Detective Miller interviews a low-level sex worker about Bomie Chatterjee’s disappearance after an apparent ambush. Adopting local patois, Miller teases out that Bomie’s usual “dance number” with hired thugs went wrong; instead of staging a heroic stand, Bomie panicked and fled as new, unaffiliated attackers swarmed. The lack of follow-up from Bomie or his crew raises Miller’s suspicions.

Back at Star Helix, Miller and his Earth-born partner Havelock review the recording. Miller notes the troubling part: someone hit a Golden Bough collector and the gang hasn’t retaliated. Havelock sees a welcome dip in crime, but Miller reads systemic oddity—a “forgotten arm” punch the gangs didn’t anticipate. Captain Shaddid then calls Miller in alone.

In Shaddid’s office, after a brief status exchange on gangs and the OPA, she assigns Miller a separate, off-network contract for shareholders: locate Julie Mao, detain her, and ship her back to her family. Shaddid provides a locked file (JMAO), notes Julie’s ties to Tycho Station and a Ceres apartment, and makes clear Havelock is not involved. Miller accepts despite misgivings about the job’s kidnapping nature.

At home, Miller reflects on Ceres’ closed-loop life and opens Julie’s file. He discovers a wealthy Luna-born pilot and activist with a record-setting pinnace, the Razorback, and student involvement linked to Far Horizons. He drinks, watches corridor life, and struggles to care about the retrieval, feeling more concerned by the organized crime slowdown that doesn’t add up.

Miller closes the night convinced the Julie Mao assignment is a sideshow, while the quieting of Ceres’ syndicates signals a deeper, unexplained shift that could upend the station’s fragile order.