Chapter 17: Solano Confronts Vásken — Evidence of Curation

The corridor between cars six and seven was the coldest place on the train.

Solano had noticed it on the first evening — a gap in the thermal sealing where two sections of the carriage body met at an imprecise angle, the join manufacturer-rated for moderate mountain passes rather than the sustained subzero entombment currently afflicting every rivet and seal. Standing here was an exercise in physical discomfort. She had chosen it deliberately.

She had watched Vásken move through the dining car at four-twenty in the morning, heading toward the rear of the train with the particular unhurried quality of someone who has finished waiting. Solano had let her go. She had capped her specimen containers, logged the final residue sequence, and then followed at an interval precise enough to be unremarkable.