Page 68 (1/2)

"Pliny?"

"Pliny"

"You each have your gifts And you would do well not to question e But I am no more a demokrat than you are a Lune"

He does not smile as I intended Instead, he presses a button and the speech I used to win over the Pax comes on the speakers An HC holo shows the faces of different Colors

"Watch their expressions" He watches h a series of video clips from different parts of the ship as the crew listens to the speech I gave before they rose against their Gold coht there The spark? Do you?"

"I see it"

"That is hope" The iveI made a mistake?" I ask

He recalls old words "Hateful toin his heart and speaks another"

"My heart has always been laid bare"

"So you say" His lips part slightly, hissing the words "But as terrorists spread lies over the net, as bos wrack our cities, as the lowColors ruin a war despite the termites in our foundation, you say this"

"Any chaos is--"

"Shut your mouth Do you knoould happen if the other Governors thought us Reformers? If the other houses looked at lass "Our potential allies" He brushes the glass off the table, letting it shatter Points to another "Our lives" It falls and shatters too "It is bad enough hter had the ear of the Reformer bloc on Luna You cannot seem political Stay a warrior Stay simple Do you understand?"

What if the lowColors rally to us? I want to ask, but he would have his Obsidians kill ustus looks at his hands, twisting the ring there Hesitancy creeps over hih bursts fro"

"Most men are liars"

"Can I trust you with power autonomous from my own?" He scratches his jaw idly "That is when er fills their eyes The Roenerals cross the Rubicon with their armies without the perin to realize how strong they are And they always know that their particular strength is not forever It must be used with haste, before their army leaves them But hasty decisions can ruin empires My son, for instance, must never be allowed such power"

"He has his businesses"

"That is a sloer Cleverly done on his part, if unfit for nant eneo, do what you wish it to as effectively as a ha a nail, that is the power that lops off heads and steals crowns Can I trust you with it?"

"You o to Lorn"

Surprise flashes in his eyes; he is unused to having his uessed He buries the surprise quickly, unwilling to give credit where credit is due "You knew already"