Alexei tilted his head, smile sharper. "We have neighbors."
"Focus," Zubair said, same word he used for gun drills and not faintly different here.
He let the rope have four inches and took them back. The door held under the seal. The bridge stopped trying to pull like an animal on a leash and settled into complaint.
"Lachlan," he said. "Give me a hold knot at the first mark. Double check yourself."
"Yes, sir," Lachlan said cheerfully, and cinched with a speed that still looked sloppy until you felt it and realized it wasn't. He put his weight in to test it. It answered well. He grinned at Zubair like a kid who'd gotten the right answer on a quiz he hadn't studied for. "Teacher's pet."
"Don't be a pet," Zubair said. "Be useful."
"Useful pet," Lachlan said under his breath, but his hands were right.
"Elias," Zubair said, "number that fixture chain. We'll need it later."
