diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/upgrades.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/upgrades.go
index 63b5769..3476864 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/upgrades.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/upgrades.go
@@ -28,13 +28,15 @@ type following struct{ open *stores }
 func (f following) Upgraded(ctx context.Context, u link.Upgraded) error {
 	inv := f.open.inventory
 
+	// The store read first, and an outage there said as one, so the announcement is held and asked
+	// again (novox/hq issue 083). Only here: a push that fails further down is not asked again.
 	decision, err := inv.UpgradeOf(ctx, u.Module)
 	if err != nil {
-		return err
+		return notNow(err)
 	}
 	on, err := inv.Running(ctx, u.Module)
 	if err != nil {
-		return err
+		return notNow(err)
 	}
 	if len(on) == 0 {
 		fmt.Printf("%s moved to %s; no machine runs it\n", u.Module, shortCommit(u.Commit))
@@ -194,3 +196,12 @@ func (f following) Announceable(ctx context.Context) ([]link.Announcement, error
 	}
 	return out, nil
 }
+
+// notNow marks a store that could not be read right now, so the announcement is held rather than
+// lost; anything else is returned as it was.
+func notNow(err error) error {
+	if inventory.Unreachable(err) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%w: %w", link.ErrTryAgain, err)
+	}
+	return err
+}
diff --git a/internal/inventory/inventory_test.go b/internal/inventory/inventory_test.go
index 86aea3e..7ae1532 100644
--- a/internal/inventory/inventory_test.go
+++ b/internal/inventory/inventory_test.go
@@ -413,10 +413,18 @@ func TestATokenIsClaimedByOnePresenterAndSpentOnlyByIt(t *testing.T) {
 	if err := inv.Spend(ctx, issued.Secret, "key-a"); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("the presenter holding the claim could not spend it: %v", err)
 	}
-	for _, by := range []string{"key-a", "key-b"} {
-		if _, err := inv.Claim(ctx, issued.Secret, by); !errors.Is(err, ErrTokenRefused) {
-			t.Fatalf("a spent token was claimed again by %s: %v", by, err)
-		}
+	// Spent: nobody else may claim it, ever.
+	if _, err := inv.Claim(ctx, issued.Secret, "key-b"); !errors.Is(err, ErrTokenRefused) {
+		t.Fatalf("a spent token was claimed by another presenter: %v", err)
+	}
+	// But the presenter that spent it may, and spend it again: its spend reached the store and the
+	// answer did not reach the node, which asked again — refusing it would lock out a machine the
+	// mesh holds as enrolled.
+	if _, err := inv.Claim(ctx, issued.Secret, "key-a"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the presenter whose answer was lost after its spend was refused: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := inv.Spend(ctx, issued.Secret, "key-a"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("spending again by the same presenter failed: %v", err)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/inventory/nodes.go b/internal/inventory/nodes.go
index fc4e0b9..b3792c6 100644
--- a/internal/inventory/nodes.go
+++ b/internal/inventory/nodes.go
@@ -203,15 +203,6 @@ func (i *Inventory) IssueToken(ctx context.Context, nodeName string, validFor ti
 // token that had expired.
 var ErrTokenRefused = errors.New("that token cannot be used")
 
-// Redeem spends a token and reports which node it was for.
-//
-// It does not issue an identity. What a node presents afterwards to prove it is that node is not
-// decided anywhere (novox/hq ADR 0004 names the property, not the mechanism), and guessing at it
-// in a migration is the most expensive guess available here.
-//
-// The update is the check: one statement that both finds a live token and marks it used, so two
-// simultaneous redemptions of one secret cannot both succeed. Reading first and writing second
-// would leave exactly that gap.
 // ClaimLease is how long a claimed token is held for the one presenter that claimed it. Long
 // enough for an enrolment to be tried again through a store restart; short enough that a host
 // which gave up and was started over, with keys of its own, is not kept waiting long.
@@ -224,12 +215,17 @@ var ErrTokenInUse = errors.New("the token is being used by another enrolment")
 // Claim takes a token for one presenter — `by`, which names the key presenting it — for the length
 // of a lease, and says which node it enrols. The same presenter may claim it again, as may anyone
 // once the lease has lapsed; nothing is spent until Spend (novox/hq 04-ISSUES/083).
+//
+// A token this same presenter already spent is claimed again too: its spend reached the store and
+// the answer did not reach the node, which asked again. Refusing it then would lock out a machine
+// the mesh holds as enrolled — with the key it is still presenting.
 func (i *Inventory) Claim(ctx context.Context, secret, by string) (Node, error) {
 	var id string
 	err := i.store.Pool().QueryRow(ctx,
 		`update enrolment_token set claimed_by = $2, claimed_until = now() + $3::interval
-		  where secret = $1 and redeemed is null and expires > now()
-		    and (claimed_by is null or claimed_by = $2 or claimed_until < now())
+		  where secret = $1 and expires > now()
+		    and ((redeemed is null and (claimed_by is null or claimed_by = $2 or claimed_until < now()))
+		      or (redeemed is not null and claimed_by = $2))
 		  returning node`, hashSecret(secret), by, ClaimLease.String()).Scan(&id)
 	if errors.Is(err, pgx.ErrNoRows) {
 		// Unusable, or held by someone else — told apart, because the second passes.
@@ -237,8 +233,12 @@ func (i *Inventory) Claim(ctx context.Context, secret, by string) (Node, error)
 		probe := i.store.Pool().QueryRow(ctx,
 			`select true from enrolment_token
 			  where secret = $1 and redeemed is null and expires > now()`, hashSecret(secret)).Scan(&held)
-		if probe == nil && held {
+		switch {
+		case probe == nil && held:
 			return Node{}, ErrTokenInUse
+		case probe != nil && !errors.Is(probe, pgx.ErrNoRows):
+			// The store went away between the two questions: "not now", not a refusal.
+			return Node{}, probe
 		}
 		return Node{}, ErrTokenRefused
 	}
@@ -251,12 +251,13 @@ func (i *Inventory) Claim(ctx context.Context, secret, by string) (Node, error)
 	return n, err
 }
 
-// Spend makes a claimed token used, only for the presenter holding the claim. The last write of an
-// enrolment, so a token is spent exactly when the node it enrolled is complete.
+// Spend makes a claimed token used, only for the presenter holding the claim. The last write to the
+// store in an enrolment, so a token is spent exactly when the node it enrolled is complete. Spent
+// again by the same presenter is not an error: an answer lost after the first spend.
 func (i *Inventory) Spend(ctx context.Context, secret, by string) error {
 	tag, err := i.store.Pool().Exec(ctx,
-		`update enrolment_token set redeemed = now()
-		  where secret = $1 and redeemed is null and claimed_by = $2`, hashSecret(secret), by)
+		`update enrolment_token set redeemed = coalesce(redeemed, now())
+		  where secret = $1 and claimed_by = $2`, hashSecret(secret), by)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -266,6 +267,16 @@ func (i *Inventory) Spend(ctx context.Context, secret, by string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// Redeem spends a token in one step and reports which node it was for. Enrolment claims and then
+// spends (Claim, Spend); this is the one-step form, kept for what spends a token outright.
+//
+// It does not issue an identity. What a node presents afterwards to prove it is that node is not
+// decided anywhere (novox/hq ADR 0004 names the property, not the mechanism), and guessing at it
+// in a migration is the most expensive guess available here.
+//
+// The update is the check: one statement that both finds a live token and marks it used, so two
+// simultaneous redemptions of one secret cannot both succeed. Reading first and writing second
+// would leave exactly that gap.
 func (i *Inventory) Redeem(ctx context.Context, secret string) (Node, error) {
 	var id string
 	err := i.store.Pool().QueryRow(ctx,
diff --git a/internal/link/enrolment.go b/internal/link/enrolment.go
index c730404..b17ddf2 100644
--- a/internal/link/enrolment.go
+++ b/internal/link/enrolment.go
@@ -30,12 +30,15 @@ type Enrolment struct {
 	Broker     broker.Broker
 }
 
-// Enrol spends the token and records what the node presented.
+// Enrol records what the node presented and spends the token.
 //
-// Order matters and it is the order things become irreversible. The token is spent first, in a
-// single statement that both finds and marks it, so two machines racing on one secret produce one
-// winner. Only then is a key recorded — because recording a key for a node whose token turned out
-// to be spent would leave the mesh believing a machine that never had the right to join.
+// Order matters and it is the order things become irreversible (novox/hq issue 083). The token is
+// claimed first, in a single statement that both finds it and holds it for this presenter's key, so
+// two machines racing on one secret produce one holder. Then everything the node presented is
+// written — each write an overwrite, so an attempt interrupted by the store going away can be made
+// again by the same presenter. Then the token is spent. Last, the token's secret stops being the
+// node's broker password: done after the spend, because a password replaced by an attempt that
+// then failed would be one nobody holds, and the node could not even log in to ask again.
 func (e Enrolment) Enrol(ctx context.Context, request EnrolRequest) (reply EnrolReply, err error) {
 	secret, public, profile := request.Secret, ed25519.PublicKey(request.PublicKey), request.Profile
 
@@ -81,21 +84,6 @@ func (e Enrolment) Enrol(ctx context.Context, request EnrolRequest) (reply Enrol
 		Signer:      key.Public,
 	}
 
-	// The token's secret was the broker password up to this moment, which is what let this
-	// connection exist at all. It is replaced now, so the one-time thing stays one-time and the
-	// credential the node keeps for years is not the one that was pasted into a terminal.
-	if e.Management != nil {
-		password, err := freshPassword()
-		if err != nil {
-			return EnrolReply{}, err
-		}
-		if err := e.Management.CreateNodeAccount(ctx, node.Name, password); err != nil {
-			return EnrolReply{}, fmt.Errorf(
-				"%s's broker password could not be replaced: %w", node.Name, err)
-		}
-		reply.Password = password
-	}
-
 	// Recorded before the profile because the overlay is the first declaration this node will
 	// receive, and without this key the mesh cannot compose one. A node enrolled with no overlay
 	// key is a node the graph skips — an ordinary in-between state, and one worth leaving as
@@ -124,11 +112,30 @@ func (e Enrolment) Enrol(ctx context.Context, request EnrolRequest) (reply Enrol
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Spent last, so a token is used exactly when the node it enrolled is complete.
+	// Spent once the node is complete in the store.
 	if err := e.Inventory.Spend(ctx, secret, by); err != nil {
 		return EnrolReply{}, fmt.Errorf("%s was written and its token could not be spent: %w", node.Name, err)
 	}
 
+	// The token's secret was the broker password up to this moment, which is what let this
+	// connection exist at all. It is replaced now, so the one-time thing stays one-time and the
+	// credential the node keeps for years is not the one that was pasted into a terminal. After
+	// the spend and not before: a replaced password on an attempt that failed would be held by
+	// nobody. If the broker will not take it now, the enrolment still stands — the node keeps
+	// the token's secret as its password, which it is told, and which is said here.
+	if e.Management != nil {
+		password, err := freshPassword()
+		if err != nil {
+			return EnrolReply{}, err
+		}
+		if err := e.Management.CreateNodeAccount(ctx, node.Name, password); err != nil {
+			log.Printf("%s is enrolled and its broker password could not be replaced, so it keeps "+
+				"the token's secret as its password: %v", node.Name, err)
+		} else {
+			reply.Password = password
+		}
+	}
+
 	if profile != nil {
 		// Not fatal if it fails. The profile is what the control plane needs in order to decide
 		// what this machine should run, and it is reported again on every connection — so losing
diff --git a/internal/link/report_retry_test.go b/internal/link/report_retry_test.go
index 7e2f61e..8a175d7 100644
--- a/internal/link/report_retry_test.go
+++ b/internal/link/report_retry_test.go
@@ -20,85 +20,85 @@ func (a *saidTo) Nack(_ uint64, _ bool, requeue bool) error {
 	return nil
 }
 func (a *saidTo) Reject(uint64, bool) error { return nil }
+func (a *saidTo) unsettled() bool           { return !a.acked && !a.nacked }
 
 type heardWith struct{ err error }
 
 func (h heardWith) Heard(context.Context, Report) error { return h.err }
 
-func aReport(t *testing.T, to *saidTo) amqp.Delivery {
+// switchable answers with whatever it is set to — the store away, then back.
+type switchable struct{ err error }
+
+func (h *switchable) Heard(context.Context, Report) error { return h.err }
+
+var tag uint64
+
+func aReport(t *testing.T, to *saidTo, node, declared string) amqp.Delivery {
 	t.Helper()
-	body, err := json.Marshal(Report{Node: "anchor", Applied: []string{"store"}})
+	body, err := json.Marshal(Report{Node: node, Declared: declared, Applied: []string{"store"}})
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	return amqp.Delivery{Acknowledger: to, RoutingKey: KeyReport, Body: body}
+	tag++
+	return amqp.Delivery{Acknowledger: to, RoutingKey: KeyReport, Body: body, DeliveryTag: tag}
 }
 
-// A report the store could not take right now goes back to the broker to be asked again; one the
-// store answered no to is acknowledged, or it would come back for ever (novox/hq issue 082).
-func TestAReportTheStoreCouldNotTakeIsKeptAndOneItRefusedIsNot(t *testing.T) {
-	quiet := log.New(io.Discard, "", 0)
+func quiet() *log.Logger { return log.New(io.Discard, "", 0) }
 
-	notNow := &saidTo{}
-	s := &Server{listener: heardWith{err: errors.Join(ErrTryAgain, errors.New("starting up"))}, log: quiet, again: 1}
-	s.handleReport(context.Background(), aReport(t, notNow))
-	if notNow.acked || !notNow.nacked || !notNow.requeued {
-		t.Fatalf("a report the store could not take yet was not handed back to be asked again: %+v", notNow)
+// A report the store could not take right now is held, unsettled, and recorded when the store is
+// back; one the store answered no to is acknowledged; one recorded is acknowledged (issue 082, 083).
+func TestAReportTheStoreCouldNotTakeIsHeldAndOneItRefusedIsNot(t *testing.T) {
+	store := &switchable{err: errors.Join(ErrTryAgain, errors.New("starting up"))}
+	s := &Server{listener: store, log: quiet()}
+	held := &saidTo{}
+	s.handleReport(context.Background(), aReport(t, held, "anchor", "d1"))
+	if !held.unsettled() || len(s.parked) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("a report the store could not take was not held: %+v, %d held", held, len(s.parked))
+	}
+	store.err = nil
+	s.retryHeld(context.Background())
+	if !held.acked || len(s.parked) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a held report was not recorded once the store was back: %+v, %d held", held, len(s.parked))
 	}
 
 	refused := &saidTo{}
-	s = &Server{listener: heardWith{err: errors.New("a report named no node")}, log: quiet, again: 1}
-	s.handleReport(context.Background(), aReport(t, refused))
+	s = &Server{listener: heardWith{err: errors.New("a report named no node")}, log: quiet()}
+	s.handleReport(context.Background(), aReport(t, refused, "anchor", "d1"))
 	if !refused.acked || refused.nacked {
-		t.Fatalf("a report the store answered no to was not acknowledged, so it would spin: %+v", refused)
+		t.Fatalf("a report the store answered no to was not acknowledged: %+v", refused)
 	}
+}
 
-	recorded := &saidTo{}
-	s = &Server{listener: heardWith{}, log: quiet}
-	s.handleReport(context.Background(), aReport(t, recorded))
-	if !recorded.acked || recorded.nacked {
-		t.Fatalf("a recorded report was not acknowledged: %+v", recorded)
+// A newer report from the same node supersedes one of its reports still held: recorded after the
+// newer, the older would overwrite what the node is doing now.
+func TestANewerReportSupersedesAHeldOneFromTheSameNode(t *testing.T) {
+	s := &Server{listener: heardWith{err: errors.Join(ErrTryAgain, errors.New("starting up"))}, log: quiet()}
+	older, newer, other := &saidTo{}, &saidTo{}, &saidTo{}
+	s.handleReport(context.Background(), aReport(t, older, "anchor", "d1"))
+	s.handleReport(context.Background(), aReport(t, other, "laptop", "d7"))
+	s.handleReport(context.Background(), aReport(t, newer, "anchor", "d2"))
+	if !older.acked {
+		t.Fatalf("the older report was not set aside by the newer: %+v", older)
+	}
+	if !newer.unsettled() || !other.unsettled() || len(s.parked) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("the newer report and another node's were not both held: newer %+v other %+v, %d held",
+			newer, other, len(s.parked))
 	}
 }
 
 // A store that has not come back within the bound is not restarting: the report is let go, loudly,
-// rather than holding every enrolment and report behind it for ever (novox/hq issue 082, review).
+// rather than held for ever.
 func TestAReportIsLetGoOnceTheStoreHasBeenGoneTooLong(t *testing.T) {
-	quiet := log.New(io.Discard, "", 0)
 	s := &Server{listener: heardWith{err: errors.Join(ErrTryAgain, errors.New("connection refused"))},
-		log: quiet, again: 1, giveUp: time.Millisecond}
-
-	first := &saidTo{}
-	s.handleReport(context.Background(), aReport(t, first))
-	if !first.requeued {
-		t.Fatalf("the first failure was not handed back: %+v", first)
+		log: quiet(), giveUp: time.Millisecond}
+	held := &saidTo{}
+	s.handleReport(context.Background(), aReport(t, held, "anchor", "d1"))
+	if !held.unsettled() {
+		t.Fatalf("the first failure was not held: %+v", held)
 	}
 	time.Sleep(5 * time.Millisecond)
-	later := &saidTo{}
-	s.handleReport(context.Background(), aReport(t, later))
-	if !later.acked || later.nacked {
-		t.Fatalf("a report past the bound was not let go, so it would hold the queue for ever: %+v", later)
-	}
-	// Let go, and forgotten: the same report arriving fresh starts a new clock.
-	again := &saidTo{}
-	s.handleReport(context.Background(), aReport(t, again))
-	if !again.requeued {
-		t.Fatalf("a report let go was not forgotten, so its next arrival is given no chance: %+v", again)
-	}
-}
-
-// Shutting down does not wait out the pause.
-func TestAReportBeingTriedAgainDoesNotHoldUpShutdown(t *testing.T) {
-	quiet := log.New(io.Discard, "", 0)
-	s := &Server{listener: heardWith{err: errors.Join(ErrTryAgain, errors.New("starting up"))},
-		log: quiet, again: time.Hour}
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
-	cancel()
-	done := make(chan struct{})
-	go func() { s.handleReport(ctx, aReport(t, &saidTo{})); close(done) }()
-	select {
-	case <-done:
-	case <-time.After(5 * time.Second):
-		t.Fatal("a cancelled context still waited out the pause")
+	s.retryHeld(context.Background())
+	if !held.acked || len(s.parked) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a report past the bound was not let go: %+v, %d held", held, len(s.parked))
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/link/serve.go b/internal/link/serve.go
index 3c55b8b..9b8f3de 100644
--- a/internal/link/serve.go
+++ b/internal/link/serve.go
@@ -55,29 +55,40 @@ type Server struct {
 	log      *log.Logger
 	upgrader Upgrader
 	replayer Replayer
-	// again is how long a report the store could not take waits before it is handed back to
-	// the broker; zero means TryAgainAfter. giveUp is how long one report is kept trying before
-	// it is let go; zero means GiveUpAfter. waiting is when each report still trying first failed.
-	again   time.Duration
-	giveUp  time.Duration
-	waiting map[string]time.Time
+	// Messages the store could not take right now, held unacknowledged and tried again on a
+	// ticker, by subject (novox/hq issues 082, 083). again is the ticker's interval, zero meaning
+	// TryAgainAfter; giveUp is how long one is kept, zero meaning GiveUpAfter.
+	again  time.Duration
+	giveUp time.Duration
+	parked map[string]*held
+}
+
+// held is one message the store could not take, kept to be tried again.
+type held struct {
+	delivery amqp.Delivery
+	retry    func(context.Context, amqp.Delivery)
+	what     string
+	first    time.Time
 }
 
 // ErrTryAgain marks a listener's failure as "not now": what it was given is worth keeping and
 // asking again, as when the store is restarting (novox/hq issue 082).
 var ErrTryAgain = errors.New("not now, try again")
 
-// TryAgainAfter is the pause before a report the store could not take goes back to the broker.
-// The consumer takes one message at a time, so without it a restarting store would be asked in
-// a tight loop; a store comes back in seconds, and a report a few seconds late is still current.
+// TryAgainAfter is how often messages the store could not take are tried again. A store comes
+// back in seconds, and a report a few seconds late is still current.
 const TryAgainAfter = 2 * time.Second
 
-// GiveUpAfter bounds how long one report holds the queue. The consumer takes one message at a
-// time, so a report being tried again holds every enrolment, build result and other report
-// behind it; a store that has not come back in this long is not restarting, and holding the
-// mesh's control queue for it would turn one lost report into a mesh that answers nothing.
+// GiveUpAfter bounds how long one message is kept trying. A store that has not come back in this
+// long is not restarting, and the message is let go with a line saying it was lost.
 const GiveUpAfter = 2 * time.Minute
 
+// Prefetch is how many messages the broker hands the control plane before it has settled them.
+// More than one because a message the store could not take is held, unsettled, while the loop goes
+// on answering others — an enrolment above all, which a host is waiting on (novox/hq issue 083).
+// Bounded, because what is held is also what the broker has not kept on its own disk as pending.
+const Prefetch = 64
+
 // Records tells the server where to keep build results.
 //
 // Set after Connect rather than passed to it, because a control plane that only publishes — the
@@ -206,10 +217,11 @@ func (s *Server) Close() {
 // receive half of what it expects — a fault this project has already had, between a module's
 // daemon and its capability server.
 func (s *Server) Serve(ctx context.Context) error {
-	// Prefetch of one. The control plane writes to a database per message, and a burst of
-	// enrolments delivered all at once would be held in memory rather than left on the broker,
-	// which is the one place they survive a restart.
-	if err := s.channel.Qos(1, 0, false); err != nil {
+	// A bounded prefetch rather than one. The loop still takes messages one at a time; what the
+	// prefetch buys is that a message the store could not take can be held while the loop goes on
+	// to the next, instead of every enrolment waiting behind it (novox/hq issue 083). Anything held
+	// goes back to the broker if the control plane stops, because nothing held is acknowledged.
+	if err := s.channel.Qos(Prefetch, 0, false); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
@@ -250,10 +262,19 @@ func (s *Server) Serve(ctx context.Context) error {
 		s.log.Printf("consuming %s, bound to %s/%s", UpgradeQueue, EventsExchange, KeyModuleUpgraded)
 	}
 
+	again := s.again
+	if again == 0 {
+		again = TryAgainAfter
+	}
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(again)
+	defer ticker.Stop()
+
 	for {
 		select {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
 			return nil
+		case <-ticker.C:
+			s.retryHeld(ctx)
 		case delivery, ok := <-catchups:
 			if !ok {
 				if catchups != nil {
@@ -334,13 +355,17 @@ func (s *Server) handleReport(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
 		_ = delivery.Reject(false)
 		return
 	}
+	// A node's newer report supersedes one of its older reports still held: the older is its
+	// past, and recorded after the newer it would overwrite what the node is doing now.
+	subject := "report " + report.Node
+	s.supersede(subject, delivery)
 	if s.listener != nil {
 		if err := s.listener.Heard(context.Background(), report); err != nil {
-			// Kept, not acknowledged, while the store cannot take it: the node reports an apply
+			// Held, not acknowledged, while the store cannot take it: the node reports an apply
 			// once, and a report lost here is a node the mesh never hears from again — the store
 			// restarting under the adoption that node just applied lost exactly that (issue 082).
 			what := fmt.Sprintf("%s's report of declaration %s", report.Node, report.Declared)
-			if s.tryLater(ctx, delivery, what, err) {
+			if s.tryLater(delivery, subject, what, err, s.handle) {
 				return
 			}
 			// Said rather than swallowed. A report the mesh heard and failed to write down is a
@@ -357,59 +382,82 @@ func (s *Server) handleReport(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
 	default:
 		s.log.Printf("%s applied %d resource(s)", report.Node, len(report.Applied))
 	}
-	s.settled(delivery)
+	s.settled(subject, delivery)
 	_ = delivery.Ack(false)
 }
 
-// tryLater hands a message the store could not take right now back to the broker, to be asked
-// again after a pause, and says whether it did (novox/hq issues 082, 083).
+// tryLater holds a message the store could not take right now, to be tried again on the ticker,
+// and says whether it did (novox/hq issues 082, 083).
 //
-// "Right now" is the store unreachable or restarting — ErrTryAgain from a listener, or an error
-// the inventory reads as an outage. Anything else is an answer, and is left to the caller to
-// settle. One message holds its queue at most giveUpAfter: the consumer takes one message at a
-// time, so a message tried again holds everything behind it, and a store that has not come back
-// in that long is not restarting. Past it, the message is let go with a line saying it was lost.
-func (s *Server) tryLater(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery, what string, err error) bool {
+// "Right now" is the store unreachable or restarting — ErrTryAgain from a listener, or an error the
+// inventory reads as an outage. Anything else is an answer, and is left to the caller to settle.
+// Held means unacknowledged and set aside: the loop goes on to the next message, so an enrolment a
+// host is waiting on is answered while a report waits for the store. One message is held at most
+// giveUpAfter; past it, it is let go with a line saying it was lost, and the caller settles it.
+func (s *Server) tryLater(delivery amqp.Delivery, subject, what string, err error,
+	retry func(context.Context, amqp.Delivery)) bool {
 	if !errors.Is(err, ErrTryAgain) && !inventory.Unreachable(err) {
 		return false
 	}
-	key := waitingKey(delivery)
-	if s.waiting == nil {
-		s.waiting = map[string]time.Time{}
+	if s.parked == nil {
+		s.parked = map[string]*held{}
 	}
-	first, seen := s.waiting[key]
-	if !seen {
-		first = time.Now()
-		s.waiting[key] = first
+	h, ok := s.parked[subject]
+	if !ok || h.delivery.DeliveryTag != delivery.DeliveryTag {
+		h = &held{delivery: delivery, retry: retry, what: what, first: time.Now()}
+		s.parked[subject] = h
+		s.log.Printf("could not keep %s yet; holding it to try again: %v", what, err)
+		return true
 	}
-	if time.Since(first) >= s.giveUpAfter() {
-		delete(s.waiting, key)
-		s.log.Printf("LOST %s: the store has not come back in %s, and the queue cannot wait longer: %v",
-			what, s.giveUpAfter(), err)
+	if time.Since(h.first) >= s.giveUpAfter() {
+		delete(s.parked, subject)
+		s.log.Printf("LOST %s: the store has not come back in %s: %v", what, s.giveUpAfter(), err)
 		return false
 	}
-	again := s.again
-	if again == 0 {
-		again = TryAgainAfter
-	}
-	s.log.Printf("could not keep %s yet, and will again in %s: %v", what, again, err)
-	select {
-	case <-ctx.Done():
-	case <-time.After(again):
-	}
-	_ = delivery.Nack(false, true)
 	return true
 }
 
-// settled forgets a message's time spent waiting, once it has been handled either way.
-func (s *Server) settled(delivery amqp.Delivery) { delete(s.waiting, waitingKey(delivery)) }
+// supersede drops a message held for a subject when a newer one for it arrives: the older is
+// acknowledged, because acting on it after the newer would undo the newer.
+func (s *Server) supersede(subject string, newer amqp.Delivery) {
+	h, ok := s.parked[subject]
+	if !ok || h.delivery.DeliveryTag == newer.DeliveryTag {
+		return
+	}
+	delete(s.parked, subject)
+	s.log.Printf("set aside %s: a newer one arrived", h.what)
+	_ = h.delivery.Ack(false)
+}
 
-// waitingKey is a message by its content: the same message handed back is the same key.
-func waitingKey(delivery amqp.Delivery) string {
-	sum := sha256.Sum256(append([]byte(delivery.RoutingKey+"\x00"), delivery.Body...))
+// settled forgets a message once it has been handled either way.
+func (s *Server) settled(subject string, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
+	if h, ok := s.parked[subject]; ok && h.delivery.DeliveryTag == delivery.DeliveryTag {
+		delete(s.parked, subject)
+	}
+}
+
+// digest names a message by its content.
+func digest(body []byte) string {
+	sum := sha256.Sum256(body)
 	return hex.EncodeToString(sum[:])
 }
 
+// retryHeld tries every held message again. Each handler holds it again, settles it, or lets it
+// go past the bound.
+func (s *Server) retryHeld(ctx context.Context) {
+	for _, h := range s.snapshot() {
+		h.retry(ctx, h.delivery)
+	}
+}
+
+func (s *Server) snapshot() []*held {
+	out := make([]*held, 0, len(s.parked))
+	for _, h := range s.parked {
+		out = append(out, h)
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
 func (s *Server) giveUpAfter() time.Duration {
 	if s.giveUp == 0 {
 		return GiveUpAfter
@@ -445,9 +493,8 @@ func (s *Server) handleEnrol(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
 	s.reply(ctx, delivery, reply)
 
 	// Acknowledged after the reply is sent, so a control plane that dies mid-answer leaves the
-	// request on the broker rather than having consumed it silently. Enrolment is idempotent
-	// only in the sense that the token is spent — a redelivery gets the refusal, which is
-	// correct and visible, where a lost request is neither.
+	// request on the broker rather than having consumed it silently. Asked again by the same
+	// presenter, an enrolment finishes: the token is held for its key and spent last (issue 083).
 	_ = delivery.Ack(false)
 }
 
@@ -493,18 +540,20 @@ func (s *Server) handleBuilt(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
 		_ = delivery.Reject(false)
 		return
 	}
+	// Each build result its own subject: none supersedes another, and recording one twice is
+	// harmless — the build is kept by its id.
+	subject := "build " + digest(delivery.Body)
 	if err := s.recorder.Built(ctx, result); err != nil {
-		// Kept while the store cannot take it: a build result lost here is never announced, and
-		// recording one twice is harmless — the build is kept by its id (issue 083).
-		if s.tryLater(ctx, delivery, fmt.Sprintf("a build result from %s", result.On), err) {
+		// Held while the store cannot take it: a build result lost here is never announced (083).
+		if s.tryLater(delivery, subject, fmt.Sprintf("a build result from %s", result.On), err, s.handle) {
 			return
 		}
 		s.log.Printf("cannot keep a build result from %s: %v", result.On, err)
-		s.settled(delivery)
+		s.settled(subject, delivery)
 		_ = delivery.Reject(false)
 		return
 	}
-	s.settled(delivery)
+	s.settled(subject, delivery)
 	switch {
 	case result.Failed != "":
 		s.log.Printf("%s could not build %s", result.On, result.Repository)
@@ -518,13 +567,16 @@ func (s *Server) handleBuilt(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
 //
 // Acknowledged after the work. A replay that fails for a reason other than the store is not one
 // that succeeds by being handed the same request again, so that is acknowledged and said; but a
-// store that could not be read right now is asked again after a pause, bounded, rather than the
-// request lost until the catalogue next restarts (issue 083).
+// store that could not be read right now is held and asked again, bounded, rather than the
+// request lost until the catalogue next restarts (issue 083). One request stands for all: a newer
+// one supersedes one still held.
 func (s *Server) catchingUp(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
-	requeued := false
+	const subject = "catch-up"
+	s.supersede(subject, delivery)
+	holding := false
 	defer func() {
-		if !requeued {
-			s.settled(delivery)
+		if !holding {
+			s.settled(subject, delivery)
 			_ = delivery.Ack(false)
 		}
 	}()
@@ -534,8 +586,8 @@ func (s *Server) catchingUp(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
 	}
 	announcements, err := s.replayer.Announceable(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
-		if s.tryLater(ctx, delivery, "a catalogue's request to catch up", err) {
-			requeued = true
+		if s.tryLater(delivery, subject, "a catalogue's request to catch up", err, s.catchingUp) {
+			holding = true
 			return
 		}
 		s.log.Printf("a catalogue asked to catch up and the mesh could not read its builds: %v", err)
@@ -560,19 +612,24 @@ func (s *Server) catchingUp(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
 //
 // **Acknowledged whatever happens, but one thing.** A failure here is usually the control plane
 // being unable to act on an upgrade — a machine that cannot be resolved, a broker that will not
-// take a declaration — and none of those get better by being handed the same message again.
-// Requeuing those would put a poison message at the head of a durable queue and stop every
-// upgrade behind it. The one exception is the store unreachable for the moment, which does get
-// better: that is asked again after a pause, for a bounded time (novox/hq issue 083).
+// take a declaration — and none of those get better by being handed the same message again. The
+// one exception is the upgrader saying the store could not be read for the moment (ErrTryAgain):
+// that is held and asked again, bounded (novox/hq issue 083). Only the upgrader's word counts
+// here, not an error that merely looks like an outage — a push that timed out on the second
+// machine is not asked again, or the first would be pushed every few seconds for two minutes.
+// A newer move of the same module supersedes one still held.
 func (s *Server) upgraded(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
-	requeued := false
+	var u Upgraded
+	_ = json.Unmarshal(delivery.Body, &u)
+	subject := "upgrade " + u.Module
+	s.supersede(subject, delivery)
+	holding := false
 	defer func() {
-		if !requeued {
-			s.settled(delivery)
+		if !holding {
+			s.settled(subject, delivery)
 			_ = delivery.Ack(false)
 		}
 	}()
-	var u Upgraded
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(delivery.Body, &u); err != nil {
 		s.log.Printf("an upgrade announcement could not be read: %v", err)
 		return
@@ -582,11 +639,9 @@ func (s *Server) upgraded(ctx context.Context, delivery amqp.Delivery) {
 		return
 	}
 	if err := s.upgrader.Upgraded(ctx, u); err != nil {
-		// A store that could not be read right now is asked again, bounded: acting on an upgrade
-		// twice pushes the same declarations twice, which converges (issue 083). Any other
-		// failure is acknowledged, as before — requeued, it would stop every upgrade behind it.
-		if s.tryLater(ctx, delivery, fmt.Sprintf("%s's move to %s", u.Module, short(u.Commit)), err) {
-			requeued = true
+		if errors.Is(err, ErrTryAgain) &&
+			s.tryLater(delivery, subject, fmt.Sprintf("%s's move to %s", u.Module, short(u.Commit)), err, s.upgraded) {
+			holding = true
 			return
 		}
 		s.log.Printf("%s moved to %s and the mesh could not act on it: %v",
diff --git a/internal/link/store_window_test.go b/internal/link/store_window_test.go
index d894335..7fe9ffd 100644
--- a/internal/link/store_window_test.go
+++ b/internal/link/store_window_test.go
@@ -42,10 +42,13 @@ func a(t *testing.T, to *settledAs, key string, v any) amqp.Delivery {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	return amqp.Delivery{Acknowledger: to, RoutingKey: key, Body: body}
+	tag++
+	return amqp.Delivery{Acknowledger: to, RoutingKey: key, Body: body, DeliveryTag: tag}
 }
 
-func quietServer() *Server { return &Server{log: log.New(io.Discard, "", 0), again: 1} }
+func quietServer() *Server { return &Server{log: log.New(io.Discard, "", 0)} }
+
+func (a *settledAs) held() bool { return !a.acked && !a.nacked && !a.rejected }
 
 // A build result the store could not take right now is handed back; one it refused is rejected,
 // as before; one it kept is acknowledged.
@@ -56,7 +59,7 @@ func TestABuildResultWaitsOutARestartingStore(t *testing.T) {
 		err  error
 		want func(*settledAs) bool
 	}{
-		{"restarting", restarting, func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.requeued && !s.acked && !s.rejected }},
+		{"restarting", restarting, func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.held() }},
 		{"refused", errors.New("no such module"), func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.rejected && !s.nacked }},
 		{"kept", nil, func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.acked && !s.nacked }},
 	} {
@@ -79,7 +82,8 @@ func TestAnUpgradeWaitsOutARestartingStoreAndNothingElse(t *testing.T) {
 		err  error
 		want func(*settledAs) bool
 	}{
-		{"restarting", restarting, func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.requeued && !s.acked }},
+		{"the store away, said by the upgrader", errors.Join(ErrTryAgain, restarting), func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.held() }},
+		{"a push that timed out", context.DeadlineExceeded, func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.acked && !s.nacked }},
 		{"cannot act", errors.New("anchor cannot be resolved"), func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.acked && !s.nacked }},
 		{"acted", nil, func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.acked && !s.nacked }},
 	} {
@@ -101,7 +105,7 @@ func TestACatchUpWaitsOutARestartingStore(t *testing.T) {
 		err  error
 		want func(*settledAs) bool
 	}{
-		{"restarting", restarting, func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.requeued && !s.acked }},
+		{"restarting", restarting, func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.held() }},
 		{"unreadable", errors.New("a build row is malformed"), func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.acked && !s.nacked }},
 		{"nothing to replay", nil, func(s *settledAs) bool { return s.acked && !s.nacked }},
 	} {