Page 79 of Pocket Wife

Sen’s smile has gone hard. “Very well. Helix challenges the resident witness sequence on the basis of emotional contagion, coordinated hostility, and lack of independent verification.”

Darin Om’s voice carries from the Lark Hollow screen. “Then hear me first.”

Every screen turns toward him.

The old man sits straighter than I have seen him yet. His sister’s burial sketch rests in front of him. “No one in Solaris Valley told me to remember Brela. I have done that every winter for thirty-one years.”

Salo turns toward the relay. “Darin Om, you are not currently under examination.”

“No,” he says. “But I am under threat, and I would like to make it useful.”

A few tired smiles appear around the chamber.

Salo considers him, then nods. “Proceed with limited statement.”

Darin lifts the sketch. “This is my sister’s grave marker. This is the harvest contract my father signed with Samuel Hartwell’s father. This is the letter Celia’s mother sent when Brela died, because she baked for the burial meal. I do not know your laws well. I know my sister was not buried in temporary land.”

One witness becomes three.

Then six.

Salo allows each only minutes, but minutes are enough. A flood record from Stonebend. A school roster from Tamsin Ford. A clinic exchange log. A song copied in two hands decades apart. Small proofs. Ordinary proofs. The kind Helix cannot attack without attacking half the sector.

I stand at the center of it, no longer speaking for everyone.

Listening for them.

When the final witness finishes, the chamber has changed. Not won. Not safe. Changed.

Salo confers with the other adjudicators behind a muted field. I can see their mouths moving, but not hear the words. I hate that. Decisions look crueler without sound.

The field drops.

“Tribunal finding,” Salo says. “Helix petition for immediate provisional relocation is denied pending full forensic authentication of First Hall materials and related resident records.”

For one stunned moment, no one reacts.

Then Nara begins to cry.

Salo lifts a hand before hope can rise too far. “This is not a final ruling. Enforcement is suspended for seventy-two hours. During that period, all evidence will remain under neutral seal. All witness intimidation claims will be reviewed. Helix retains right to challenge covenant validity at full hearing.”

Seventy-two hours.

Not freedom.

Air.

My knees nearly forget their purpose.

Rethan looks at me across the room, and the bond carries the same fierce thought from both of us.

Enough.

For now, enough.

Then Kaun’s seal flashes red on Rethan’s station.

He reads the notice.