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“Pay?” Holden frowned at Alex and banged out a quick drumbeat on the reactor behind hiiven us that hasn’t gone to pay for operating the ship is in the account I set up If you need sos to you”

Alex shook his head and waved his hands “No, don’t getI don’t need money, and I don’t think you’re stealin’ fro out that we never talked about pay”

“So?”

“So that means we aren’t a norovernment drafted us We’re here because ant to be That’s all you’ve got over us We believe in the cause, and ant to be part of what you’re doing The ht as well take a real payin’ job”

“But Naoirlfriend,” Alex said with a laugh “Daet another boyfriend In fact, you mind if I—”

“I take your point I hear you I fked it up, it’s o see Fred and start thinking about how to put it all back together again”

“Unless Fred actually did do it”

“Yeah Unless that”

“I’ve been wondering when you’d finally drop by,” Fred Johnson said as Holden walked through his office door Fred was looking both better and worse than when Holden had first met him a year earlier Better because the Outer Planets Alliance, the quasi governer a terrorist organization, but a de facto government that could sit at the diplomatic table with the inner planets And Fred had taken to the role of ad a freedohter It was visible in the relaxed set of his shoulders, and the half smile that had become his default expression

And worse because the last year and all the pressures of governance had aged him His hair was both thinner and whiter, his neck a confusion of loose flesh and old, ropy s under them now His coffee-colored skin didn’t show ray to it

But the senuine, and he cauide him to a chair

“I read your report on Ganyround”

“Fred,” Holden said “There’s so else”

Fred nodded to him as he moved back around his desk and sat down “Go on”

Holden started to speak, then stopped Fred was staring at hied, but his eyes were sharper, more focused Holden felt a sudden and irrational fear that Fred already knew everything he was about to say

The truth was Holden had always been afraid of Fred There was a duality to the e Fred had reached out to the crew of the Rocinante at the exact moment they’d needed help the ainst the athered over the last year And yet Holden couldn’t forget that this was still Colonel Frederick Lucius Johnson, the Butcher of Anderson Station A anize and run the Outer Planets Alliance, an organization that was capable of oals Fred had almost certainly ordered some of those murders personally It was entirely possible that the OPA leader version of Fred had killed more people than even the United Nations Marine colonel version of Fred had

Would he really balk at using the protooing too far And he’d been a friend, and he deserved the chance to defend himself

“Fred, I—” Holden started, then stopped

Fred nodded again, the sht frown “I’ to like this” It was a statement of fact