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“What’s the answer, then?” Monica asked after a few tenseher legs close and resting her chin on her knees She tucked her back as far into the corner of the roo for a safe place with a sreen walls offered no comfort
“So it’s all just acaderee at Anna
Anna pointed at the people getting ready in the room around them “How many will be dead by the end of today?”
“There’s no way to know,” Monica said
“We owe it to them to look for other answers We’ve failed this tiun But ht about what led us here, maybe next time we find a different answer Certainty doesn’t have a place in violence”
For a while, they were silent Tilly angrily chain-smoked Monica typed furiously on her teret ready for war, and tried to match faces with naood chance she’d be presiding over more than one funeral tothe few hours they’d spent in the office He was coughing less, but he’d begun using his inhaler a lot more often Even the machine seemed ill now, its sounds harsher, its ed into one being, and it was dying along with hi okay?” he asked
“Fine,” Anna said She considered telling him he needed rest, then abandoned the idea She didn’t need to lose another argu pretty close to zero hour here,” Bull said, then stifled a wet-sounding cough “You have everything you need?”
No, Anna thought I need an answer that doesn’t include what you’re about to do
“Yes,” she said instead “Monica has beennotes for the broadcast I’ve compiled a list of all the ships we have representatives froiance will be enough to get their cooperation Chris Willia help on that”
“You?” Bull asked, jabbing a thick hand toward Monica
“My tea the full broadcast out before Ashford’s people stop us”
Bull laughed It was a wet, unpleasant sound “Hold on” He called out to Ji a stripped-down rifle of so with one of the Martian marines Holden put the partly assembled rifle on a table and walked over
“What’s up?”
“These people need reassurance that they’ll be protected long enough to finish their broadcast,” Bull said
Holden blinked twice, once at Bull, once at the three woed on the floor Anna had to suppress a giggle Holden was so co and pat him on the head