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He really doesn’t knohat to do with me And to be honest, I don’t really knohat to uy I’d expected hiht now And he certainly wouldn’t be bringing oing to have enough problems if you take my face back to your base with you I don’t think I’ back," I reply, my voice quiet It’s the first time I’ve said it aloud It doesn’t make it any easier "And if you don’t realize that yet, you’re a bigger idiot than I thought"

"Well, you do think I’rade moron" There’s a without the sht "You’re their golden child, their prodigy They’ll trade for you, I’etto feel a little less vulnerable "Say we all did what you wanted, what Orla Cor the last rebellion on Avon Say the entire military left, tomorrow, and TerraDyn left you alone What then?"

"We’re not asking for the o, not anyulations We want to be independent citizens"

"What would you eat, without TerraDyn’s i materials for your houses? Avon can’t support life on its own, not yet It’s too young; the ecosyste terraforo, you’d all be starving to death right now"

"Orla rong" I can see it costs hi for complete autonomy All ant is medicine for our kids, food for our elderly Schools This is no kind of life, you must know that"

"What I know is if the military weren’t here to keep order, TerraDyn would pull out and abandon the settleae Hate us all you like, but the htens as he looks at ive up, saying quietly, "Orla Corer leads us Not all of us want you dead I want to talk, not fight I want soh the terrafores This is my home, and it’s broken There has to be a better way"

I lean back, the ropes chafing at my skin I have no quick reply to that--I’d expected hi stupid and noble, like ic is harder to dismiss In some other place, not tied to the floor, I could’ve spent hours debating with this guy I liftan officer off the o about it"

"It’s hard to think of a way this ends well," he adly "You should’ve let me walk out of there"

"I let a potential threat walk away, it’s o ho dry again I can tell I’m dehydrated "If you weren’t there to hurt anyone, you should have letyou had nothing to fear"

"Bullshit" The gentleness in his voice is gone as he pushes up to his feet Why does he still look so fa"

"You had a gun!"

"Which you didn’t know about until you tried to arrest e jerk on the rope, but all it does is send a jolt of pain through my shoulders

"You julares down at ht "Sa That’s exactly e have to hide out here I’d rather die than trustthe And I’d rather die than let you or any of your terrorist friends hurt anyone on my watch" My mouth twitches to a set our wish, at least"

"I’m not a terrorist" Romeo steps back, lit once more as he stoops to retrieve his lantern His handsome face is hard, his voice thick with hostility The huone "All ant is what belongs to us I was only after information about that hidden facility If I wanted to blow up your stupid bar, I wouldn’t have wasted ti with me because you’d been sent to kill h his nose I don’t have much power--I don’t have any power, tied down like this--but at least I canus nowhere," he says, his voice low

I try to lean forward, constrained by ot us into this And if you stop and think about it, I don’t really think I’ about it, then snaps, "No, I’m pretty sure it’s you"