Cramped aboard the Knight, Naomi keeps pinging the silent ships tailing them to show the Donnager they are worried, while the crew struggles with hygiene and failing recyclers. Holden checks on Shed and finds him obsessing over medical inventory to avoid grief. Holden bluntly reminds Shed the Canterbury’s crew is dead, assigns him the role of their doctor, and schedules a group wake so he won’t unravel alone.

Naomi summons Holden to ops when a powerful tightbeam locks on from a Tycho construction site. The sender is Colonel Frederick Johnson—the Butcher of Anderson Station—now an OPA icon who once brokered peace at Pallas. His reputation and history frame the gravity of the contact.

In his message, Fred Johnson warns that someone is trying to spark war and says no OPA cell he knows claims responsibility for the Canterbury. He offers covert help and a code word—use of the word ubiquitous in Holden’s next public broadcast would signal he isn’t coerced; omitting it would mean he is.

Later, the crew gathers in the galley to drink and grieve. Amos and Alex debate options, but Alex argues turning back would look like betrayal and risk a Martian strike. Holden decides to continue to the Donnager, keep Johnson’s contact, and have Naomi scrub the message. They puzzle over the purpose of the six mystery ships, then drink to whatever comes next.