Page 104 (1/2)

All of the reasons they’d come out—Earth, Mars, the OPA; all of the about the OPA’s place in the political calculus of the systeuy who bought him a beer when he enty After a certain point, the past beco that happened outside the slow zone s civilized until they found out if Holden’s mad plan was more than a pipe drea

“Might pull it off Captain Pa’s got a plan she’s looking at ain Maybe,” he said “While we’re waiting, though, you think you could hook ot an inhaler from the pack beside the bed and tossed it to hi twice, then put the formed ceramics to his lips and breathed The steroids smelled like the ocean, and they burned a little He tried not to cough

“That’s not going to fix anything,” she said “All we’re doing is h,” Bull said, trying out a smile The truth was he felt like crap He didn’t hurt, he just felt tired And sick And desperate

With the inhaler stowed, he angled the walker back out toward the corridor Thethe sick, close feeling of a tropical summer The smell of bodies and illness, blood and corruption and fake floral antiseptics made the rooraceful with the mechanism He used the two joysticks to shift out of the way of the nurses and therapists,allowed as he made his way back toward the security office

His hand ter himself into the corner to stay out of the way, then dropped the joysticks and took up the ter a connection He thuot?”

“Boss?” she said The tension in her voice brought his head up a degree “You running a drill?”

“What’s going on?”

“Jojo and Gut over the security office When I told them they could have it when my shift was up, they dren on ripped the terminal and kept his voice low

“They what?”

He pulled up his security interface, but the red border refused him He was locked out of the co it was so they were looking to find you there I’ure out what the hell’s going on,” she said “If it was the wrong call—”

“It wasn’t You walked away, you did the right thing Where were they supposed to be?”

“Sir?”

“They were on shift Where were they supposed to be?”

For a moment, Corin’s wide face was a mask of confusion He watched her understand, a cal into her eyes She didn’t need to say it Jojo and Gut Ashford

Pa should have let hie and anyone you trust We’ve got to get this shit contained”

“Bien”

They’d be going for the arear were already theirs Bull let a thin trickle of conversational obscenities fall from his lips while he tried to think If he kne many of his people had turned back to Ashford, he’d knohat he had to ith

“We can’t let hiets out that we’ve got fighting in the druet their people out”