When she finally spoke again, it was in a voice so low he could barely hear. “Was Michael scared?” “When he used Repulse to hold off the Syndics so the rest of the fleet could get away? Yes.” “Why didn’t you tell me that?” Why hadn’t he? He suddenly understood the reason why he had been reticent before this. “Because if you haven’t been through something like that,” Geary said slowly, “then telling someone that the person who did it was scared can sound like a criticism, a put-down, instead of what it really is—a testament to just how brave they actually were.
