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“Nicola,” Prax said “Don’t Don’t do this”
“Praxidike Meng is a violent and dangerous man,” Nicola said “As Mei’s mother, I believe that she has been emotionally, physically, and sexually abused by hi the troubles on Ganymede are to hide the fact that he’s finally killed her”
The tears were flowing freely down Nicola’s cheeks now, but her voice and eyes were dead as last week’s fish
“I don’t blame anyone but et irl away too …”
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Avasarala
I don’t blame anyone but myself,” the teary-eyed wo back in her chair Her heart was beating faster than usual and she could feel thoughts swi just under the ice of her conscious mind She felt like someone could press an ear to her skull and listen to her brain hu on the four-poster Shelook s tucked up under her and a pack of real playing cards laid out in foraaze was on her, and Avasarala felt a slow grin pulling at her lips
“Well, I’ll be fked,” she said “They’re scared of hiainst Holden and this Meng bastard, whoever he is They actually forced hiet that out of hi his kid?”
“Might have been, but that”—she tapped on the still, tearful face of the botanist’s ex-wife—“is a sn I’ll bet you a week’s pay that I’ve had lunch with the wo it”
Bobbie’s skeptical look only made Avasarala senuinely good thing that’s happened since we got on this floating whorehouse I’ve got to get to work Goddamn, but I wish I was back at the office”
“You want so the ca”
In the focus , she looked sned to co trapped in a postcard Anyone who rode in the yacht would be able to brag without saying a word, but in the weak gravity her hair stood out frootten out of bed More than that, she looked emotionally exhausted and physically diminished
Put it away, she told herself Find the esture into the ca
“Admiral Souther,” she said “Thank you so ’s co It looks like someone’s taken a fresh dislike to Ja around the fking solar system, I’d take you out for a cup of coffee and talk this over, but since that’s not happening, I’ to open so Holden Take a look at what I’ve got and tell s I a that would have ht If the situation had been what they were both pretending it was, she’d have kept hiBobbie looin on the desk with a soft click Avasarala picked it up and sipped a sin was excellent, even without the liht She pulled up her address book and started leafing through entries until she found what she wanted and pressed record
“Ms Corlinowski, I’ve just seen the leaked video accusing Praxidike Meng of screwing his cute little five-year-old daughter When exactly did UN ets out that ere behind that, I would like to knohose resignation I’ it’s yours Give et back to me before I fire your inco and sent it
“She was the one that arranged it?” Bobbie asked
“Might have been,” Avasarala said, taking another bite of gin It was too good If she wasn’t careful, she’d drink a lot of it “If it wasn’t, she’ll find who it was and serve them up on a plate Emma Corlinowski’s a coward It’s why I love her”
Over the next hour, she sent a dozen es out, performance after perforation into Meng’s ex-wife and whether the UN could be held responsible for slander She put the Gany she could get about Mei Meng and the search for her She put in high-priority requests to have the doctor and the woman from Holden’s broadcast identified, and then sent a twenty-e, with a small, tacit request for the saht had changed the game If she’d had freedom, she’d have been unstoppable As it was, she had to assuainst alht and his allies were only human, and if she kept a solid flow of deht overlook soht notice the uptick in activity and look into it Or, if nothing else, her efforts ht’s sleep
It hat she had It wasn’t enough Long years of practice with the fine dance of politics and power had left her with expectations and reflexes that couldn’t find their right for her with frustration, and she took it out on who for at thebefore a full auditorium and handed a kazoo
She didn’t notice when she finished her gin She only put the glass to her mouth, found it empty, and realized it wasn’t the first time she’d done it Five hours had passed She’d had only three responses so far out of al That was soe control