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She misinterprets my expression and reaches out to lay her hand onto feel the flush of betrayal and lies the azes at ood, Lee I don’t think et yourself together--and then get back to work"

When she’s gone, I letto find a co to the fibers creak as if in answer to my creaky ribs I can’t reht lied toofficer And yet, I’m not the only one It can’t be a coincidence Commander Towers shut down my debrief when Ithat would htI actually sawout

My thoughts turn in frantic circles, the rooravity and physics have abandonedwithuncertainty overpower et confused She doesn’t hesitate, she doesn’t think twice

I force e of the cot and sing down the nausea pushing bile up in h the , carrying with it the earthy, peat-sulfur s to have a thriving insect population No screens on the s The hospital is more centrally located, but I’s erected to deal with the greater numbers of minor illnesses and collapses that afflict newco, the small, square s overlook the swamp, only the perimeter fence between it and the wilderness

I findto pick up the scent of rock and daround cave systeet back to norain--because if I do, it’ll probably be on the other end of the barrel of my Gleidel

It’s a few days before the h h for o back to Molly’s yet, so instead I’ with a few of my platoon

There’s not much to do on the base; our comms aren’t ether out in the swa unless you’re truly desperate and willing to watch shows that are ninety percent static We have retransmission satellites for official business, but unless Towers is in an unco as basic as entertainht for a walk As nice as any on Avon ever is The air is still close and cold, cla the packed-dirt road disperse o into town, though Caught between theTerraDyn’s clai the conditions, the townspeople bear the brunt of the strict rules and curfews Most of the ecosyste to stabilize and support life on its own But asout in the swa quietly here in town And all it takes for a sympathizer to becos have been quieter since the ceasefire started a few h we’re off duty, we can’t relax, not completely We have to watch every passerby andhow close the Fianna are to open rebellion, I’m more jumpy than anyone

I’m sure the as Alexi’s idea He and Mori showed up at my door after I left the mess hall Of everyone, I think he suspectshonest about what happened tocareful, keepingwell, and thanks to the boosters the one But it’s not the visible wounds and symptoms that Alexi’s worried about And he doesn’t knohat to do about it

I trysome wildly inappropriate joke that’s so offensive to everyone involved--officers, terra-trash, and ht through offensive and out the other side I laugh and threaten to make her clean latrines for a week, then cli a fence post for a few yards I juh Still too dizzy for that Still too unsettled

Most of the buildings in town are residences, some of which have had their front roo kinds We’re headed for this one house where the husband will take folks’ grain allotoods back in return We’ll trade some of the military ration bars for some of the locals’ homemade bread The bread tastes a little like the swah decade-old shelf-stableto put up with some swamp in your bread

We round the corner of the house and Alexi collides headlong with souy recovers first, rocking forward on the balls of his feet