Chapter Thirty-Five: Holden
Contains spoilersOverview
On the captured stealth ship, Naomi recovers the communications logs and notes strict tightbeam, coded traffic. Holden and Naomi’s strained relationship shows as Miller awkwardly joins the suit comms. The final log entry is in plain English, setting up an imminent revelation about the ship’s orders or contacts.
Summary
Naomi reports that she has found the communications logs as Holden and Miller float into the compartment. Holden reaches out to Naomi and pulls back, revealing new distance between them that he regrets but cannot address. He refocuses on the task and asks what she has.
Naomi brings up the log, explaining that the crew maintained strict comm discipline: no radio broadcasts, all tightbeam, and heavily coded doublespeak. The list shows many entries by date and time, but little obvious meaning.
Miller, uncomfortable in a suit, fumbles with his comms and then joins the general channel. Naomi points to the most recent record and notes that the final communication is written in plain English, signaling a potentially crucial clue about the stealth ship’s mission.
Who Appears
- Naomi Nagata
Engineer; recovers the ship’s comm logs, explains coded tightbeam traffic, flags a final plain-English entry.
- James Holden
Captain; shows strain with Naomi, pushes for actionable intel from the recovered logs.
- Josephus Miller
Ex-cop; awkward in a suit, joins the conversation as the critical log entry is identified.