During his evening meal, Miller gets a call from Hasini at the Blue Frog: Havelock is there, spoiling for a fight. Miller arms himself lightly and heads down, navigating the volatile port crowd. He finds Havelock drunk and defensive, and steers him out before anything sparks.

Walking the greasy port corridors, Miller listens as Havelock vents about his competence and his failure to belong on Ceres as an Earther. Miller explains that locals see “Earth,” not Dmitri Havelock, and that acceptance won’t come the usual way. They avoid a potential OPA run-in and note they’ve stolen Blue Frog glasses, a small sign of Havelock easing down.

Miller redirects them to the Distinguished Hyacinth, a cop bar, to keep any relapse in-house. Over drinks, Havelock challenges the morality of Miller’s assignment to retrieve Julie Mao, an adult, for her powerful parents. Miller calls it a bullshit case, acknowledging the ethical discomfort. Colleagues drift in—case talk and camaraderie help stabilize Havelock.

Suddenly, terminals chime across the bar. Captain Shaddid appears on broadcast, ordering all personnel to stations for emergency directives. She reports an unencrypted, authenticated message from near Saturn that will soon go public. The screen cuts to a man in an orange vac suit who begins, “My name is James Holden,” pivoting the night from personal angst to looming system-wide crisis.