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"Down here," he said, opening the pantry door "Long winters here, apparently Everyone’s got a store cel ar"

But not everyone had ONI’s latest surveil ance kit stored where their pickles should have been Spenser threw off his coat and et the coffee on," he said "You can aenital y paranoid about outsiders here, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been able to build up profiles pretty fast" Spenser took out an old chip from his pocket, forced it into an adapter, and inserted it into his datapad "I’ve been around a long tiency Stil a few old faces around, too And so across the smal screen, so shots "Moritz … Lanto … da this jerk’s dad I should have done that before the bastard bred That’d be before your tih"

Vaz took the pad, sat on the water-stained sofa, and began thus and poured coffee, Mal leaned over the back of the sofa to see what kind of rogues’ gal ery the agent had asse before his time, mostly while he was in short pants There was a whole world of hostility out here that he’d never real y known about

So this hy they needed Spartans, was it?

Al the files had names on them, someti for the ti out who associated hom and what that association ith off-planet activity

The Covenant was gone These tossers could move around as they pleased now

"Yes, it’s a realthe coffee down on an upturned crate "Stunned you into silence with their beauty, obviously"

"We’re on receive," Mal said "Teach us, spook-master"

Spenser chuckled "Okay, think of this bunch as divided into two species," he said "The career terrorist, who’s in it for the ue, who has a politicalover Vaz If there was anything Vaz hated, it was having soht then He didn’t even hunch his shoulders in protest His gaze was glued to the datapad He’d ground to a halt at one particular file

"Oh, yeah," Spenser said "Now, if you saw that guy on the bus, you’d ot nutter written al over him

The eyes don’t help Boiled Knohat Iby the technical ter attention to the conversation Spenser leaned right over hiot no reaction

"This guy’s been around awhile Just hates Earth If the Sangheili hadn’t shot huht, I swear he would have enlisted with the Arbiter

He’s definitely in the market for nukes,to be using them to rob banks"

"But he needs transport if he wants to pul a Ma-Yar are getting al kinds of craft froe for arain "Lots of hardware floating around postwar, nobody keeping tabs on it, and suddenly our terrorists are back withthe Insurrection

Weird bastard, isn’t he?"

The picture looked like it was cropped fro, with the man in question in a relatively tidy jacket Mal couldn’t work out froment of shoulder to one side of hiht dress, but it was a moment from a normal life

He hite-haired, maybe blond No, Mal wouldn’t have started a casual conversation him It was those eyes

"You stil awake, Vaz?" Mal asked

Vaz didn’t move for a moment, and Mal dipped down to check he real y was conscious His eyes were shut Then he opened them and stared at the pad for a while, not happy at al

"I know him," Vaz said "Or at least I knoho he is"

"Shit, don’t tel me you owe hi at it "We know his daughter Check the name"

Mal tilted his head He didn’t know anyone by that name, least of al a woman "Is she hot? Give me a clue"

Vaz turned around and even for a bloke who didn’t smile much at the best of times, he looked devastated Mal decided to cut the jokes Spenser just straightened up and watched in silence

"Sentzke," Vaz said quietly "The file says Staffan Sentzke His daughter’s cal ed Naomi"

ONTOM, SANGHELIOS: MARCH 2553

BB was stil undecided whether Philips was a briliant actor or genuinely thriled to be alowed to wander around the ruins of Ontom

"I think this is their equivalent of bella Firenze, " Phil ips said breathlessly "There’l be wonderful gal eries somewhere Maybe a nice trattoria"

"Check your blood sugar, there’s a good lad"

"Cos, BB" Beneath al that excitement, he was scared BB could detect the treets to visit this place Excepton the broad rail of a low balustrade next to the river that cut through the city, looking so openly into his couidebook Each time he moved, BB--locked into that narrow perspective froathered wherever he went A huge four-jawed e canine teeth suddenly fil ed far too heili leaned over to peer into Phil ips’s face

"Is it true?" the Sangheili asked "Can you speak?"

"Of course I can speak" Phil ips started laughing to himself as if it was soy at Wheatley"

"Ah Scholar Yes, we thought you were too smal even for a soldier "