Tiamat's Wrath

How it opens

In the Adro system, Elvi Okoye and her science team aboard the Falcon study the system's only structure, a nearly transparent body a little larger than Jupiter and made almost entirely of carbon. Admiral Sagale, the mission's military commander, gives her twenty hours before the Laconians bring out their catalyst, a woman who carries the protomolecule and is kept in a shielded, guarded room on the ship. In Sol system, Naomi Nagata lives hidden in a cargo container that the underground moves from ship to ship, a shell game to get around Laconian control of Medina Station. At Deep Transfer Station Three she meets Bobbie Draper and Alex Kamal, who have slipped the captured warship Gathering Storm into the system, and she warns Bobbie that a military mission there is a great risk.

Who you meet early

• Elvi OkoyeElvi Okoye leads a Laconian science team on the Falcon, a ship built for her at High Consul Duarte's request to visit the dead systems. She holds the rank of major, and her orders carry imperial law only in scientific matters.
• Fayez SarkisFayez Sarkis is Elvi Okoye's husband of decades and works beside her on the Falcon. He tells her that Laconia is a dictatorship and that they never had a choice.
• Travon BarrishTravon Barrish is the materials scientist on Elvi Okoye's team, a strictly literal man without a sense of humor.
• Jen LivelyJen Lively is the physicist on Elvi Okoye's team aboard the Falcon, quick with an ironic joke.
• Mehmet SagaleAdmiral Mehmet Sagale is the military commander of Elvi Okoye's mission. He holds it to schedule and decides when the catalyst comes out.
• Naomi NagataNaomi Nagata hides in a cargo container and works for the underground, as its secret diplomat in her own words. Clarissa Mao is dead, and Amos Burton went silent after taking a long-odds mission to Laconia to bring Holden back or strike at its leadership.
• Bobbie DraperBobbie Draper captains the captured warship Gathering Storm for the underground and is leading a secret military mission in Sol system.
• Alex KamalAlex Kamal runs the crew of the Gathering Storm with Bobbie Draper. He and Naomi left the Rocinante sealed in a cave on Freehold, and Naomi has not seen him in over a year.