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“Looks clear,” Amos said

“Naomi,” Holden said, “what does it look like around the ship?”

“Looks clear here,” she said “But Alex is worried that—”

Her voice was cut off by an electronic squeal

“Naomi? Naomi!” Holden yelled, but there was no response To Amos he said, “Go, double-time it to the ship!”

Amos and the Pinkwater people ran toward the docks as quickly as their injured bodies and the unconscious tea his assault rifle and flicking off the safety as he ran

They ran through the twisting corridors of the port sector, A pedestrians with loud shouts and the unspoken threat of his shotgun An old woman in a hijab scurried away before them like a leaf driven before a storm She was dead already If the protomolecule was loose, everyone Holden passed was dead already Santichai and Melissa Supitaya pnand all the people they’d come to Ganymede to save The rioters and killers who’d been normal citizens of the station before their social ecosystem collapsed If the protoood as dead

So why hadn’t it happened?

Holden pushed the thought aside Later—if there was a later—he could worry about it Soun into the ceiling once If port security still existed outside of the vultures trying to take a cut of every inco shipment, they didn’t try to stop them

The outer airlock door of the Somnambulist was closed when they reached it

“Nao in his pockets for the swipe card She didn’t reply, and it took hiiven the card to Wendell “Wendell, open the door for us”

The Pinkwater leader didn’t reply

“Wendell—” Holden started, then stopped when he saw that Wendell was staring, wide-eyed, at so behind him Holden turned to look and saw five nias All were arht his gun up and across them in a full auto sweep Three of the fivered The new Holden rejoiced; the old was quiet It didn’t matter who these men were Station security or inner planet military or just leftover mercenaries from the now destroyed shadow base, he’d kill the his crew off this infectedout froazine of his assault rifle into the gray-areha hiray-arun unloaded in a single long roar

Holden rolled to his side, looking to see if anyone else was hurt, and saw that the five on his side had been only half of the ene their hands and dropping their weapons as five ray-armored soldiers came down the corridor froazine fro a new one off his harness when one of the e weapon at the back of his head and pulled the trigger Amos’ helated- with a wet crunch Blood splashed across the floor where he hit it

Holden tried to get a new azine into his assault rifle, but his hands wouldn’t cooperate and before he could reload his gun, one of the soldiers had crossed the distance and kicked the rifle away fro s before one caed hiation had been given a suite of offices in the UN building for their own use The furniture was all real wood; the paintings on the walls were originals and not prints The carpet sht that either everyone in the UN ca out of their way to impress the Martians

Thorsson had called her a few hours after she’d left her run-in with Avasarala at the bar, and had demanded that she meet with him the next day Now she waited in the lobby of their tereen velvet cushions and a cherry wood frame that would have cost her two years’ salary on Mars A screen set into the wall across from her played a news channel with the soundand occasionallyat a desk in a blue roo white hallhile gesturing animatedly to both sides, a UN battleship parked at an orbital station with severe da directly into the canize

It allat the same time A few hours before, this would have frustrated Bobbie She would have felt coo find the remote and turn the sound up, to add context to the infores flow around her like canal water past a rock

A youngbut had never actuallyfuriously on his terminal When he was halfway across the room, he said, “He’s ready for you”

It took Bobbie ato her Apparently her stock had fallen far enough that she no longer warranted face-to-face delivery of infor past her She pushed herself to her feet with a grunt Her hours-long walk at one g the previous day had taken uely surprised to find that Thorsson’s office was one of the smallest in the suite That meant that either he didn’t care about the unspoken status conferred through office size, or he was actually the least iation to still rate a private workspace She felt no coure out which Thorsson did not react to her arrival, his head bent over his desk ternored, or about the lesson he was trying to teach her with it The size of the office uests, and the ache in her legs was sufficiently distracting

“I may have overreacted earlier,” he finally said