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Phil ips shrugged "Maybe that’s why she spends al her ti on it"

"No, it isn’t," Mal said "It’s because she doesn’t think she fits in How many Spartans did they create? She’s almost like the last of her species"

"Functional Spartan-Twos? Under a hundred Almost al MIA now" Osman suddenly appeared froain She seemed to be able to pop up out of nowhere, just like BB "Spartan-Threes? Hundreds But you probably didn’t see arcoat it They carry out the suicidesome point about how terrific the Spartans were by co a question in that in-your-face way that she had It was the first time that Vaz had heard a h He decided to leave the fol ow-up to Phil ips, as now the official squad blunderer, the civvie who could blurt out aard questions and get aith it like a s to volunteer inforram that had been top secret for years

"So you were a Tere you?" Phil ips juht in "Did you have armor like that?"

Osmentations to wear Mjolnir, or it’l just snap your spine"

"Such as?"

"Ceramic bone implants, enetic and bioche things" She cocked her head on one side to look at hi "I can’t tel if you’re fascinated or repel ed, Evan"

Oh, it’s Evan now, is it?

Phil ips squir it to fourteen-year-olds I don’t want to pry, but what made your parents consent?"

"They never knew," Osman said, stil matter-of-fact "We were al colonial kids, taken froed tack instantly as if nothing reht he’dvoice traffic

We’ve got a sh-value passenger A Huragok An Engineer That’s worth bothering them to acquire, don’t you think?"

Mal looked as if he hadn’t heard anything shocking Vaz decided he ined it

"I wondered where they al went," Mal said "Definitely one for the tool box"

"My thoughts exactly Best estimate is that there are six Jiralhanae e weapons for ‘Telcaok’s far too valuable to pass up We’l intercept thehty-two minutes, so let’s -Yar"

"Yes ma’am "

Mal checked his watch as she walked off Nobody said anything for a painful y long moment

Phil ips final y let out a breath "Did she say what I think she said?"

"Kidnapped as kids," Mal said, apparently not shocked at al"Yeah, I think that’s what she meant"

Phil ips looked at Vaz and then turned to Devereaux, al for a verdict "I expected some reaction from you Did you know al that?"

"Of course we didn’t" Vaz had reached the stage of not caring what BB overheard now "Who the hel tel s us? It’s al classified We’re just ram even existed was to boost publicus al this," Mal said Maybe he wanted BB to relay that to the boss "Whatever she wants from us, we’l do it

We just want clear orders"

Devereaux was stil hefting her wrench, looking at its jaith a glazed, distant expression "What do people general y do when a war’s ending and al kinds of dirt’s going to co orders That kind of thing"

"If she’s right, then we used child soldiers," Phil ips said "We kidnapped the experiovern as on?"

"Actual y, yes, they would" Phil ips was doing his eain, one ar his top lip, as if he orried about disagreeing "I think the public would give a pretty big damn about that"

"Don’t bank on it," Mal said He seee fatigue set in years ago The colonies are a long way from Sydney And they weren’t always on our side"

Phil ips just stared at hi away "I’l go and be outraged onto do"

Devereaux turned to Vaz and shrugged "Wel , at least we never clai this war for decency and freedom Just survival"

"Which war?" Vaz asked "The one where ere fighting other humans? Because that’s when al this started"

"That was before my time," she said "And yours"

There wasn’t real y much Vaz could say, not because BB would hear every word, but because he real y didn’t knohere to start The strong had done terrible things to the weak ever since the first cavehbor’s skul with a wel -placed rock

Only the technology changed Even so, the idea of little kids being abducted and carted off to boot calad that it did It told hiht years of nu warfare

"Win the war, and nobody says a word about that kind of stuff until you’re dead," he said "Lose the war, and you end up at Nure?" Devereaux asked

Mal wandered off to move some crates He balanced a table-sized lid across two of the from underneath it Vaz waited for hi six-year-olds ONI can’t get any worse Can it?

"Vaz?" Mal cal ed "Give us a hand, wil you?"

Vaz squatted to stick his head under the lid Mal was hunched underneath it, scribbling soe marker pen

"What is it?"

Mal put a finger to his lips and tilted his palot it … There was no shipboard tech--or anything in his neural is scribbled on skin If you wanted privacy and anonymity, you used old-fashioned ink BB couldn’t snoop down here

Not even the 360-degree safety ca on through ten centimeters of composite Vaz read the letters careful y

PSYCH TEST Vaz mimed a what-the-hel frown What?

NO IDEA TELLING US STUFF TO SEE HOW WE REACT Mal ran out of palht Val wrestled the marker pen frorabbed the pen back The only space he could use noas the back of his left hand YOU SAW THE OLD MOVIE BB WILL SPACE US Mal laughed his head off He had a point, though There were very feays of avoiding BB’s attention Vaz started laughing too He didn’t knohichunder an ammo crate in an invisible ship in enemy space while his own side used smal kids for cannon fodder It wasn’t rehter