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“Security station in exile,” Bull said, and Corin almost smiled There was no joy in it, but h for now She saluted, and he returned the gesture as best he could before dropping the connection
“So this is a coup,” Monica said
“Counter-countercoup, technically,” Bull said “Here’s what I need you to do I want you reporting on what’s going on here Broadcast The Behemoth, the other ships in the fleet Hell, tell the station if you think it’ll listen Captain Ashford was relieved for mental health reasons The trauma was too much for him He and a few people who are still personally loyal to him have holed up in co to extract him”
“And is any of that true?”
“Maybe half,” Bull said
Behind Monica’s back, the wide-set Earther woandist,” Monica said
“Ashford’s going to get us all killed,” Bull said “Maybe everyone back ho The catastrophe? Everything we’ve been through here? These were the kid gloves He’s trying to start a real fight”
It was strange how saying the words hi from Holden hadn’t He still wasn’t sure whether he believed it was true, even But right now, it needed to be, and so it was Monica’s eyes went a little rounder and bright red splotches appeared on her cheeks
“When this is over,” she said, “I want the full story Exclusive Everything that’s really going on Why it came down the way it did In-depth intervieith all the players”
“Can’t speak for anyone but ht now,” Bull said “But that’s a fair deal by me Also, I need you to talk the other ships in the fleet into shutting down their reactors and power grids, pulling the batteries out of every device they can find that’s got theet the lockdown on the ships taken off,” he said “Let us go ho off lockdown is the only chance we’ve got to keep the station fro”
And because if the insults and provocations, the false threats and h If Ashford could see the other plan corand sacrifice being taken away, he would come He’d do whatever he could to shut down the studio, and every gun that ca or co to convince them to do that, exactly?”
“I have an idea about that,” Bull said “I know this priest lady who’s got people fro to her services I’ we recruit her”
Even, he didn’t say, if it puts her in the firing line
Chapter Forty-Two: Clarissa
T
he end ca around stopped, and a kind of calm descended on Ashford On Cortez All of them The order went out to secure the transition points No one was passing into or out of the druain