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Whatever she chose, they would do the same In the midst of the apocalypse, thecover-your-ass That see about the whole report They still thought theywhen this was over

Dru on Tycho Station She could still walk through the corridors in herdecks the way they had been before the refit The s The office she’d inherited from Fred Johnson after his death He’d had a personal cabinet there with a few things—an old book, a bottle of brandy, the physical copies of soone She’d been the head of Tycho Station for three years before she’d cleared that out, and she still remembered how it had felt when she had Like afinally selling off her dead husband’s suits

When she looked at Pallas-Tycho Coain She wanted a way to save it She kept looking for the clever move that would put it out of the enemy’s hands, only there wasn’t one It was already too late She could hand it and any chance of freedom away, or she could see it destroyed One or the other And she had to choose

“Vaughn?”

“Madam President?”

“We need to put out an eency evacuation order for Pallas-Tycho Everyone who doesn’t have their own craft, put on Tycho and break it away from the complex No one is to be left in the Pallas structures, and the highest possible burn for all ships and Tycho Station is recommended”

She looked over at hirayish His eyes were dead as a shark’s He didn’t argue, though He only braced, turned, and left the rooreed with her, he was probably glad he hadn’t had to make the call She would have been

She set her system to Record, considered herself on the screen Her eyes were sunken with exhaustion and despair, but not as badly as she’d thought they would be Her skin had a waxy look in the bright light of her private office She’d want to have the coe before she made the public announcement God, there would have to be a public announcement But that was later That was next

She keyed in the reply code, and the high-security link to Luna showed Ready She coughed and looked into the camera

“Adiven the evacuation order to Pallas-Tycho,” she said “Even if we can’t save the station, we can make it harder for the Te whether they feel the civilian targets are worth hunting down ht into the character and aims of the eneagement with the enemy at this time

“It isto save Pallas Station would have been an error,” she said “It would be better to prepare the forces we have at our disposal for a full, coordinated, and unrestrained engagement under circue And with the modified torpedoes and ives us the best chance in that battle is worth the sacrifice”

She paused She was thinking this all through as she said it The implications of the choice she’d made and the future of the war

“We only have one shot at this,” she said “There isn’t roo for the kill”

Chapter Thirty-Two: Holden

The electric cart they rode on seeripped the raravity of the drum fell sloay If Medina Station had followed its intended path, it would have been well away froone into the vast depths between the stars where spare carts were pretty hard to co about the ship to last for generations, to grow and renew itself, to recycle with the least possible loss Medina Station would outlive them all