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Even though his mouth was set, Cortez’s pale blue eyes smiled at her He didn’t look like her father at all His face was too doughy, his jaas too wide He was all sincerity where her father always had a sense of laughing at the world from behind a mask But at that moment, she saw Jules-Pierre Mao in him

“The people we killed,” she said “If we do this, all of them will have died for a reason too”

“For the noblest of reasons,” Cortez agreed

“We have to get going,” Ashford said, and Cortez stepped back froether Ashford turned to her His too-large head and thin Belter’s fra froo,” Clarissa said

Ashford’s eyebrows rose and he glanced from her to Cortez and back A slow smile stretched his lips

“You’re sure?” he asked, but the pleasure in his voice hts or justifications

“I’ll make sure no one stops you,” she said

Ashford looked at Cortez for a moment, and his expression showed that he was impressed He saluted her, and—aardly—she saluted back

She felt aout of her cell that didn’t coravity or Coriolis It was the first free step she’d taken since the Rocinante Ashford walked ahead of her, his two guards talking about action groups and locking down the Behe drum, and so they would take control of the transfer points at the far north and south of the drum and the exterior elevator that passed between them How to maintain calm in the dru the enemy, as already a loyalist and ould need persuasion Clarissa didn’t payat her side and the sense of having left so to die, and it was going tobefore make sense Every child born on Earth or Mars or the stations of the Belt would be safe from the protomolecule because of what they were about to do And Soledad and Bob and Stanni, her father and her s, they would all know she was dead Everyone who’d known and loved Ren would be able to sleep a little better knowing that his killer had coot any sleep

“And she has co as he pointed his fist back toward her One of the guards looked back toward her The one with off-colored eyes and the scar on his chin Jojo

“You sure she’s one of us, Captain?”

“The enemy of my enemy, Jojo,” Ashford said

“I will vouch for her,” Cortez said

You shouldn’t, Clarissa thought, but didn’t say

“Claro,” Jojo said with a Belter gesture equivalent to a shrug “She’s on command deck with tu alles tu”