elena's jaw tightened.
"I understand you have field experience, but—"
Naia's expression went still.
There it was.
The invisible line between them.
The one they had both been careful not to cross.
Elena noticed it too.
Her voice changed.
"I'm not dismissing your judgment."
"Then don't make me argue for it."
A gust came across the road.
Naia watched the loose ash move.
Not uphill.
Across.
The plume was folding toward them.
She pointed.
"That's why."
Elena watched the ash.
Then the wind.
Then her instrument.
For several seconds she said nothing.
Finally:
"How long?"
Naia looked at the mountain.
"Ten minutes, maybe less."
"And if you're wrong?"
Naia met her eyes.
"Then we lose ten minutes."
Elena looked toward the monitoring point.
"If I'm wrong?"
"We're standing in the wrong place."
That ended the argument.
Elena closed the instrument case.
"Fine."
Naia turned downhill.
Neither spoke for the first few minutes.
Then Elena said,
"You're very certain."
"No."
Naia glanced back.
"I'm very cautious."
"There's a difference."
"Yes."
Elena considered that.
"Fair."
They continued down.
They reached the lower junction just as the wind strengthened.
The smell was unmistakable now.
Not dangerous enough to panic.
But stronger.
Elena looked back toward the upper road.
"I would have taken the reading."
"I know."
She checked the instrument.
The value had climbed slightly.
Not dramatically.
Enough.
Elena stared at the display.
Then at Naia.
"You were right."
Naia shrugged.
"Today."
Elena smiled faintly.
"Don't get used to it."
Naia laughed.
The sound surprised both of them.
The next morning, Elena came into the guide station carrying her tablet.
Naia was sorting equipment.
"Morning."
"Morning."
Elena placed the tablet on the counter.
"The reading from yesterday."
Naia looked up.
"What about it?"
"The monitoring team reached the point later."
Naia waited.
"The gas concentration had increased enough that they aborted the approach."
Naia nodded slowly.
She wasn't pleased.
That was the strange part.
Being right about danger never felt like winning.
Elena seemed to understand.
"I should have listened sooner."
Naia looked at her.
"You listened."
"Eventually."
"That's what counts."
Elena nodded.
Then she opened the tablet.
"I've changed the field protocol."
Naia frowned.
"For what?"
"Cross-wind gas conditions. If the wind shifts across the access road and the odor changes, we reassess before proceeding."
Naia studied her.
"You put that in writing?"
"Yes."
"Good."
Elena closed the tablet.
"I don't want to make the same mistake twice."
Naia leaned against the counter.
"You won't."
"How do you know?"
Naia smiled.
"Because you're annoying."
Elena stared at her.
Then laughed.
"That's your professional assessment?"
"Very scientific."
Their eyes met.
This time, neither looked away immediately.
The moment lasted only a second.
Maybe two.
Then Elena picked up her tablet.
"I'll see you at the station."
"Yeah."
She walked away.
Naia watched her go.
Something had shifted.
Not trust.
Not yet.
But the beginning of it.
Elena had been wrong.
And instead of protecting her pride, she'd changed the protocol.
Naia respected that.
More than she wanted to admit.