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“There’s no data showing a launch,” Soren said “Whatever’s on Venus would have to have gotten out to Ganyn of that at all”

“Whatever’s on Venus thinks inertia’s optional and gravity isn’t a constant We don’t knohat a launch would look like As far as we know, they could walk to Jupiter”

The boy’s nod conceded the point

“Where do we stand on Mars?”

“They’ve agreed to ot ships on the ith the diplo their witness”

“The e of the escort”

“He’s playing nice?”

“So far”

“All right, where do we go fro in your office,you think’s i lit the clouds fro …”

She felt a stab of annoyance that was half eround on the man was in her queue There were thirty other docuht before, troubled by dreams in which Arjun had died unexpectedly She’d had hood night accident, herthe only two men she’d ever loved

She’d otten But she wasn’t going to admit it to some European brat just because he was s she said

“I knohat’s in the briefing I know everything,” she said, standing up “This is a fking test I’ what you think is i toward the carved oak doors with a deliberate speed that made Soren scra interest of Mao-Kski Mercantile,” Soren said, his voice low enough to carry to her and then die “Before the incident, they were one of Protogen’s major suppliers The medical equipment, the radiation rooms, the surveillance and encryption infrastructure Alen put on Eros or used to construct their shadow station cahter”

“And he’s still breathing free air because …?” she said, pushing through the doors and into the hallway beyond

“No evidence that Mao-Kwik knehat the equipen was exposed, Mao-Kas one of the first to turn over inforation committee If they—and by ‘they,’ I mean ‘he’—hadn’t turned over a terabyte of confidential correspondence, Gutht never have been implicated”

A silver-hairedthe other way in the hall looked up from his hand terminal and nodded to her as they drew near

“Victor,” she said “I’m sorry about Annette”

“The doctors say she’ll be fine,” the Andean said “I’ll tell her you asked”

“Tell her I said to get the hell out of bed before her husband starts getting dirty ideas,” she said, and the Andean laughed as they passed Then, to Soren: “Was he cutting a deal? Cooperation for clemency?”

“That was one interpretation, but eance for what happened to his daughter”

“She was on Eros,” Avasarala said