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“Going to let the airheads take your glory?” I ask

He scoffs and hoists himself up another meter By the time we make it to the top, a shuttle has sped ahead of the rest They race us to hover over the hatch of a nearby obelisk Screwfacelike hell

Screwface beats his chest and howls just before the shuttle h the viewport, I catch sight of Char giving us the crux

“Infantry!” Screwface bellows The men on the shore echo the call and join his howl He slaps at me to do the same I turn my attention to the hatch It is painted with the Republic star

Soon the deserted patch of coast swar the obelisks to shore after the bomb squad inspection I ith Screwface and hundreds of periuards and dockworkers as they open the first obelisk It parts down thea superstructure of pods They crack the first one open It is filled with thousands of duroglass cylinders

I stumble forward and fall to my knees before a ed heel Each is filled with enough radiation meds to last a ht obelisks Each cylinder will becoers over therace Screwface collapses to his haunches beside me; he opens a pod and finds it filled with food, medicine, andaround until he looks like a sugar-covered pastry

I sit in shade as the rest of the boxes are unpacked and ferried back to Heliopolis Inside one of the obelisks, they found a ers, and activate it

“?’Lo, husband,” entle smile I pause it Her face floats inthe words on her lips, the absence of any other thought but me on her mind The wind irls at Laureltide

Reluctantly, I resue, and the strain of the worlds floods ht and worry behind the eyes—for our son, for me, for her Republic Her battle may be different from mine, but it is battle all the same, and she is tired

“I uns It wasn’t the intended method of delivery, but efforts to send ships have…stalled There are games afoot on Hyperion and beyond Victra has quit Luna for Mars Sevro has been chewing his way through the Syndicate here, and ns, as per custom Sefi has disappeared, with er believe she is the Queen of the Syndicate, she has the children I believe Pax is safe in her custody and will be ransomed back to Victra for her aid in Sefi’s acquisition of the mines”

Relief floods through ht have escaped it He is not with enemies Pax will be safe Valdir would die before he let Sefi touch a hair on his head

“An unseen hand moves the pieces, a clever one by any measure—Atalantia? Atlas? I presu to divine the pattern, and soon I will make my move I have included my files in case they aid your situation Also included are the intelligence reports of the Syste They will be teeks old, so use them wisely

“I believe your victory has giventhe Senate Five days froe was recorded, ill have voted and the fleet will either be under hen you receive this or it will not But no ht on the first of May, I will con If not, it will be as a wife”

She pauses Her voice softens, and she becoain