From C&O:
From TDAGD:"...you must be made aware that the Amnion have developed airborne
mutagens. These are slow acting and somewhat crude, but they
suffice to meet the present need."
She stared at him. Airborne - Panic clutched her stomach.
Only years of dark resolve and bitter discipline enabled her to
keep herself from grabbing her gun and blasting him in the face
so that he wouldn't say what came next.
"Sacs of them," he went on quietly, almost inaudibly, "have
been set upon the scrubber pads of this vessel." That must have
been done while equipment and supplies were being loaded from
Calm Horizons. "I am able to trigger their release. If you deal
falsely with us, I will provide that your crew does not."
On the other hand, the fact that Soar had turned against
Calm Horizons required a great deal of attention. Specifically
it required Marc Vestibule's attention. He had been invested
with decisiveness aboard Calm Horizons. And he remembered
more of his former humanity than any other Amnioni like him.
Because he remembered, he was not replaceable.
Sorus Chatelaine's betrayal had been quintessentially human:
no Amnioni could have imagined - much less carried out -
such an action. Even Marc Vestibule only grasped it with
considerable effort.
If the concept of betrayal was so incomprehensible, why did they prepare for the possibility that Soar might 'deal falsely' with them?The Amnion did not comprehend terror or frenzy. They
understood urgency: they were capable of haste. Their dedication
to their own purposes was complete - and completely organic.
But they were not genetically encoded for desperation.
They could not encompass it.
Even Marc Vestibule's recollection of desperation and contemplation of the implications of betrayal was only in hindsight.