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Around her, people began standing up Froinning the walking tour She’d been through the Thoh ceilings and wide corridors where three people could walk abreast Shewas, but she could fake it She fell in line with the others

“In case of eet back to your quarters and strap in,” the yeo theainst each other like cattle So sound, and soone out to the darkness of space even where cows hadn’t

“Now, through here is the civilian coh a pair of sliding steel doors “Those of you orking here beforeyour food and coffee from the officers’ oing to be the place to go”

The civilian coray box of a room with tables and chairs bolted to the floor, and a dozen people of all ages and dress sat scattered around A thin ainst a crash-padded wall, drinking so from a bulb Two older ether like the unpopular kids at a cafeteria Melba was already beginning to turn inward again, ignoring theht her A faan leaned in toward an olderbetween annoyance and flirtation Her hair was up and her laughter caustic in a way that recalled long, uncomfortable dinner parties with both of their fa so underdressed For a sickening ain

Forcing herself to move slowly, cal herself as slanced over at the nattering yeouised annoyance, but didn’t notice Melba Not this time The yeo hallway to their new quarters Melba took her ponytail down and brushed her hair in close around her face She’d known, of course, that the Prince had the delegation from Earth, but she’d discounted them Now she wondered how many other people here knew Clarissa Mao She had the horrible i Micha Krauss or Steven Co ith surprise, and she wondered whether she could bring herself to kill the and the newsfeeds and a prison cell like her father’s would follow

The yeo them out one by one to all the volunteer technicians They were tiny, but the need for each person to have a crash couch in case of e She could stay in there, bribe one of the others to bring her food Except, holed up like a rat, tracking and killing Holden became exponentially more difficult There had to be a way…

The yeoman called her name, and she realized it wasn’t the first time

“Here,” she said “Sorry”

She scuttled into her roo for her, then closing once she was inside She stood for a long ht and clean and as unlike the Cerisier as Nepal was from Colombia

“You came to improvise,” she said, and her voice sounded like it ca”

Chapter Twenty: Holden

I