There was nothing behind the door.
Arik had checked personally.
Twice.
The maintenance room was barely large enough for six people to stand comfortably inside it. Pale stone formed three walls, while the fourth held old extraction conduits scheduled to be connected to the new monitoring system. The nearest turbine vibrated faintly through the floor, its rotation producing a steady pressure Arik could feel through the soles of his boots.
Nothing about the room explained where Liam had gone.
Arik stood before the rear wall with one hand pressed against the stone.
Sovereign ether spread from his palm.
Gold raced through every existing conduit, penetrated the inactive formations, and searched beneath the floor before returning to him.
Nothing.
No concealed passage.
No spatial distortion.
No residue from a transportation formation.
No Liam.
Behind him, the engineer who had witnessed the incident repeated what Arik had already heard.
