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“Who else?” Katria said “If you want it done right, you get the best to do it I’es, and it’sthe detonator”

The room was quiet apart from the soft hiss of the air recyclers and the soft, hare smelled a little worse Saba had only wanted the Voltaire Collective involved forfor another player when the operation took place But telling Katria she couldn’t be active in the field … would it insult her? And if it did, would that be enough to get her to turn on them?

“Sounds good,” Amos said “You and me on the

demo team, Miss Kitty”

His smile was placid and eaze and shook her head a millimeter This is a very bad idea Holden sed, nodded, forced himself to smile as well

“All right, then,” Holden said “Clarissa leads the support team on environmental controls for Alex Alex pilots in the drone swarm Bobbie and Naomi take care of the server, and Katria, Aes to cover it all up afterward”

Bobbie leaned back, a lu Holden in was not a better solution

“This’ll be great,” Holden said

Chapter Thirty: Singh

SOL OPERATION NEARING COMPLETION PREPARE INITIAL SHIPPING AUTHORIZATIONS

Singh read Trejo’sin his chest He took a roup coly called the “occupation calendar” Even based on the a to rebuild the battery, the immediate transit of the Tempest to Sol system, and the early deployment of the Typhoon, they eeks ahead of schedule They’d built some flex into the schedule in the event that the Transport Union put up a ht to hold Medina, or the Earth-Mars Coalition Navy had revealed naval forces or technology significantly greater than their esti had turned out to be true, and sooner than anyone expected, they could get down to the business of building the new human civilization

The sad fact of the huh Consul Duarte understood so as that you could never overcoument Tribalism was an irrational position, and it was iuical plan for why huive up the old national and cultural divides and becoh consul obeyed the old forms that everyone would understand, and went to war Thankfully, a brief one

The real work, the work that would let Elsa grow up in a universe that was safe for her, and for her children’s children’s children, was the work that came after the conquest of the rest of humanity Work that required stability

“Ensign,” Singh said at his monitor, which was currently flattened out on his desk He’d appointed a temporary replacement for Lieutenant Kasik, and he hadn’t quite memorized her name yet

“Governor?” she replied a moment later