Critical Mass story
A flashback from seven weeks prior shows the lead-up to Julie Mao's gruesome death; the Scopuli, with Julie as part of the crew, are on an intercept course with the Anubis, which they believe to be transporting a weapon from Phoebe Research Station to Eros on behalf of Julie's father, Jules-Pierre Mao. The Anubis ambushes the Scopuli, killing the crew and imprisoning Julie while revealing their intent to destroy the Canterbury and antagonize Earth and Mars into a war. After discovering the organic reactor substance - the protomolecule - has killed everyone aboard, Julie vents the Anubis, leaves it on an asteroid with an OPA beacon, and takes the ship's shuttle to Eros. An increasingly infected Julie tries in vain to contact Anderson Dawes for rescue on Eros before dying alone in her hotel room. In the present, Fred Johnson broadcasts evidence that the stealth ships were built on Earth. After Miller and the Rocinante crew flee the hotel, Julie's body is tracked down by Dresden, a scientist working for Mao. Dresden harvests her infected blood and informs Mao of his daughter's death, to which Mao responds, "proceed as planned". Under the guise of a ship explosion and radiation leak, Eros mercenaries working for Dresden and Mao place Eros into lockdown and seal the poverty-stricken citizens into radiation shelters after infecting them with Julie's blood. Most of the Rocinante crew head back to the ship, while Miller and Holden go to investigate the shelters. Discovering their true purpose as incubators for the infection, with everyone inside dead or dying, they also receive a lethal dose of radiation. Avasarala visits Frank DeGraaf's widowed husband, Craig, and steals data drives related to an Advanced Fusion Prototype which looks like the reactor on board the Anubis.
9 total · 5 major · 4 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| corporate influence in society | major | It was revealed that Mao-Kwikowski Mercantile was behind the destruction of the Canterbury in an attempt to pit Earth and Mars against each other. Furthermore, its leader Jules-Pierre Mao killed the 100,000 strong population on Eros in an attempt to unlock the secrets of the "protomolecule". |
| false flag operation | major | A grand revelation of the story is that the attack on the Canterbury, which was designed to draw Earth and Mars into a war, was orchestrated by the Mao-Kwikowski Mercantile. |
| law enforcement | major | Miller hobnobbed on Eros with his old pal from the police force. |
| the lust for power | major | The oligarch Mao sacrificed the 100,000 strong population on Eros in a bid to unlock the secrets of the "protomolecule", which he mistakenly thought would bring him power. |
| the thirst for knowledge | major | The oligarch Mao sacrificed the 100,000 strong population on Eros in a bid to unlock the secrets of the "protomolecule", which he mistakenly thought would bring him power. |
| biological weapons | minor | The "protomolecule" was thought to be a bio-weapon of unknown origin. |
| coping with the death of a child | minor | Jules-Pierre Mao teared up after being shown, on a video feed, the blue crystal encrusted and horribly decomposing body of his daughter, Julie. He promptly congratulated himself for having the opportunity to test out his theory about the "protomolecule". |
| fusion power | minor | Avasarala purloined data drives related to an advanced fusion drive prototype. |
| space station | minor | In one scene, the viewer is shown Tycho Station, a space station of the rotating wheel variety. |