"Previously on the expanse..." "How long, you and her..." "Never met her." "Don't let him sell the razorback." "Julie?" "There's nothing we can do for her." "I killed the mad scientist." "And now we need to kill his science experiment." "And how do you suppose we do that?" "We're going to use that to knock Eros right into the sun." "Miller's leading a demolition team to plant explosives around the docks." "Big problem, pampaw." "Detonator safety got fried." "Sixty-second reset." "It's the best we can do." "Go." "Get back to the ship." "Miller, answer me." "Are you all right?" "Guys?" "What the hell just happened?" "The Nauvoo just missed!" "The Nauvoo didn't move, Miller." "Eros did." "Is it something I said?" "Maybe now's a good time to get off this rock." "Miller, you're moving." "I mean, Eros is moving." "Fast." "Excuse me." " I got some crackpot report..." " Eros." "The whole damn asteroid is moving under its own power." "It's not exactly possible, yet that's what we've got." "Moving to where?" "Unknown." "But it's De-orbiting sunward." " Do we know why?" " We do not." "The Mormon generation ship was heading for Eros before the incident?" "Fred Johnson claimed it was an engine test." "But given the Nauvoo's speed and trajectory, it was on a collision course with Eros." "Which means, he's lying to us." "Madam, the Mormon leadership in salt lake is claiming Johnson stole the Nauvoo after forcibly removing all their people from the ship." "Tell me, colonel Janus." "How does a big rock like Eros suddenly turn into a ship?" "Madam, I don't know." "If Eros stopped rotating that quick," "I'd be dead as a bug on a windshield." "Uh, okay." "So we broke a few laws of physics here." "Maybe god's tryin' to play a magic trick?" "Eros is what, 7,000 trillion kilos, give or take?" "Its temperature's gone up two degrees." "Yeah, it's putting out..." "7,000 trillion kilos..." " Around ten exajoules." " Yeah." "That's the energy of a two-gigaton bomb." "You couldn't move Eros like that" " with a two-gigaton blast." " No." "I think we're looking at the waste heat, which means the laws of thermodynamics still hold." "At least we still have that." "If Eros isn't spinning anymore, then how can I still have gravity?" "Dresden said the protomolecule would break all the rules." "Yeah, he also said that stuff..." "It's not from around here." "So, who the heck are we to say what it's capable of?" "Oh, shit." " Alex?" " It's that damn rock." "It's speeding up." "It's in a heck of a hurry to get somewhere." "You know, I don't feel any acceleration, but, man, it sure looks like" "I'm leaving you guys in the dust." "Hang tight there, amigo." "We are tracking you." "So, uh, I guess that rescue plan's put on hold." "We're working on a contingency." "Okay, good, 'cause for a second there I thought maybe we'd lost control of the situation." "We have to embrace the obvious conclusion, that Eros is some kind of weapon system unlike anything we've seen." "Ah, yes, a weapon." "A hammer thinks everything is a nail." " I assume, built by Mars." " Who else?" "They provoke a conventional war as a smokescreen, then hurl this thing at us." "Anything from Mars?" "There's nothing but denials and confusion." "What's happening?" "Eros has changed trajectory again." "And it's accelerating." "It's now on a direct collision course with earth." "I've disarmed all the bombs on the surface." "Still working on yours, Miller." "Yup." "My bomb has to be special." "Jules-Pierre Mao." "Looks like your attempts to keep Eros under the radar has hit a few snags." "You call yourself a "man of the system,"" "but I'm not." "Earth is my home." "So whenever you're ready, I'd really appreciate it if you'd make a fucking appearance, and reign in your goddamned science experiment!" "It's still not responding." "Hang in there." "That massive heat spike before Eros moved?" "What if that's the "seed crystal"" "that creepy guy was talking about?" "That's the engine that's moving Eros." "I have a terrible idea." "If Miller can get in there, close, with that warhead, he could kill it." "Stop Eros in its tracks." "Or unleash something worse." "Eros just dodged the Nauvoo with a shrug." "What's it going to do when he crawls inside there with a nuke?" "There's only one way to find out." "What do you think, Miller?" "Crawl in there and blow up the thing that ate Julie?" "I think it's the best bad idea I've heard all day." "We need to figure out that dead man's switch, create a longer delay so that we can get you out of there before the bomb detonates." "I'm on it." "There's the spirit, kid." "I'm gonna take my pet nuke for a walk and see what's what." "Why don't you guys try to map me out the shortest way to get to where I'm going." "Oh, we'll be ready once you're inside." "Come on." "It's just you and me now, kid." "To hell." "A rock three times the size of the one that wiped out the dinosaurs." "But given Eros' erratic speed and acceleration, we really don't know where it's going to hit." "Latest projection, seven to ten billion dead." "Another ten in the aftermath of environmental disaster." "We have to begin evacuation, use every available ship and transport." "We'll need a lottery system, and to control public hysteria." "There's only one option left." "Our planetary defenses." "A massive missile launch at Eros." "The odds are good that we'd destroy it." "Or at least turn it into a million pebbles." "Whatever bio-toxin is inside Eros, can it survive in a vacuum?" "Or do we risk scattering it all over the system?" "Sadly, there's no time to conduct a study to satisfy your curiosity." "We'll sterilize the detonation zone with a second wave of missiles." "Ready the arsenal." "And get the secretary a line to the martian prime minister." "We don't want them mistaking our missiles for a first strike." "Let's hope they're feeling warm and fuzzy today." "I'm almost to the airlock." "I didn't count on this damn bomb loving gravity so much." "There's alien life in the universe, and I'm riding it, like a tick on a dog." "Hey, don't get all "Holden" on me." "Weird and chatty under pressure." "Yeah." "Yeah, must be real tough growing' up under a blue sky..." "Eight parents slobbering all over you." "Hey, now." "Wait till you get to know him better." "He's got lots of layers." "Yeah." "So does a rock tunnel." "Naomi." "What are the chances of getting him outta there once he plants that nuke?" "I help him rig a timer to get around that dead man's switch." "He backtracks to the docks." "We swoop in and get him." "We need time to clear the blast radius if he's late..." "Hey, easy there, chief." "You do realize that docking with Eros ain't gonna be a cakewalk, right?" "That's a moving target." "That station so much as twitches while we're swooping in, they're gonna be sendin' what's left of us home in a doggie bag." "He's risking' his ass down there." "How about we do the same up here?" "This guy's friends were probably infected." "They would've spread it if you let them get away." "It was the right call." "What makes you think it's not gonna do the same thing to you the second you walk in there?" "Remember me?" "Yeah." "I missed you, too." "Okay." "In all your years, did you imagine you'd see a moment like this?" "The martian prime minister confirmed." "They won't consider our launch a pre-emptive strike." "Nor did they offer assistance." "Maybe they want to see how well their weapon performs." "Or to watch how ours fails." "Sir." "Silos are open." "There's a body." "Doesn't seem to be infected at all." "That's weird." "Gone and gone, and gone..." "What was that?" "Naomi, I didn't catch that." "Miller, I didn't say anything." "Guess I must be going the right way." "Steady on, Miller." "Service exit, to your left." "You hanging in there?" "Oh, yeah." "Good times." "Think I might stop by for some barbecue down on the main level after this." "Well, it's, uh..." "I can't shake the feeling I'm being watched." "That's me." "I'm watching you." "You're doin' great." "Yeah." "That must be it." "These voices are..." "They're not alive, Miller." "They're just echoes of who those people were." "You know what?" "I think it's leaving the dead alone." "Seems like it still has some use for the living." "Don't wanna know what that's about." "Oh, crap." "Looks like I'm gonna need a minute here, guys." "So it goes." "We had to expect a launch." "It was the only move." "That's it." "We should pull Miller out now." "Guys, what's going on out there?" "Funny you should ask." "Earth just launched half her nuclear arsenal, and I'm guessing they just target-locked Eros station." "Oh." "Are you sure that's a good idea?" "Well, the U.N. Didn't check with us first." "But it does mean you're going to need to pick up the pace down there." " What the xelep now?" " Where's Eros?" "I can't find it." "Holden, we just lost radar lock on Eros." "The whole damn station just vanished." "Acknowledged, Tycho." "It's off our radar, too." "But it's still right there." "We have visual." "It's just... it's just not reflecting radar anymore." "So if earth's missiles can't see Eros..." "Then they can't blow it up." "Eros is moving towards earth." "On its own." "What can you tell me about that?" "The flower is unfolding." "It's becoming." " How can we stop it?" " I've no idea." "Why would you want to stop it?" "Our missiles have lost their target-locks." "How do you lose a target the size of a goddamn moon?" "Eros vanished off radar." "It's gone stealth." "Who's going to explain that to me?" "Our missiles, sir." "They're flying blind." "Which makes them essentially useless." "Incoming strong-message from Fred Johnson on the emergency channel." "Fred Johnson?" "Does he have something to do with this?" "U.N. Security council, I have been monitoring this incredible situation on Eros, and believe I have a solution." "The O.P.A. has a ship in visual range of Eros, that can use its laser-guidance system to paint the target for your missiles." "But given the signal delay to earth, my technicians would need to steer the missiles in." "I understand the gravity of the request, but need a response before the window of opportunity closes." "This is exactly the kind of opportunity he's been waiting for." "He could re-direct our missiles at Mars." "Or earth." "It's just the guidance systems." "We still have our abort codes." "Besides, why would he?" "The belt dies without earth and Mars." "Because he's got blood on his hands." "He's a mad terrorist." "Your words." "I need a moment." "Can you see this O.P.A. ship?" "Not in the wake of Eros." "It's radar-dark, too." "We'll have to take Fred Johnson's word for it." "Or I could talk to the captain of this ship directly." "Any message would have to be relayed through Tycho station." "Open a channel." "These things are starting to take a real liking' to me." "If they get inside this suit," "I won't have to worry about earth's nukes." "Doin' good." "Think happy thoughts." "Happy thoughts." "That's good." "Happy thoughts." "Roci..." "Miller, your feed's crapping out again." "Miller?" "Repeat, Roci." "Repeat." "Roci." "Well, I'll just keep following the heat, I guess." "Miller, come in." "Captain." "In this terrible hour," "I appeal to your humanity." "You can't take the razorback." "You're not alive." "You're not alive." "There's no one here." "Just voices." "Sick." "Talking to myself." "Madam Avasarala, I'm James Holden, captain of the Rocinante." "I've seen first-hand the hell that's going on inside Eros, and it mustn't be allowed to reach earth." "Fred Johnson is honorable." "Give him access to your missiles, and my crew and I will guide them in." "There's no time to bargain." "We can only choose to trust each other." "I pray that we will." "Good thing the assassins missed." "We can't trust this man." "Sir, James Holden is neck-deep in everything that's happening." "He's Fred Johnson's puppet." "On any other day this discussion would get us shot for treason, then thrown into a lunatic asylum." "Give them guidance control of the missiles, Mr. secretary." "I vouch for James Holden." "We can trust him." "What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly." "Alex, how we doing on that target lock?" "Target is still painted, chief." "Let's try the s-band." "Patch it." "Miller, come in!" "Miller!" "Hey!" "Trying to blow my eardrums?" "Listen, you need to move your ass in there." "Earth's missiles are headed for Eros, and we're painting the bulls-eye." "Don't put us in the really awkward position of having to blow you up." "You know, there was a time not too long ago," "I would've been rooting for Eros over those missiles." "I know what you mean, beltalowda." "Now, move." "Yes, sir." "One hundred and fifty live thermonuclear missiles under your control." "I believe that makes you the most powerful man in the system right now." "Oh, really?" "Then go get me a cup of coffee." "Felotas!" "Eros is accelerating again." "It's surging." "I'm starting to think Eros doesn't like being followed or having things pointed at it." "Do not lose visual!" "We're already burning hot as it is." "You wanna go flat-out, the Roci can handle it, but you gotta understand, you burn like that, at some point, we're not gonna be around to enjoy the ride." "What's the limit?" "I don't know." "Maybe 15-20gs?" "We could probably handle that if we're juiced to the gills, but eventually one of those little blood vessels in your brain's gonna go pop." "The Roci will stay with you on auto-pilot, long as it takes." "Keeping the welcome-mat out for a couple 100 nuclear missiles, huh?" "That's the situation." "So beat us to it, Miller, and we can all go home." "I'll even give you a ride." "All right." "A good bottle of Ganymede gin." "Whoever doesn't stop Eros is buyin'." "All right." "You're on." "In other news, I think I'm getting close to that hot zone of Naomi's." "Excuse me?" "Seed crystal." "Oh." "Right." "Oh, shit." "All right, Hoss." "Eros is movin' away." "You gotta call it." "Chase, or cut bait?" "Captain?" "Strap in." "Prep to match speed." "You got it." " All clear?" " Clear." "Godspeed, cowboys and cowgirl." "Here comes the juice." "Incoming from the Rocinante, 13 minute transmission delay." "The ship is ramping to a 15-g burn to match speed with the target." "It will auto-lock on Eros for the missiles." "Survivability of the crew is questionable beyond this point." "They're going to stay with Eros, even if it kills them." "Your evac shuttle is ready." "There's nothing left to do here." "The secretary general and most of the others are already gone." "One more minute." "Yeah." " Arjun?" " How are you holding up?" "Acid stomach." "And ravenous for a big thick steak..." "I assume they'll be evacuating you here to Luna." "I'm sorry," "I spoke over you." "This damn delay..." "Arjun, I need to stay here." " I can't let..." " Yes." "I expected you'd say that." " No." " Yes, I..." " Wait..." " No." " Wait, listen..." " Wait, me first." " Please." " All right." "And let me finish." "I've been rehearsing this moment for years, but now that it's here, I'm lost." "I smiled and grinned when you took that trip to the Sinai battle front." "I put on a good face when you almost died in that transport from Pallas." " I even..." " Yes, and that" " is what I love about you." " Oh, goddammit!" "I know it hasn't even been easy." "I know that." "And I'm sorry..." "Stop it." "Stop." "You never have to apologize to me." "Sorry." "Just know, I want to be there with you, and help you with that sad little garden." "But our home is threatened, and if I left..." "You wouldn't respect me anyway." "Why did I marry such a great woman?" "You got very lucky." "Didn't you?" "Gotta be close now." "Real gentle, this last stretch." "Another 50 meters or so." "So far the station hasn't considered you a threat." "Let's keep it that way." "And it's gone and gone and gone..." "Can't take the razorback..." "Julie?" "Slow down, you ornery son of a bitch." "There goes my spleen." "Oh, you gotta be kidding me." "Sorry about this, guys." "Gotcha!" "Can't take the razorback..." "Razorback." "Catch me if you can." "Catch me if you can." "Naomi." "Can you check the med-data on my suit?" "You're fine." " I mean, for you." " What's going on?" "I just don't want you to think I'm hallucinating or anything." "Okay." "Go." "You know those voices I'm hearing," "I think this thing has taken the, I don't know, consciousness, some part of whatever it is makes us human." "It's eating it, spitting it back out in some other configuration." "Miller, we don't have time for this." "Naomi's heat-map." "You know where it's leading us?" "It's leading us right back to the blue falcon." "Where we found Julie?" "I mean, what are the chances, right?" "These voices are getting louder the closer I get to there." "Okay." "I think she's still in there." "Miller, Julie Mao's dead." "We both saw her." "Yeah, what does dead mean to a protomolecule, right?" "I'm not talking about her body." "I mean, her, her consciousness." "I'm talking about a part of her that might be a part of this rock." " Jesus!" " Everything happening here is all built around Julie." "Julie was the first one to get infected." "And it was right there at the blue falcon." "The protomolecule infected her." "What if, she infected the protomolecule back." "You know the razorback, her old ship, headed right for earth?" "I keep hearing her talk about the razorback." "I think she thinks she's on it." "I think she's controlling this whole thing." "She's the seed crystal." "Miller?" "What the hell's happening down there?" "Stop chasing Eros!" "I can't do that!" "Tap the brakes, then, asshole!" "Or this is going to be a real short ride." "Goddammit!" "Holden!" "Alex, tap the brakes but do not lose visual." "What the hell did we accomplish?" "You gotta stop following Eros." "It's gonna defend itself, and my money ain't on you." "I can't do that." "We'll lose it for good." "Forget the goddamn missiles." "She'll dodge those just like she did the Nauvoo, or something a lot worse." "Hoss, I'm losing visual..." "Your crew is gonna die for nothing." "Back off now." "Find a way to divert those missiles." "And then what?" "What?" "I'll try to reach Julie, if there's any part of her still left." "Get her to stop this rock." "And, if that doesn't work..." "I've still got my little pal here." "You're going to negotiate with a girl who thinks she's a space station?" "When you put it like that it does sound kinda crazy." "Look, we got one shot here." "You don't back off, we don't even have that." "Alex." "Power down." "Yes, sir." "It's all on you now, Miller." "Long story, no time for details, but I'm the one with the boots on the ground." "Right now it's imperative you divert earth's missiles away from Eros." "I'll await confirmation." "The U.N.'s gonna think we're stealing their missiles like this whole thing is a ploy." "They're going to nuke Tycho next!" " Fred..." " There's no way that I'm going along with this." "It's already done." "They've cut their speed, the Roci's targeting laser is off." "Eros is gone." "Tell me you know what you're doing, you little shit." "We've got guidance control." "I'll take them on a long ride." "Oh, boy." "Well... we made it." "The blue falcon." "What are you seeing?" "It's kinda beautiful..." "Just get Julie to stop that rock." "Then we'll come in and swoop you up." "I guess I'll owe you that drink." "No, you'll owe me a bottle, pal." "Hey, uh..." "I appreciate you inviting me into your family there, Holden." "At least you thought I was worth that." "Yeah, that worked out." "It's time to see what's what." " Hey, Miller..." "What?" "Julie?" "You need to wake up now, kid." "Hey, can you hear me?" "You need to come back to me now." "Where am I?" "You're on Eros, kid." "Eros station." "It's not what it used to be here." "It's a step up, actually." "What's happened to me?" "I don't like it." "Hey, we never really officially met." "I'm Miller." "I used to be a cop on Ceres." "I was supposed to find you and bring you home." "Kidnap job." "Yeah." "I kinda cocked that up, though." "They left me here all alone." "They never came for me." "Listen, Julie, right now, this station, this rock is headed for earth real fast." " I dreamed that I was racing." " Yeah." " I was going home." " Yeah, we're going to need to stop that, Jules." "No." "You can't take the razorback." "You never took shit from anyone, did ya?" "But you're driving this bus, Julie." "Do you know that?" "I miss earth." "I know, kid." "But we can't go to earth." "A lot of good people are gonna die if we go there." "They're the same people you're fighting for." "I can't make it stop." "It won't stop." "Okay, Julie." "But you gotta try." "We can't stop the work." "All right." "We won't stop the work." "But we don't have to go to earth, right?" "Why don't we go to Venus?" "We're headed that way anyway." "Go to Venus." "Work continues..." "I don't think I can." "Look, kid, I came an awful long way to find you." "Because I believe in you." "Would you believe a guy like me would believe in something?" "I know you're a fighter." "I know you can steer this ship." "I'm done fighting." "I just want to go home." "You can't go home, Julie." "I'm sorry." "We can go anywhere else in the whole universe, but we can't go home, honey." "Okay?" "But, hey, I need you to know, whatever happens, wherever you go, you're not going to do it alone." "I need you to hold something for me, okay?" "I can't feel my hands." "It's all right." "Right here." "You have beautiful hands." "I got 'em." "Here." "Just hold this for a minute." "Don't let go." "What is it?" "It won't hurt you." "Hey." "What happens to us now?" "I don't know." "We die, maybe." "But if we don't die, that'll be interesting." "Whatever happens, happens to both of us." "It's going to be okay." "You belong with me."