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“She’d lose,” Bobbie said “She hates losing”

The e from the Pella came three hours later From the first instant, it was clear that it was a press release The answer to the questions everyone had been asking: Who did all this, and why? Thethe split circle of the OPA on the wall behind him His uniforentle to the point of being nearly apologetic, his voice low and rich as a viol

“My name,” he said, “is Marco Inaros, coitimate military voice of the outer planets, and we are now in a position to explain both to the oppressors on Earth and Mars and also to the liberated people of the Belt the ternity, and freedoht of Earth and Mars to exist, but their sovereignty ends at their respective atmospheres The vacuum is ours All travel between the planets of the solar systee of the OPA and will be enforced by the Free Navy All taxes and tariffs ial, and will not be respected Reparations for the dae done by the inner planets to the free citizens of the system will be assayed, and failure to repay them for the benefit of the full human race will be considered a criminal act”

A throbbing had co to make his words affected or musical He leaned in toward the camera, and it felt both intimate and powerful

“With the opening of the alien gates, we are at a crossroads in human history We have already seen how easy it would be to carry our legacies of exploitation, injustice, prejudice, and oppression to these neorlds But there is an alternative The Free Navy and the society and culture of the Belt are representatives of that new pathway We will begin again and rereed, and hatred that the inner planets could not transcend We will take what is ours by right, yes, but more than that, ill lead the Belt to a new, better form A more human form

“As of now, the gates to the other worlds are closed The inner planet colony ships will be redirected to existing stations in our syste outer planets that we have always deserved We no longer recognize or accept the yoke of the inner planets anywhere in the systeht Pallas Station, Ceres Station, every pocket of air in the Belt with even one hual property of their inhabitants We pledge our lives to protect those people, citizens of the greater huainst the historical and established criun barrels of Earth and Mars

“I am Marco Inaros I am commander of the Free Navy And I call upon all free lorious resolve The Free Navy pledges you all the safety of our protection This day is ours Tomorrow is ours The future of humanity is ours Today, and forevermore, we are free”

On the screen, Marco Inaros lifted his hand in the Belter idio the motion with his precision and focus His face was an icon of resolve and strength and masculine beauty

“We are your arm,” he said “And ill strike your enemies wherever they are We are the Free Navy Citizens of the Belt and of the new humanity, we are yours”

A rising chord picked up and broke into a traditional Belter protest song transfor The new anthee faded to a split circle and then to white The crew of the Razorback were quiet

“Well,” Bobbie said “He’s pretty And he’s really charismatic But, , that speech”

“It probably sounded good in his head,” Alex said “And really, when your prelude is you kill a couple billion people, anything you say is going to sound a little ht?”

Sh “He wasn’t talking to us” He stood in the door to the cabin, his arainst the fra had “That was meant for the Belters And what they heard in hi like e did For them, he just declared victory”

Chapter Thirty-eight: Amos

Ash sifted down, coating everything with a few ot off the road to let relief convoys go by twice, and then once when an old electric service truck whined by, its bed filled with six or seven huddled figures They slept when it got too dark to see, hauling the bikes into the bushes or alleys The dead guy’s eency rations tasted like crap, but they didn’t seem to be toxic