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“Better than I’d expected,” Shed said, sounding impressed.
The compartment was large by ship standards. It had six high-g couches and a small table with four chairs stuck to the deck with magnetic feet. An open door in one bulkhead showed a smaller compartment with a toilet and sink. Gunderson and the marine lieutenant followed the crew inside.
“This is your rack for the time being,” the chief said. “There’s a comm panel on the wall. Two of Lieutenant Kelly’s people will be stationed outside. Buzz them and they’ll send for anything you need.”
“How about some chow?” Amos said.
“We’ll have some sent up. You are to remain here until called for,” Gunderson said. “Lieutenant Kelly, you have anything to add, sir?”
The marine lieutenant looked them over.
“The men outside are there for your protection, but they will react unpleasantly if you make any trouble,” he said. “You read me?”
“Loud and clear, Lieutenant,” Holden said. “Don’t worry. My people will be the easiest houseguests you’ve ever had.”
Kelly nodded at Holden with what seemed like genuine gratitude. He was a professional doing an unpleasant job. Holden sympathized. Also, he’d known enough marines to know how unpleasant it could get if they felt challenged.
Gunderson said, “Can you take Mr. Holden here to his appointment on your way out, El Tee? I’d like to get these folks squared away.”
Kelly nodded and took Holden’s elbow.
“Come with me, sir,” he said.
“Where am I going, Lieutenant?”
“Lieutenant Lopez asked to see you as soon as you landed. I’m taking you to him.”
Shed looked nervously from the marine to Holden and back. Naomi nodded. They’d all see each other again, Holden told himself. He even thought it was likely to be true.
Kelly led Holden at a brisk pace through the ship. His rifle was no longer at the ready but hanging from his shoulder loosely. Either he’d decided Holden wasn’t going to cause trouble, or that he could take him down easily if he did.
“Can I ask who Lieutenant Lopez is?”
“He’s the guy who asked to see you,” Kelly said.
Kelly stopped at a plain gray door, rapped once, then took Holden inside a small compartment with a table and two uncomfortable-looking chairs. A dark-haired man was setting up a recorder. He waved one hand vaguely in the direction of a chair. Holden sat. The chair was even less comfortable than it looked.
“You can go, Mr. Kelly,” the man Holden assumed was Lopez said. Kelly left and closed the door.
When Lopez had finished, he sat down across the table from Holden and reached out one hand. Holden shook it.
“I’m Lieutenant Lopez. Kelly probably told you that. I work for naval intelligence, which he almost certainly didn’t tell you. My job isn’t secret, but they train jarheads to be tight-lipped.”
Lopez reached into his pocket, took out a small packet of white lozenges, and popped one into his mouth. He didn’t offer one to Holden. Lopez’s pupils contracted to tiny points as he sucked the lozenge. Focus drugs. He’d be watching every tic of Holden’s face during questioning. Tough to lie to.
“First Lieutenant James R. Holden, of Montana,” he said. It wasn’t a question.
“Yes, sir,” Holden said anyway.
“Seven years in the UNN, last posting on the destroyer Zhang Fei.”
“That’s me.”
“Your file says you were busted out for assaulting a superior officer,” Lopez said. “That’s pretty cliché, Holden. You punched the old man? Seriously?”
“No. I missed. Broke my hand on a bulkhead.”
“How’d that happen?”
“He was quicker than I expected,” Holden replied.
“Why’d you try?”
“I was projecting my self-loathing onto him. It’s just a stroke of luck that I actually wound up hurting the right person,” Holden said.
“Sounds like you’ve thought about it some since then,” Lopez said, his pinprick pupils never moving from Holden’s face. “ Therapy?”
“Lots of time to think on the Canterbury,” Holden replied.
Lopez ignored the obvious opening and said, “What did you come up with, during all that thinking?”
“The Coalition has been stepping on the necks of the people out here for over a hundred years now. I didn’t like being the boot.”
“An OPA sympathizer, then?” Lopez said, his expression not changing at all.
“No. I didn’t switch sides. I stopped playing. I didn’t renounce my citizenship. I like Montana. I’m out here because I like flying, and only a Belter rust trap like the Canterbury will hire me.”
Lopez smiled for the first time. “You’re an exceedingly honest man, Mr. Holden.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you claim that a Martian military vessel destroyed your ship?”
“I didn’t. I explained all that in the broadcast. It had technology only available to inner planet fleets, and I found a piece of MCRN hardware in the device that tricked us into stopping.”
“We’ll want to see that.”
“You’re welcome to it.”
“Your file says you were the only child of a family co-op,” Lopez said, acting as though they’d never stopped talking about Holden’s past.
“Yes, five fathers, three mothers.”
“So many parents for only one child,” Lopez said, slowly unwrapping another lozenge. The Martians had lots of space for traditional families.
“The tax break for eight adults only having one child allowed them to own twenty-two acres of decent farmland. There are over thirty billion people on Earth. Twenty-two acres is a national park,” Holden said. “Also, the DNA mix is legit. They aren’t parents in name only.”
“How did they decide who carried you?”
“Mother Elise had the widest hips.”
Lopez popped the second lozenge into his mouth and sucked on it a few moments. Before he could speak again, the deck shook. The video recorder jiggled on its arm.
“Torpedo launches?” Holden said. “Guess those Belt ships didn’t change course.”
“Any thoughts about that, Mr. Holden?”
“Just that you seem pretty willing to kill Belt ships.”
“You’ve put us in a position where we can’t afford to seem weak. After your accusations, there are a lot of people who don’t think much of us.”
