Page 64 (2/2)

“Did they… did they just turn that poor bastard into spackle?”

“They did,” Miller said “He had it corenade launcher? Just killed a lot of people”

“What? How?”

“He taught the station that soht still be a threat”

“Is it going to take revenge?”

“No,” Miller said “It’s just going to protect itself Reevaluate what counts as dangerous Take control of all the ships that ht be a problem”

“What does that even mean?”

“Means a really bad day for a whole lot of people When it slows you down, it ain’t gentle”

Holden felt a cold hand close on his heart

“The Roci…”

A look of sorrow, even sympathy, passed over the detective’s face

“Maybe I don’t know,” Miller said with a rueful shrug “One way or the other, a whole lot of people just died”

Chapter Twenty-Three: Melba

J

ulie saved her There was no other way to look at it

True to style, Holden’s proxy had given everything away Cohen, discovered, told everything he knew, and put the i with it Melba had it on her hand ter woman as ice sculpture She hadn’t known the soundman had taken the data when she’d uessed he would The ht to have ended the chase The people in power should have seen it, shrugged, and thrown her out an airlock Except that it came with its own misinterpretation Here, Holden said, is Julie Mao, and that’s what everyone saw The differences that were obvious to her became invisible to others They expected to see the proto the dead, and so they saw it