INTERLUDESHawker was dubbed right there in the aisle beside Green’s body. There were some very tricky arrangements that had to be developed to make sure the army kept its word. The “original” Hawker stayed in Rez Central holding his grenade while the dub was allowed to go free. Neither self said farewell to the other; the second copy just walked off without looking back. Only after several hours, when the dub radioed in that he was safely away from the vicinity, did Hawker finally surrender to army authorities.
He half expected them to kill him anyway, as retaliation for all the trouble he’d caused them—but, to his surprise, they didn’t. The conquest of death had made retribution like that a meaningless exercise, and the army was too pragmatic. Green had been right on that score; his memo
