Page 297 (1/2)

“The children?”

“Processing them My medical officer’s in communication with a list of doctors who deal with pediatric ietting them all home now”

“Good,” she said “That’s what I like to hear And the other thing?”

Souther nodded He looked younger in low gravity They both did Skin didn’t sag when there was nothing to tug it down, and she could see what he’d looked like as a boy

“We’ve got transponder locks on a hundred and seventy-one packages They’re allor evading Pretty h to Mars that disposal is trivial”

“You sure that’s a good idea?”

“By ‘close,’ I ”

There was a pause thatother than distance

“I wish you’d ride back on one of ours,” Souther said

“And be stuck out here for another feeeks with the paperwork? Not going to happen And besides, heading back with Ja? It has all the right symbolism Press will eat it up Earth, Mars, the Outer Planets, and whatever the hell Holden is now”

“Celebrity,” Souther said “A nation of its own”

“He’s not that bad once you get past the self-righteousness And anyway, this is the ship I’ to repair before it starts its burn And I’ve already hired hi right now”

“All right,” Souther said “Then I’ll see you back down the well”

“See you there,” she said, and cut the connection

She pulled herself up and launched gently across the ops deck It would have been easy to push down the crew ladder shaft, flying the way she’d dreaured she’d either push too hard and slaently and have air resistance stop her with nothing solid close enough to reach She used the handholds and pulled herself slowly doard the galley Pressure doors opened at her approach and closed behind her with soft hydraulic hisses and s When she reached the crew deck, she heard the voices before she could make out the words, and the words before she saw the people

“… have to shut it down,” Prax was saying “I mean, it’s false pretenses now You don’t think I could be sued, do you?”