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“Ao bay Is there a proble behind”

“Don’t touch it!” Holden’s voice was harsh as a bark “We’ll get a torch and burn it down to its coood idea,” Amos said “I’ve seen these before, and they don’t take well to cutting torches”

Prax levered hi the slides on his boots to keep hihtly attached to the airlock floor The inner airlock door chimed that it was safe to renored it and activated one of the wall panels He switched to a view of the cargo bay Holden was floating near the cargo airlock A so small and shiny stuck to the bulkhead

“What is it, Amos?” Naomi asked

“Well, I’d have to clean some of this yuck off it,” Amos said “But it looks like a pretty standard incendiary charge Not a big one, but enough to vaporize about two square meters”

There was a moment of silence Prax released the seal on his helmet, lifted it off, and took a deep breath of the ship’s air He switched to an outside ca behind the ship, suddenly visible again in the faint light co from view It rapped around his radioactive bait

“A bo left a bomb?”

“And pretty damn peculiar too If you ask o airlock,” Holden said “Alex, what’s left to do before we burn that uys in the ’lock?” Alex said

“We are now Do it”

“Don’t need to say it twice,” Alex said “Brace for acceleration”

The biochemical cascade that came from euphoria and panic and the reassurance of safety slowed Prax’s response tis under hiainst the inner door of the airlock He didn’t care He felt wonderful He’d gotten theup in the Rocinante’s fiery tail even as he watched

Then an angry god kicked the side of the ship and sent it spinning across the void Prax was ripped froh to stop it The outer airlock door rushed at hiht: Avasarala

There was another spike A third one Only this time, there didn’t see involved So maybe … maybe it was coincidence Which opened the question If the thing hadn’t come from Venus, then where?

The world, however, had conspired to distract her