Lampkeeper Juno Eres knew every honest fault a dawn lamp could make. A cracked mirror jittered. A tired motor sang flat. A bad seal made the light shiver blue at the edges.
This was none of those.
Every lamp along Meridian Ring had turned toward Berth Nine, where no ship waited and no registry admitted a ship could wait. Dock Warden Tavi Quell stood beside the manual override with her hand still above the brass plate.
"The Lattice is requesting three minutes," Tavi said.
Juno looked at the harbor board. The same phrase pulsed beneath the quarantine sigil: witness already aboard.
"Three minutes is for memorial ships."
"Or rescues."
The lamps brightened. Behind the empty berth, frost outlined a hull no sensor would name.
Juno pulled her tool key from her collar and unlocked the dawn.