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“Of course I did”

“Thank you”

He felt a blush rising even against the pressure of the burn “Welcoht? We look out for each other”

“No soldier left behind,” she said Itabout her tonedeeper by the words Like she’d ot fast- missiles at us”

“You ready to disappoint them, Gunny?”

“Oh hell yes,” Bobbie said “How azine?”

Alex switched the display The cloud of escort missiles resolved into a nu serial numbers beside each of them Even the list filled the screen He switched to a field summary “A little shy of ninety”

“That should get us where we’re going Looks like pretty near all their ships are burning hard for us too Hoould you feel about taking a few potshots at theement?”

“It’ll keep theure their PDCs’ll probably take thee, but apart from that I’m not opposed,” Alex said “Except… hold on” On his list, he switched to the enemy flotilla It took hi for He marked the Pella “Not that one We don’t shoot that one”

“Understood,” Bobbie said

No soldier left behind, Alex thought That goes for you too, Nao on out there, and I don’t see how this plays out yet But I’ll be da you behind

Chapter Thirty-five: Naomi

Back before, when she had been a girl and not known any better, it had been hard for her to cast Marco as the bad guy in their pairing Even after the Gamarra, it had been difficult Even after he’d taken Filip away She’d grown up around poverty She knehat bad men looked like They raped their wives Or beat them Or their children That was how you knew them for what they were Marco was never that He never hit her, never forced himself on her, never threatened to shoot her or throw her out an airlock or pour acid in her eyes He’d pretended kindness so well she would doubt herself,unreasonable, irrational, all the things he implied she was

He never did anything that would have made it easy for her

After she’d reached her quarters, the door had locked She hadn’t bothered trying to raise help or leave her little room since She knew a cell when she was in it, and she’d knoith a certainty like her own mortality that sooner or later, Marco would come