Part 48 (1/2)
”Have erased their niche,” Avasarala said. ”And that's s.h.i.+tty, and maybe we could have found a way to support them. Put them on some kind of cooperative basic, but they put a cherry bomb up the a.s.s of the largest functioning ecosphere in the system, and it's going to be a while before handing them free food's going to be an option for me, practically or politically.”
”They're never going to shut up and take handouts,” Amos said. ”Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are three, four generations out there because they weren't looking to live on basic. I'm against eugenics same as the next guy, but the Belt hasn't been breeding for the kind of people who just kick back and see how much they can f.u.c.k and watch entertainment feeds before they die.”
”I'm aware of the cultural problem,” Avasarala said. ”And as I said, it doesn't f.u.c.king matter anyway. If they'd be willing to take it, I still couldn't give it to them. So I have to find another way to cut the Free Navy off at the knees. But since Earth's navy is going to be busy making sure we don't have any more radar-invisible rocks dropping on us and Mars is in the process of ignoring that it's suffered a minor coup, it's going to be tricky. Tomorrow, I'm going to make an announcement. You get a preview. Lucky you.
”The United Nations, with a.s.sistance from the Mars Republic and cooperation from the OPA, is going to field a task force to address the criminal conspiracy of pirates and terrorists going under the Free Navy name. Not a war. A policing task force. And that's where you all come into play.”
”You want me to lead it,” Holden said.
”Yes,” Avasarala said, ”because literally every UN naval officer who wasn't dishonorably discharged is suddenly unavailable. For f.u.c.k's sake, Holden, I have crates of anti-herpes drugs that are more legitimately UN Navy than you are.”
The old woman shook her head in disbelief and disgust. Holden's scowl was matched by a rising blush. Bobbie tried to hide her laughter, but Alex had to admit it was a little funny. Even if just to himself. Bobbie was the one to step in.
”What exactly are you looking for from us?”
”I want your presence and cooperation at the debriefing, for one thing. But more importantly, I need to know what you know. What you've found. We have to figure out how a third-rate gang leader managed to beat us at every turn -”
”He didn't,” Naomi said, stepping in from under the spreading arches, a security escort at her side. In the shadowless light, she looked weirdly delicate. Her skin was peeling and she moved with the careful s.h.i.+fting of someone prepared for pain to come at any moment. But her sclera had faded from the blood-and-bone color to an ivory yellow that actually looked healthier, and her voice had lost the slus.h.i.+ness at its edges. A weight lifted from Alex's heart.
”The prisoner, ma'am,” the security escort said.
”Yes, thank you, I noticed that,” Avasarala said, then turned her attention to Naomi. ”What do you mean he didn't?”
”Look at everything he tried to do and failed. He didn't kill Fred Johnson. He didn't kill Prime Minister Smith. He didn't take Tycho Station or destroy it. The Rocinante's in one piece. He didn't keep hold of me. It's how he works. If he wins, it was the important thing. If he loses, it just disappears.”
”And the protomolecule sample that he stole?”
Naomi blinked, seemed to lose focus for a moment, and shook her head. ”He never said anything about that.”
”Would he have?”
Naomi sat in the chair beside Holden. He took her hand, and she allowed it, but her attention was on Avasarala. Alex wasn't sure why that bothered him so much. The meeting wasn't an invitation for the two of them to work out their relations.h.i.+p status. And still, if she'd been just a little less guarded with him...
”Yes,” Naomi said. ”He would have. He likes to brag.” The intimacy of that one piece of information filled Alex's chest with a sense of deep foreboding. Holden's face was calm. Unreadable.
”Good,” Avasarala said, a sharpness in her voice. ”That's very good to know.” She considered Naomi silently. ”You look like you're feeling better. You heard some of what I was saying?”
”Enough of it,” Naomi said.
”Are you going to be able to help us?”
The question hung in the air, rich with nuance and complicated importance. Not Why were you on his s.h.i.+p. Not How do you know him. Not Who are you to him that he brags about his plans to you. Just, Are you going to be able to help?
”You okay?” Amos murmured.
”What? I'm fine,” she replied.
”Because you're kinda fidgeting,” Amos said at the same time Naomi said, ”I want immunity from prosecution.”
The air seemed to go out of the room. It wasn't a confession, but it painted a picture that none of them had wanted to admit might be possible. To ask for immunity was an admission of guilt, even if they didn't know what she was guilty of.
Avasarala's smile was indulgent and friendly and, he was almost certain, deceptive. ”Blanket immunity?”
”For all of us.”
”Who is 'all of us'?” Avasarala said, forming the words carefully as she said them. ”Your friends in the Free Navy?”
”The crew of the Rocinante,” Naomi said, and then stuttered. Paused. ”And maybe one other person.”
Alex shot a look at Amos. Did she know about Clarissa? Was that who she meant? Amos' smile was amiable and empty. Avasarala tapped her fingernails against the table.
”Not for Earth,” Avasarala said. ”Dropping the rocks? No one gets immunity for that.”
Alex saw it hit. Tears appeared in Naomi's eyes, br.i.m.m.i.n.g silver and bright. ”The crew of the Rocinante,” she said. ”The other one... I may ask for clemency and consideration later on. If the occasion arises.”
”For Inaros?”
”No,” Naomi said. ”Him, you can f.u.c.king burn.”
”I need to understand this fully,” Avasarala said. ”You, as a former member of Inaros' group, are willing to exchange complete and accurate information about his activities both before and after the bombardment of Earth in exchange for blanket immunity for the crew of the Rocinante on any matter not related to the present attacks?” That there had been no profanity in the statement gave it a solidity that unnerved Alex.
”Yes,” Naomi said. ”That's right.”
The relief on Avasarala's face was hard as flint. ”Glad to hear you say that, dear. I was worried I'd misjudged you.” She rose to her feet, then grabbed at the table, cursing under her breath. ”I miss weighing something. Half the time, I feel like I'm on a f.u.c.king trampoline. I'm going to go lie down and take a sleeping pill before I have a psychotic break, but the debriefing? It starts in the morning.”
”We'll be wherever you want us to be,” Holden said. ”We're not going to hide anything.” He was still holding Naomi's hand, and her fingers had curled around his. So maybe that was hopeful after all. As to not hiding anything... Well, Amos still didn't say anything.
The meeting broke up, except that it also didn't. Avasarala left, but the rest of them, including Bobbie, went to the security lobby, through the checkpoint, and out to the public lobby together. The sober silence gave way slowly to more mundane conversation: whether there was anyplace with food better than the mess on the Roci. Or if not better, at least different. Whether Naomi was up to drinking alcohol, because there was a little pub on one of the lower levels that was supposed to have some pretty good beers on offer. No one asked whether Bobbie was joining them. It was just a.s.sumed. As they shuffled and bounced in the thin gravity, Naomi and Holden kept hold of each other's hands. Amos and Bobbie traded dirty jokes. It was the powerfully ordinary talk that gave Alex hope. For everything that had happened, that was happening, that was still looming in the unseen and uncertain future, there were still moments like these. And so maybe it would be all right despite it all.
At the wide slope of Chandrayaan Plaza, where the traffic of carts and mechs and half-skipping people turned down a wide ramp deeper into the body of the moon, Amos cleared his throat.
”So that immunity for the crew thing?”
”It wasn't just for you,” Naomi said, making it a joke, and also not one.
”Yeah, figured,” Amos said. ”But here's the thing. I was thinking about maybe taking on an apprentice. You know, help flesh out the crew. Get some skill redundancy.”
”That's a good idea,” Holden said. ”Did you have someone in mind?”
Chapter Fifty-one: Naomi.
”h.e.l.l no,” Jim said when they were alone in the suite. ”Absolutely no. No f.u.c.king way, no. There have got to be a billion different ways to say no, and I'd still have to cycle through them a couple times to really express the depth of no on this one. Clarissa Mao? On the Roci? How is that anything but a ma.s.sive load of let's-not-do-that?”
”And yet,” she said, letting herself drift down to the bed, ”you told Amos you'd think about it.”
Jim tried pacing, but the slight lunar gravity made it difficult for him. He gave up and sat at the foot of the bed.