1ª ed.: 2015
ed. sp.: auth.: Karin Tidbeck [ author, leidos ]
The Rocinante is down for long-term maintenance after the events of Cibola Burn. Three crew members decide to take care of some personal business during the down time. Amos Burton heads to Earth when he learns someone important from his past has died, to pay his respects and to make sure no foul play was involved. Alex Kamal heads to Mars in the hopes of getting closure with his ex-wife, and to see Bobbie while there. And Naomi Nagata heads to Ceres station when she receives a message that her son Filip is in trouble. While Jim Holden supervises repairs to the Rocinante, he is enlisted by Monica Stuart to investigate disappearing colony ships.
Facing future collapse by the mass exodus of colony ships through the rings, militant factions of the OPA coalesce into a self-declared Free Navy and simultaneously wreak havoc on Earth and attempt to kill the Martian Prime Minister and Fred Johnson. Amos survives the attacks on Earth, to then free Clarissa Mao and escape back to Luna with her help and the help of Baltimore thugs from his old life. Alex meets up with Bobbie on Mars and together they investigate missing Martian military equipment and ships, which leads them into the middle of the attack on the Prime Minister's life. Naomi is kidnapped by her ex-husband Marcos - leader of the Free Navy - but manages to escape. Alex and Bobbie successfully rescue her.
The crew reunites on the Rocinante. What's left of the Earth, Mars, and non-militant OPA government meet on Luna. Naomi finally tells Jim about her violent past. Amos asks that Clarissa stay as his apprentice. The Free Navy has encamped past the belt and is preventing anyone from going through the rings. But there is a question of who is really behind the attacks, is it Marcos? Or is it a renegade faction of the Martian military?
