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Chris, her young officer, had asked about organizing roup church services on the Beheions at first, but it turned out he roup with Earthers and Martians and Belters Mixed, as if God categorized people based on the gravity they’d grown up in It had occurred to Anna then that there really wasn’t any such thing as a “roup No matter what they looked like, or what they chose to call Hiether, they were one Even if there was no God, or one God, or ods, it didn’t reatest of these is love Faith and hope were very important to Anna But she could see Paul’s point in a way she hadn’t before Love didn’t need anything else It didn’t need a coht of her child and felt a rush of longing and loneliness She could al new-baby scent on her head Nono the Ugandan and Anna the Russian had blended the so crude as that More than just the su, individual and unique

No , perfect and unique She couldn’t iine God would see it any other way Anna was pretty sure she had her first ser up an outline for her “no roups in God’s eyes” serh the door, hiswith each step Anna thought it gave Bull even ravitas than he’d had before He moved with a deliberateness caused by mechanical necessity, but easily mistaken for formality and stateliness The electric whine of the machine and the heavy thu out his arrival

Anna iined the annoyance Bull would feel if she told hiled a little to herself

Bull was in theto a subordinate and didn’t even notice her “I don’t care how they feel about it, Serge The agreement was no armed military personnel on the ship Even if there weren’t a shitload of guns built in, those suits would still be weapons Confiscate their gear or throw them off the damn ship”

“Si, jefe,” the other man with him replied “Take it how, sa sa? Can opener?”

“Char nohile we’re all friends, what do we do when they decide we aren’t friends? Fourown it So we take the armor away before they do I don’t even want that stuff in the drue looked deeply unhappy at this task “Some help, maybe?”

“Take as onna piss the e paused, mouth open, then closed it with a snap and left Bull noticed Anna for the first time and said, “What can I do for you, Preacher?”

“Anna, please I came to talk about Clarissa Mao,” she said

“If you’re not her lawyer or her union representative—”

“I’ain “She confessed to blowing up a ship Nothing ood co drugs They say you’re hard Cold”

“Do they?” Bull said Anna couldn’t tell if the surprise in his voice was genuine orcloser and looking him in the eye “Don’t you let anyone else kill her either”

“Why not?” The way he said it wasn’t a challenge or a threat It was as if he just didn’t know that answer, and sort of wondered Anna sed her dread