The observers left at dawn on a Thursday.
There was no ceremony. No handshake. No final report presented in the control room. Commander Kress simply loaded her cases into the Dominion transport vehicle, signed the departure log at the gate, and drove away. The engines hummed, the tires crushed the gravel, and the dust settled behind them.
I watched from the balcony until the vehicles disappeared over the coastal ridge. Only then did I exhale. The tension that had held my shoulders for thirty days released, leaving a dull ache in its place.
Ezra joined me. He held two mugs of tea. He handed one to me without speaking. We stood there for a long time, watching the empty road.
"They will be back," he said finally.
"Not to audit," I said. "To monitor."
"Same thing."
"Different intent."
