Caliban's War

On a Sunday morning, while Avasarala and Arjun spend time with their granddaughters, she gets an alert that Nguyen is sending ships to Ganymede. Avasarala uses her influence to call back some of Nguyen’s ships to limit the damage he can do. Updates about Venus make her worry that about being helpless against a potentially devastating and unknowable situation: “It’s not healthy, having God sleeping right there where we can all watch him dream” (130). Errinwright tells Avasarala that humanity has been built on the advance of technology. She is frustrated because she doesn’t have answers: The protomolecule is loose and no one can stop it, but she also wants to prevent war with Mars.

Amos and Holden bring chicken as they accompany Prax to meet with the hacker. Holden observes how important finding Mei is to Prax and realizes he doesn’t love anything with that intensity, though he cares about Naomi, who is his lover. The young hacker asks for more food, and Amos, furious that he is holding information about a child hostage for chicken, beats him up. Prax explains that Mei and the other children treated by Strickland share a rare genetic disorder that disables their immune systems.