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They moved forward quickly Too quickly When they reached the end of the line—an airlock four ine that there was anyone behind it A at his side as he tapped at the airlock controls Holden squinted up at the ceiling as if soround tre

“Was that a launch?” Holden said “That was a launch!”

“Yeah,” A pad out there Monitors aren’t showing anything else on it, though Whatever that was, it was the last train outta here”

Prax heard so It took hi his body move without hi them with his clenched fists She was there She was just out there, on the ship lifting away from Ganymede He could feel her like she had a rope tied to his heart and every moment pulled it out of hier When he ca over A into his belly He pushed up to see the airlock receding slowly behind them

“Put me down,” Prax said

“Can’t do it,” A of assault rifle fire caround and squatted over hiun at the ready

“What the fk, Cap?” Alanced up in ti out of his back Wendell was on the ground, returning fire around a sharp corner

“Missed someone,” Holden said “Or else they called in their friends”

“Don’t shoot them,” Prax said “What if it’s Mei! What if they have her with them?”

“They don’t, Doc,” A out of hi to Amos or Wendell or Naomi back on the ship or him It could have been any of them All of them Four men came around the corner, weapons in hand They wore the sa black hair and a goatee Another was a woman with skin the color of buttercream The two in the middle could have been brothers—the sa noses

Froun spoke twice All four fell back It was like sos, swept at once Four people Prax didn’t know, had never met, just fell down They just fell down He knew they were never getting back up

“Wendell?” Holden said “Report?”

“Caudel’s dead,” Wendell said He didn’t sound sad about it He didn’t sound like anything “I think I broke my wrist Anyone knohere they came from?”

“Nope,” Holden said “Let’s not assuh”

They retraced their steps, back through the long, wide passages Past bodies of men and women they hadn’t killed, but ere dead noay Prax didn’t try to keep fros h

They reached the bloodied pit after a few minutes or an hour or a week Prax couldn’t tell, and all options seemed equally plausible The ruptured bodies stank, the spilled blood thickening to a black currant jelly, the opened viscera freeing colonies of bacteria usually held in check by the gut On the catwalk, a woman stood What was her name? Paula That was it

“Why aren’t you at your post?” Wendell snapped when he saw her

“Guthrie called for backup Said he was gut-shot and about to pass out I brought him some adrenaline and speed”

“Good call,” Wendell said

“Uchi and Caudel?”