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Prax nodded A stab of horror and grief went through him She wasn’t four anymore Mei’s birthday had been the rief and horror were old coht aside

“I’ll be clearer,” he said “Mei’s body isn’t fighting its situation That’s her disease, if you think about it There’s a whole array of things that happen in normal bodies that don’t happen in hers Now you take one of the things, one of the creatures Like the one from the ship?”

“That bastard was pretty active,” Amos said

“No,” Prax said “I mean, yes, but no I mean active on a bioche the proto one co another one We know it’s unstable”

“Okay,” Nao beside Amos and across the table from Holden “Hoe know that?”

Prax frowned When he’d practicedthe presentation, he hadn’t expected so ht were obvious from the start hadn’t even occurred to the others This hy he hadn’t gone in for teaching Looking at their faces now, he saw blank confusion

“All right,” he said “Leton Ganymede that started the war There was also a secret lab staffed with people who at the very least knew about the attack before it happened”

“Check,” Alex said

“Okay,” Prax said “In the lab, we had signs of the proto ready to leave And e got there, we only had to fight halfway in After that, so everyone”

“Hey!” Aot into the Roci?”

Prax stopped the word obviously just before it fell from his lips

“Probably,” he said instead “And it seeinal attack involved ot loose?” Naomi asked, but he could see that she already sensed the proble to happen One got loose when Arenade back at them One was released intentionally But that doesn’tthe protomolecule to remake human bodies, and they aren’t able to control it with perfect fidelity The progra it he could will the Holden shook his head, paused, and then nodded

“The boreed “Even when they didn’t know that the second thing was going to get loose, they’d outfitted it with a powerful incendiary explosive device”

“Ah!” Alex said “I get it! You figure they kneas going to go off the rails eventually, so they wired it to blow if it got out of hand”

In the depths of space, a construction welder streaked across the hull of the half-built ship, the light of its flare casting a sudden, sharp light across the pilot’s eager face

“Yes,” Prax said “But it could be also be an ancillary weapon, or a payload that the thing was supposed to deliver I think it’s a fail-safe It probably is, but it could be any nus”