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“Do you want to fly this thing on a patched-up cone? Badly enough that we’re going to manufacture a new one”

“Fair enough,” Fred said

“At least they didn’t blow the ring,” Holden said “If that one hadn’t been a dud —”

Drummer’s face went still “About that We were mistaken The enemy fired a weapon with the hull and drive of a torpedo, but they rigged it with a salvage h the exterior decking, and pulled half the wall aith them”

Fred blinked

“That hy they needed EVA suits,” Holden said “I ondering But it see your office open like a sardine can”

“They weren’t afterobscene

“What?” Holden said “What is it?”

Drummer answered Her voice had the saht “The enemy took the wall that had Colonel Johnson’s safe It won’t be easy getting it open, but with enough time and resources, we have to assume they will”

“But they already coht? Any sensitive inforet, they probably already had?”

Holden knew even before Fred said it, but he wanted to give the universe a chance to prove hi hadn’t happened

“They got the sa it a reality “Whoever did this? They now have the protomolecule”

Chapter Twenty-four: Amos

“Wouldn’t the density figure in?” Clarissa asked Whatever crap they’d been feeding into her bloodstrea to look a little better He could still see the veins under her parch some color back in her cheeks

“Sure, but that’s all energy you’d put in getting the rocks up to speed in the first place You drop a slug of tungsten out of a ship or a fucking feather pillow, you’ve still got to get the ship going whatever speed you’re aietically speaking”