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He thought about recording a last e to Fred Johnson, but he didn’t know if he wanted to apologize, co a petulant little boy like Ashford in charge, so instead he waited and hoped for soe

He heard the footsteps co from the aftmost access corridor More than one person Two Maybe three If it was Ashford’sto have to worry much about what to say to Fred He took the pistol out of his holster and checked the azine The soft metallic sounds echoed The footsteps faltered

“Bull?” a fa?” Bull said, then coughed He spat on the deck

“Ji to shoot ave us the impression that ere on the sae area This ho she’d meant when she said she kneho she could trust And she had a point Holden was outside every co a un was Amos Burton For a moment, Bull was surprised to see the wounded Earther on his feet, then reun, but he didn’t put it away

“And ould she think that?” he asked

“Same enemies,” Holden said “We have to stop Ashford If he does what he’s planning, we’re all trapped in here until we die And I’ kills everybody on the other side Earth, Mars The Belt Everyone”

Bull felt so deep in his chest settle He didn’t know if it was only the weight of his worst fears cos He put the pistol in his holster, took the joysticks, and angled himself toward the two men The mech’s movements seemed louder now that there were other people to hear the and tellon about”

Bull had been around charish their lives in a cloud of likability or power Fred Johnson had that, and there were gli about Holden’s open-faced honesty that res in a simple, matter-of-fact way—the station wouldn’t come off lockdown until they turned off all the reactors and enough of the electronics on the ships; the makers of the protomolecule had been devoured by some mysterious force even badder-ass than they were; the station would destroy the solar system if it decided humans and their weapons constituted a real threat—that made them all seem plausible Maybe it was the depth of his own belief Maybe it was just a talent so respect for Jim Holden, the saerous just by being what he was

When Holden ran out of stea hi them time, that the skeleton crews on the other ships had to shut down their reactors and power down their backup systeht?” he said

“I don’t understand,” Holden said

“All this stuff you got fro you?”

Holden’s jaent hard, but a ht be,” he said “I don’t have any way ofto sacrifice the Behe, he’s sacrificing everything else along with it Is that a chance you’re willing to take?”

“Taking it either way,” Bull said “Maybe we stop hi open for an invasion by things that are going eat our brains on toast Flip a coin, ese And we got no time to test it out No way to make sure Either way, it’s a risk”

“It is,” Holden said “So What are you going to do?”