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“Anna,” Holden cut her off gently “Do you need to say so to me?”
“I do,” she said “I need to ask you not to tell anyone about Clarissa, and what she did”
Holden nodded
“Okay,” he said “Who’s Clarissa and what did she do?”
The woman tilted her head
“They didn’t tell you?”
“I don’t think they likedI should know?”
“Well, this is aard Just after the catastrophe, a girl calling herself Melba attacked your ship,” Anna said “It’s a long story, but I followed her and tried to help Your first officer? Naomi? She was hurt in the attack Badly”
Holden felt the universe contract Nao around with Miller on the station His hands were shaking
“Where is she?” he asked, not sure if he meant Naoht her over to the Beheht now receiving treatment They assure me she’ll recover The rest of your crew is here too They were hurt earlier When the speed lied”
“They’re alive?”
“Yes,” Anna said “They are”
The uilt made the ship seem to spin a little beneath him Anna put a hand on his arm to steady him
“Who is this Melba and why did she attack my crew?”
“It’s not her real name My friend knows her, knows her fa of an obsession with you Her name is Clarissa Mao”
Mao
The mysterious and powerful Julie The Julie rebuilt by the protohostly Miller The Julie who had hired Cohen the soundman to hack their ship, the Julie he’d sculpted for theht The Julie who’d beenevery detail of his life for the last year just to get theate and down to the station
It wasn’t Julie at all
“She’s not well,” Anna was saying, “but I believe that she can be reached If there’s time But if they kill her—”
“Where’s Naomi? Do you knohere she is?”
“I do,” Anna said And then, “I’m sorry I may have been a little wrapped up in my own issue Can I take you there?”
“Please,” Holden said
Fifteen minutes later, Holden stepped into a small room in the medical ward that his little faurney, one arm in an inflatable cast Her face washis eyes, and for a e burned in him This wasn’t a disaster It wasn’t an accident Someone had done this to her
When she saw hientle and amused