"Got it!" "No!" "That is not your kid!" "Not anymore!" "When you gonna open this door?" "We can't open that door again." "Those people will kill you." "Let go!" "The somnambulist is pushing off, they're underway!" "We're not going anywhere till that thing is dead." "The second the somnambulist sticks its head out of the station it's gonna get lit up!" "Return to port or you will be fired upon." "This is your final warning." "This ain't gonna end anything." "Naomi was right." "And you know it." "Looks like we're clear." "When you exonerate my family, unconditionally, unfreeze my assets, we'll talk about how I can help keep earth and Mars from blowing up this whole goddamn system." "Martian defense minister korshunov suffered a fatal heart attack earlier this evening." "One of us has to lose." "Simultaneously, the mcrn karakum, dispatched by korshunov" "to take delivery of your protomolecule technology was destroyed." "And I gave the order." "You will clean up this mess, and you will get the fuck back to work." "Well, it looks like you guys have some shit you need to figure out." "Just make a hole, we'll get on the elevator and go back to our ship." "I can't do that." "Then we've got a problem." "Get down!" " You're shot." " What?" "Well, that's disappointing." "I'll take you to the med bay." "I can get there on my own." "Doc'll take care of me." "You saved us." "I don't deserve credit for that." "If Alex hadn't talked me off the ledge, we would've been too late." "Did you kill that thing from the lab?" "No." "And it doesn't matter." "I almost traded your lives to do it." "This does not sound like the man I walked away from on ganymede." "And I understand why you did." "It won't happen again." "Jim..." "It's nice to have you back." "That doesn't sting at all." "Are you sure that's the antiseptic?" "No." "I told you, my degree is in botany." "But you're a doctor." "How's it look?" "If you were a fern," "I'd say you have a fatal lack of chlorophyll." "I'm sorry about your little girl." "We still don't know what happened to her." "Not for sure." "You're right." "That thing that broke out of that lab..." "Do you think that used to be a kid?" "I think so." "Hey, all." "I took it upon myself to radio ahead to the aid convoy that the somnambulist is heading for, and it looks like they're gonna be doing a little, braking maneuver so that the two of them will link up a bit sooner." "So, the somnambulist is gonna get there with air to spare." "You're one hell of a pilot." "Well." "Thank you." "They're engaging over ganymede again." "How's the roci?" "I'm not gonna lie." "The lower decks took a lot of shrapnel from that torpedo, and there's multiple punctures astern." "But she's a tough girl." "A little tlc and she'll be right as rain." "You up for a little patch work?" " Sure." " All right." "Let's do it." "It's been vented." "All right, let's take a look-see." "Damn, the pressure door is completely inoperative." "That is a hell of a lot of shrapnel damage." "What the fuck is that?" "Shit." "Holden!" "It's in the cargo bay!" "That's the thing we were chasing." "Son of a bitch, it must've hitched a ride when we had it cornered in the ag dome." "How the hell did it ever hang on?" "Doesn't matter." "This time we don't have a choice." "We have to kill it." "We don't have to go into this blind." "The data core's starting to decrypt." "what we're actually dealing with here." "It's not doing anything dangerous." "And we're not going to give it a chance to." "That thing is a living weapon, it's a killing machine." " It's not a machine." " It's not human." " It clearly was once." " Not anymore." "I'm gonna go down there." "I'm gonna talk to it." "No." "You're not." "We're going to shoot it, and we're gonna keep on shooting it." "And if that doesn't kill it, we're gonna force it out the way it came in." "All we have to do is make sure it gets onto the hull so Alex can roll the ship and dump it" " into the drive plume." " Holden!" "Prax, we gotta burn that thing down to its fucking atoms." "Is there a plan b?" "Yeah." "Make sure plan a works." "Upper deck looks clear." "Where the hell is that thing?" "I don't see it." "Me neither." "Naomi?" "We just lost sight of it behind the container near a bulkhead on the lower deck, aft." "There's no good camera on that position." "Keep moving to your left." "It has to be down there." "We would have seen it if it moved." "Shit!" "What?" "Amos, right flank." "I'll go left." "Set up a cross fire and force it out the hole in the door." "Roger that." "What the hell is that thing doing?" "I don't know." "It looks like it's scratching itself." "It has some kind of tech implanted in its chest." " Shit!" " God!" "What the fuck was that?" "Fire!" "Holden!" "Amos!" "What the hell is going on?" "Cap's in trouble." "That thing pinned him to a wall with a cargo container." "I can't disengage the mag-lock." "Amos, open that panel." "We have to override the lock." "I'm on it." "Amos!" "Fall back!" "Amos, you're losing air." "You need to get out of here now." "Get out of here!" "You're no good to anyone dead." "It's backing off." "Maybe it no longer considers you a threat." "It's not some dumb animal." "The device it tore out of its chest was a fail safe regulator, some kind of command and control module." "Control module, my ass." "That was an incendiary device, you understand?" "A bomb probably designed to destroy that thing in case it got out of control, all right?" "And I wish we had known about that thing inside it before it ripped it out of its chest!" "It was smart enough to get rid of it." "We can speculate about its intelligence after we get it out of this ship." "Are you seeing this?" "It's digging into the bulkhead." "Why?" "Shit." "The protomolecule feeds on radiation." "That thing's trying to get to the reactor." "If it punctures the chamber..." "We're more or less fucked." "Our escort ship isn't responding." "Errinwright must've covered that, too." "He delivered you to the enemy like a Christmas present." "That motherfucker!" "I trained him." "You warned me." " Language, please." " Privacy view." "Show me all utility access points." "Your wound." "It doesn't look good." "Thanks for the pep talk." "It's better than it could be." "Keep the comm array dark, no messages out." "I want guards on every deck." "I found a way out." "There's a maintenance crawl on the other side of that wall." "It should lead us to the elevator shaft." "That is not going to work." "Right." "You'd never make that climb." "Jesus Christ!" "Not because I'm old." "He's been shot." "Plus, she's really old." "We've got a defensible position here." "I'll hold it as long as I can." "Go to the airlock." "I'm not leaving you two." "Your power armor is in the skiff." "Why would you bring it?" "Get it and come save our asses." " Okay." " I'll cover you." "On three." "One, two, three, go!" "You there?" "I want to negotiate!" "You do?" "How 'bout we strap in tight and I put the roci into a hard spin?" "I bet you I can bounce that thing out one of the holes." "Out of the question." "A maneuver like that would snap him in two." "That thing is strong as hell." "I doubt it's gonna just trip out and fall into space." "We better do something quick, 'cause captain's leg is crushed." "Well, I don't need to run a marathon." "No, but you crush enough muscle and it starts leaking potassium into your blood." "Your suit can only filter out so much of that, then your heart stops." "You know a lot about how people die." "Yeah, I guess I do." "Fantastic." "Whatever that thing is now, it used to be human." "It's a living organism, which means it has to have some constraints." "What if we electrify the deck, try to stun it?" "Okay, look." "This thing rips through steel like tin foil." "It doesn't need air." "It shrugs off bullets." "You think a little electrical shock is going to stop it?" "Holden's standing on that same deck." "I'm trying to come up with an alternative." " That's the problem!" " Listen." "Listen!" "When I was apprenticing," "I did a tour on a prospector ship outside of pallas station." "We had a ton of shitty equipment." "One time, we were on a run and this guy's O2 regulator valve got stuck open." "The pressure in his suit went way up and he started losing air out his relief valve." "He got scared that he was going to run out of air before we made it back to the ship, so we welded the valve shut." "But that would eventually take..." "Yes, it burst his suit like a balloon, and it popped him out like a missile." "Well, that's a happy story." "But what's your point?" "Okay, the roci's built for what?" " Twenty, 30 people?" " Yeah." "Well, since it's just us, we have air to spare." "So we seal off engineering, the reactor deck, and the machine shop, we over-pressurize them all, we pop the hatch to the cargo bay, it'll blow the big door right off, along with that thing." "Holden's pinned down." "That kind of pressure change will rip him apart." "Maybe not." " You gotta do it." " No!" "I'm going to find another way." "Well, keep on looking while you prepare to blow that goddamn thing off my ship." "That's an order!" "There." "There it is." "Right in the middle of the crater." "The radiation signature of those pulses is the same as what was recorded on Eros." "The Ridge structures have grown an average of nine millimeters since our first scans." "The atmospheric acid levels above the impact site are rising while the temperature is falling." "There's no doubt about it, that crater is active." "And we're fresh out of probes." "This is where you say we have to descend, so we can get close for our sensors to get meaningful readings." "And then you point out that we'd be at the edge of what our ship is rated for, and that our martian shadow's probably going to shoot at us." "Rig for atmospheric flight." "Take us down." "Aye, aye, sir." "All hands, make ready for descent." "I reinforced all the seals to the machine shop." "Soon as we're done here, we're onto the next deck." "Okay." "Amos." "About what I did to you on ganymede." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "You're sorry?" "Yeah." "I am." "You said that you needed to do something and I didn't listen." "I made you put me down." "That couldn't have been easy for you." "Amos." "It's just that I've been..." "I've been trying to make choices on my own lately, and I can't seem to make the right ones." "No one's always right." "I'm sorry I hurt you." "When you said Holden could survive this, you were lying." "Yeah." "Do not blow the hatch until I tell you to." "Guys, pick up the pace." "At this rate, that thing's gonna get to the reactor before we can seal everything off." "In that case..." "Hey, doc, grab a torch and come down here and help me." "I don't know how to use one." "I'm on my way." "That ain't gonna cut it." "We gotta slow this thing down." "Guys, I'm gonna shut down the drive." "Maybe that's gonna buy us some time." "Stand by for zero-g." "It's working." "It stopped digging." "Shit." "It's heading back for Holden." "If I can get my gun..." "We hurt it the first time." "I can hurt it again." "It'll buy us some more time." "Shit!" "Hell, no." "Enough of that." "Sorry, hoss." "Powering up!" "Argh!" "We're reasonable people in here." "We know this wasn't your plan." "And you're in as much trouble as us." "You're in as much trouble as we are." "Not sure I see it that way, friend." "This doesn't have to go hard." "There's more than one way we can do this." "You're losing a lot of blood." "I'll try to bleed slower." "Ask him what the alternatives are." "I would love to hear what alternatives you've got." "No one has to get hurt." "What we need to do now is settle down until I can talk to Mr. mao." "So you're not going to kill anyone?" "I don't have to." "Bullshit." "They can't let me walk out of this." " I know." " We are only alive until mao is sure we aren't useful to his grand scheme." "Do we even know how many?" "Anyone we don't know, shoot on sight." "Got it." "Cross wind's over 300 kph, watch the shear!" "Adjusting trim." "Is this your first time diving through hot clouds of sulfuric acid?" "Well, there was that one time at college." "The martian ship..." "It's on an intercept course!" "Can't tell, sir." "There's too much interference." "What the hell was that?" "The martian ship, sir." "God damn it!" "They're going to beat us to it." " Shit." " Oops." "Argh!" "Oops." "Jim, are there any mining charges on this ship?" "I don't think so." "What would we do with them?" "Blow the damn cargo doors open so that Alex can spin that thing out of the ship." "If you're trying to protect me," "I don't think an explosion that size is going to do what you want." "There has to be something." "I just can't see it yet." " Just stop for a second." " Not yet." "I need to talk to you." "Please." "We'll talk after." "No!" "Now!" "It's okay." "Look..." "I've been on the other side of this conversation." "And if the next few minutes is all we get, we should take it." "Just..." "If this is my time, don't be an idiot like I was." "Don't go looking for revenge." "If I die here, let me go." "What?" "Take the ship and the guys and find someplace safe to ride all this out." "Are you saying you regret it?" "Everything we've done since the canterbury?" "No." "Yes." "But..." "Only because I don't get to spend more time with you." "Revenge is the last thing I'm thinking about now." "We're not right." " We are." " We're not." "So unless you can see how to get you out safe, and get that thing off our ship, don't talk to me." "Not until I fix this." "Hurry up, guys." "If you won't take my word on your safety, what will you take?" "Are you thinking about it?" "Tell him I'd need comm access." "Argh!" "Sorry, you cannot go into shock." "Tell him I'd need comm access." "She needs comm access." "I can't do that." "But, look..." "I understand why you don't trust me." "Let me trust you." "Leave the undersecretary, and you can go." "Say that again." "We have mao's little racing ship in our other shuttle dock." "Hand over avasarala for us to keep safe." "You and the martian can take it and go." "Tell him you need assurance of my safety." "I take the martian and you let us walk out." "Look, we both know how this goes." "Important, powerful people start fighting each other, it's people like us that die." "I've got nothing against you." "You've got nothing against me." "I need to keep control of the undersecretary." "Not you." "We exchange hostages." "One of yours for avasarala." "So I know you won't shoot us down after we launch." "This is a pleasure yacht, not a gunship." "But I'll escort you to the hangar myself." "Good enough?" "Give me the gun." "Stop!" "Stop!" "Don't come any closer!" "If I take my thumb off this button, it'll put the airlock in full lockdown." "You'll never get out of here." "If you kill me, you're trapped." "Hey, how's it..." "What the hell?" "You're supposed to be down there helping Amos." "We're doing this wrong." "Hear me out." "It's a nutrient gradient." "It's a nutri... what?" " Jesus!" " Look." "Naomi said that the creature gets energy" " from radiation, right?" " Yeah, sure." "It sucks radiation the way a tick sucks blood." "First time we found the protomolecule, it was wrapped around a reactor core, so what?" "It's following a nutrient gradient." "Like leaves growing toward light or roots toward water." "Prax, we are running out of time here." "How does all this plant shit help us?" "We can change the gradient." "If we give it a better food source that's easier to reach, we won't have to force it out." "We lure it out." "This ship has torpedoes armed with nuclear warheads, doesn't it?" "Yeah?" "Yeah." "I'm warning you." "Do not come any closer." "I swear I'll lock it down for good." "What makes you think I need to get in the drop ship?" "There's nothing else down here." "Unless I've dramatically misjudged this situation." "You're right." "Thank god." "But you haven't locked me out yet." " Yeah." " Because as soon as you do..." "There's nothing to keep you from beating me to death." "You're right about that too." "So, where do we go from here?" "Ask yourself." "Is he worth it?" "Who?" "The man you serve here." "Does he deserve your sacrifice?" "I'm an electrician." "You're about to lay down your life for an unworthy master." "That's not an honorable death, no matter what they tell you." "So, if I let you in, you'll let me go?" "You have my word." "Um, do you think that you could throw me in one of those cargo lockers?" "Maybe rough me up a little?" "Just so they don't think, you know." "You just happened to have a nuclear warhead lying around?" "We took it out of a torpedo a while back." "A good belter never throws anything away." "So we'll carry it out onto the hull until we get close to the cargo bay." "And then I'll pull the shielding, and you'll throw it out away from the ship." "And hopefully, if you're right, that creature will go after it." "I thought patching up a bullet wound was gonna be the strangest thing I did today." "I keep thinking I'll tell Mei about this when I get home." "Normally, my stories are about soybeans." "She pretends to care." "Pretended." "Amos?" "You there?" "I'm right here, cap." "If this plan doesn't work..." "I'll blow the hatch." "There's no way this ends with that thing inside this ship." "Thank you." "In case I have to kill you, I just wanted to say thanks." "You made some pretty stupid choices since you've been in charge, but you were always trying to do the right thing, so..." "Yeah." "That came out bad." "I mean, you were always trying to be a good man." "Not everybody does." "Thank you." "It was nice not having to worry about being on the right team." "You bet." "Alex, we're ready to go out." "Roger that." "Standing by to shut down the drive on your mark." "I'm going to need an answer, friend." "I'm thinking." "If you're going to do it, take over." "What?" "If you're going to sell me out," "I understand." "It's the rational choice." "But you have to stop errinwright before he can use the protomolecule to wage the war he's always wanted." "You owe me that." "I don't owe you anything." " My son..." " Yes, your son." "I failed at my job, and charanpal died." "I owe him." "Not you." "I'm paying him back by keeping his mother safe." "What the hell are you doing?" "If I have any value as a prisoner," "I may use it to save your life." "Gambling they haven't decided to take you out?" "That's a bad bet." "I won't let you make it." "I don't answer to you." "This is chrisjen avasarala." "Hold your fire." "I'm coming out." "Find the girl." "Clean up the mess." "Yes, sir, I understand." "I'll take care of it." " It's nothing personal." " I guess mao made up his mind." "I'm so sorry." "Keep your eyes down." "This isn't my first time in a space suit." "It's your first time in space, with no ground, no sky, and no horizon." "Eyes down." "All right." "Let's extract the core." "Warhead is open." "Guys... it's working!" "Copy that." "Prax, when I disengage the interlock, the chamber will try to foul shut, so I have to hold it open manually." "Keep it steady." "Got it." "When I give the word, you pull the core." "Now." "Pull it now!" "It's out the door." "It's headed your way!" "Okay, here it comes!" "Get ready!" "We see it!" "Steady, prax." "Just let it get a little closer." "Prax." "Wait." "Wait." "Now!" "Prax!" "What are you waiting for?" "Throw it!" "Throw it!" "Come on, doc!" "Do it!" "Prax, it's not Mei." "Move!" "Alex, we're in." "Do it!" "Firing up the barbecue!" "Prepping all units." "We just picked up a massive em uptick." "I think the crater is moving." "Sir, the martian ship is gone!" "What do you mean, "gone"?" "It just vanished off our scopes." "What just happened?" "I think we've stopped." "That's impossible." "You're sure it's gone?" "Damn straight." "Whoa, whoa, whoa." "Sorry, hoss." "That's gotta hurt." "Good job, man." "You guys really saved my ass." "Actually, it was his idea." "This is one steely-eyed man of science, our plant guy." "Thank you." "I'm glad you're okay." "Boys." "Can we have the room for a minute?" " Sure." " Yeah." "Glad I didn't have to kill you, brother." "Me too." "God." "I spend a lot more time in this room than I'd like." "Yeah." "Um..." "I have something I need to say to you." "And I'm not sure how I'm going to do it." "How bad could it be?" "We said no more secrets, but I've still got one." "Well, whatever it is, we'll be all right." "The protomolecule has changed everything, except everything it didn't." "I don't ever remember a time when earth, Mars and the belt weren't fighting." "The sides change sometimes." "What we think we're fighting for." "Who we tell ourselves are the good people." "But it just seems we can't ever stop fighting war after war after war." "It's part of being human." "An ugly part, but I don't think it will ever change." "Technology certainly hasn't changed it." "Guns." "Railguns." "Nuclear bombs." "No weapon ever brings peace." "No one knows what the protomolecule wants or what it's doing, but they are using it anyway." "It's already scattered too far to ever be sure it'll all be gone." "It's part of the equation now, and it will be from now on." "We can't change that." "We can't wish it away." "Earth has it." "Mars has it." "And the belt needs it, too." "I didn't destroy our sample." "I never sent our torpedo into the sun." "I couldn't do it." "There was a moment on the somnambulist when I thought I wasn't going to make it." "I was sure we were all going to die there." "And that our sample would be lost." "And I couldn't let that happen." "Naomi." "What did you do?" "I gave the protomolecule to Fred Johnson." "Sweet dreams."