Babylon's Ashes

Aboard the Rocinante during a high-g battle, Bobbie Draper and Alex Kamal confirm multiple incoming torpedoes from the Pella and two escorts. Their support from Ceres has been intercepted, so they must fight alone. Alex initiates punishing evasive thrusts, while Bobbie manages point defense and firing solutions.

Bobbie and Alex coordinate to destroy the first torpedo wave. She then executes a rail-gun shot and destroys the escort Koto. When the Pella dodges the rail-gun slug track, Bobbie improvises a trap, firing a dense cloud of PDC rounds and using torpedoes to force the Pella into it. The Pella, heavily damaged, breaks off. As the crew celebrates, a medical alarm sounds.

Immediately after the fight, Holden responds to Bobbie’s request to distract the enemy by opening a tightbeam link to the Pella. Marco appears and shows Holden a live image of Filip working the weapons console. As the Rocinante’s final attack hits the Pella, Holden secretly disarms the torpedoes that would have finished it, refusing to risk killing Filip, his partner’s son.

Naomi alerts Holden that Fred Johnson shows signs of a stroke. Bobbie carries him to the medical bay, but he dies from the strain of the battle.