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"Well, Bean," said Peter, "here's my problem. I think I can get you in position to help block Achilles. But I can't trust you not to do something stupid."
"I won't mount a rescue operation for Petra until I know it will succeed."
"That's a foolish thing to say. You never know a military operation will succeed. And that's not what worries me. I'm sure if you mounted a rescue, it would be a well-planned and well-executed one."
"So what worries you about me?" asked Bean.
"That you're making the assumption that Petra wants to be rescued." "She does," said Bean.
"Achilles seduces people," said Peter. "I've read his files, his history. This kid has a golden voice, apparently. He makes people trust him--even people who know he's a snake. They think, He won't betray me, because we have such a special closeness."
"And then he kills them. I know that," said Bean.
"But does Petra? She hasn't read his file. She didn't know him on the streets of Rotterdam. She didn't even know him in the brief time he was in Battle School."
:,She knows him now," said Bean.
'You're sure of that?" asked Peter.
"But I'll promise you-I won't try to rescue her until I've been in communication with her."
Peter mulled this over for a moment. "She might betray you."
"No," said Bean.
"Trusting people will get you killed," said Peter. "I don't want you to bring me down with you."
"You have it backward," said Bean. "I don't trust anybody, except to do what they think is necessary. What they think they have to do. But I know Petra, and I know the kind of thing she'll think she has to do. It's me I'm trusting, not her."
"And he can't bring you down," said Sister Carlotta, "because you're not up."
Peter looked at her, making little effort to conceal his contempt. "I am where I am," he said. "And it's not down."