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“What uyen said “I’ve surrendered I lost My men shouldn’t have to die for your spite”
“It’s not spite,” Avasarala said “We can’t do it The protorams don’t work It’s infectious”
“That’s not proven,” he said, but the way he said it told her everything
“It’s happening, isn’t it?” she said “Turn on your internal ca to do that”
She felt the air go out of her It had happened
“I auyen’s eyebrows rose a ht there were tears in his eyes, but it ht have been only a transmission artifact
“You have to turn on the transponders,” Avasarala said And then, when he didn’t reply: “We can’t weaponize the protomolecule We don’t understand what it is We can’t control it You just sent a death sentence to Mars I can’t save you, I cannot But turn those transponders back on and help me save them”
Thein the air Avasarala could feel Holden’s and Naorate Nguyen shook his head, his lips twitching, lost in conversation with hi? On your ship How bad is it?”
“Get me out of here, and I’ll turn the transponders on,” he said “Throw et me off of this ship”
Avasarala tried to lean forward, but it only made her crash couch shift She looked for the words that would bring hi and evil and noas going to die badly at the hands of his oeapon and sory, shtened little man and tried to find the way to pull him back to simple human decency
She failed
“I can’t do that,” she said
“Then stop wasting my time,” he said, and cut the connection
She lay back, her pals off that battleship,” Alex said “Nao this?”
“Sorry Give ot, Alex?” Holden asked
“Reactor activity’s down Internal radiation through the ship’s spiking huge It’s like they’re venting the reactor into the air recycling”
“That don’t sound healthy,” Aain Avasarala reached to open a channel to Souther but stopped She didn’t knohat she’d say The voice that caed She didn’t recognize Prax at first, and then he had to repeat himself twice before she could make out the words
“Incubation cha the ship an incubation chamber Like on Eros”
“It kno to do that?” Bobbie said
“Apparently so,” Nao,” Bobbie said “Do we have enough firepower for that?”