Page 81 (1/2)
“Claire thinks ht now”
“Does she” Aht have been a badly written co out of the conversation Pushing it farther wouldn’t help
“Anyway,” Bobbie said, keeping it light “You need anything, I’m up for whatever”
“Yeah, I know, Babs,” Aet our game faces on”
The Voltaire Collective occupied a dusty crawl space beneath and between half a dozen gigantic stainless-steel tanks It was a good spot Unless the piping sprang a leak, there was literally no reason for anyone to come down to the space The Collective definitely still had sohter days Katria Mendez in person was all hard angles and sharp edges, and her dark eyes burned with a constant low-level fury
“You’re actually coency,” she said Her voice was gentle and warm The voice of a favorite teacher, or beloved aunt A voice that asked if you wanted some lemonade with your cookies It also had the precise diction and studied lack of accent that Bobbie associated with advanced education Her Belter accent could have been measured in parts per billion
“Not at all,” Bobbie started
“Because,” Katria continued, “the Collective has been ainner-planets control, for nearly a century”
“I understand,” Bobbie said
“Do you? Because it seems like you just showed up here and told us that we’re not allowed to run any resistance operations without your consent Or did Ime?”
Bobbie heard shuffling feet behind her, and turned around to see five members of Katria’s cell had taken up a loose semicircle at her back None of them held weapons in their hands, but they all wore the loose-fitting ju pockets that could be hiding anything fro to her left, caught her ey
e without losing his s to make it look casual
“Look,” Bobbie said to Katria, stepping up and looking down at her froht difference “We didn’t coht As far as I’m concerned, we’re all on the sao the other e’re prepared for that, too And I proo the way you want”
“Honestly, I’m just not sure why Saba didn’t co down at all “Or why he thought sending a Martian and an Earther to tell Belters how to fight was the right e”
Bobbie didn’t know any answer to that other than because we’re the h Medina with fireared it instead