Holden dreams of Naomi in his parents’ kitchen, which shifts into a nightmare of Eros falling and protomolecule tendrils. He wakes on the Rocinante’s ops deck to a real alarm: the UNN corvette Ravi has them targeted and McBride demands surrender for diverting Earth’s nukes.

Holden refuses boarding and orders battle stations with a defensive posture only. Alex maneuvers hard to avoid an attack run while Naomi jams the Ravi’s targeting. Amos takes control of the point defense. The Ravi fires PDC rounds at long range but withholds torpedoes. The Rocinante gains a firing solution, yet Holden forbids firing, trying to avoid escalation.

Before shots can escalate, Eros reappears on sensors and alters course away from Earth toward Venus. With the threat redirected, the immediate standoff loses purpose, and the Rocinante stands down from the brink while discussing the now-irretrievable nukes and their consequences.

Later, coasting toward Tycho, the crew watches the historic broadcast of Eros arriving at Venus. In orbit, the asteroid breaks apart into a proliferating cloud of fragments that seed across the planet’s atmosphere. The sight is beautiful and unsettling. Holden concludes the protomolecule is following a larger design, and worries about what comes next.