Sounding

A wall comes down at Red Ridge. Six hours earlier, nobody had any reason to think it would. The man who walked out of the gate has not said a word. He has been sitting inside a taped square since dawn, and the Commonwealth has arrived to decide what he is. Hiro, who has spent his life not saying what he notices, tries something that isn't words — and gets an answer. Then the stranger stands up, walks to the highwall, and puts his hand on it. The instruments say the rock is fine. The geologist says the rock is fine. Nelson, who is right about everything else today, says a man nobody can identify does not get to shut down a mine because he touched a stone. Claire has to choose whether to believe the data or the man, and she has nine minutes.