Summary

In Chapter 16, Breq recalls meeting once more with the Lord of the Radch. The Lord explained the Empire was built to protect the center, the Radch, and that is being fractured. Since expansion was no longer possible, the Lord explained, the extent of the Empire had to be maintained. The Lord then called for Awn to be brought before her. Awn was stunned by this. The Lord then proceeded to ask her about the guns and incident in the Ikkt temple, which Awn denied having any part of causing. The Lord then explained she believed Awn to be involved, because she found it strange that crates of weapons meant to be destroyed would suddenly surface five years later, only to have Awn protect those she accused of hiding the guns in the lake. Awn denied this, saying the Lord herself must have been responsible...