Leviathan Falls

How it opens

In Kronos system, the disguised Rocinante poses as a small freighter while the Laconian frigate Black Kite hunts for Teresa Duarte, the high consul's runaway daughter, who is now the ship's apprentice mechanic. When another freighter, the Perishable Harvest, makes a run for a trade station and the Black Kite goes after it, Naomi decides against a dash for the ring gate because leaving too soon would only raise suspicion. On Laconia, Colonel Aliana Tanaka is called to the State Building, where Admiral Milan hands her Omega status, with override authority on any mission. In a message, Admiral Trejo tells her that High Consul Duarte has walked off the grounds of the State Building and vanished, and orders her to find him and bring him back.

Who you meet early

• James HoldenJames Holden captains the Rocinante again, free of his imprisonment on Laconia, where his guards' beatings cost him teeth. The nightmares that began there are getting worse, not better.
• Naomi NagataNaomi Nagata is the working leader of the underground. Aboard the Rocinante, she tuned the drive and planned the camouflage that disguises the ship.
• Alex KamalAlex Kamal is back aboard the Rocinante, tracking the Black Kite and plotting the ship's course through Kronos system.
• Amos BurtonAmos Burton was shot in the head on Laconia, and drones rebuilt him from the pieces. Black-eyed and gray-skinned, he is back on the Rocinante teaching Teresa Duarte ship repair, though Naomi still wonders whether he is truly the man they knew.
• Teresa DuarteTeresa Duarte, the fifteen-year-old daughter and heir of High Consul Winston Duarte, has left Laconia and lives on the Rocinante as an apprentice mechanic.
• Aliana TanakaAliana Tanaka is a Laconian colonel who once served Mars and mostly works in the field. Admiral Trejo is among the people she has known longest.
• Tristan ReevesTristan Reeves is a young corporal who shares Colonel Tanaka's bed in secret. Outside her room, she insists, he must be only Corporal Reeves.