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“I’ot the “But it’s a big place You can look around if you want”
Bull opened his dresser, his fingers counting through T-shirts He had ten There was a sign of decadence Who needed ten T-shirts? He pulled out five and dropped the to be all kinds of hell if they get rights to the Nauvoo back,” he said “All the changes we’rethe ship was perfectly legal It was an eency I could list you ten hours of precedent”
“Yeah, but then we salvaged it ourselves and called it ours,” Bull said “That’s like saying I’ve got to borrow your truck, but since I ran it into a ditch and hauled it back out, it’s , Bull,” Fred said He sounded tired So him Bull opened another drawer, threw half his socks into the recycler, and put the others on his T-shirts
“Just if the judge doesn’t see it that way, could be aard,” Bull said
“The judges on Earth don’t have jurisdiction,” Fred said “And the ones in our court syste picture They’re not going to take our biggest ship off the board and hand it back over Worst case, they’ll order compensation”
“Can we afford that?”
“Not right now, no,” Fred said
Bull snorted out a little laugh “Ever wonder e did wrong that got us here? You’re driving one of the biggest desks in the OPA, and I’ our lives right, e of plan”
Bull opened his closet, his lips pressing thin Fred hadn’t just come to chew the fat There was a problem Bull took two suits out of the closet, both still wrapped in sticky preservative film He hadn’t worn either one in years They probably didn’t fit
“Ashford thought it would be better to have Michio Pa as the XO We talked about it I’ you as chief security officer”
“Third-in-co to frag hiers laced The gravity of his expression said he kneas a crap situation but wasthe best of it
“It’s all about how it looks,” Fred said “This is the OPA’s navy The Behemoth is the Belt’s answer to Mars’ and Earth’s heaviest hitters Having an Earther on the bridge doesn’t send the right ht,” Bull said
“I’m in the same position You know that Even after all this time, I have to work twice as hard to command loyalty and respect because of where I’ me around because they think I make Earth look weak don’t want to take orders from me I’ve had to earn and re-earn every scrap of respect”
“Okay,” Bull said Security officer was going to h, he put both suits on the chair
“I’ that you haven’t,” Fred said “No one knows better than I do that you’re the best of the best There are just soet the job done”
Bull leaned against the wall, his arms crossed Fred looked up at hi with you for a long ti, you can just do it”