The unknown ships that were pursuing the shuttle ignore warnings to change course and are fired on by the Donnager. When Holden's message reaches Ceres, riots erupt, which leads Miller to discover that the station's riot gear is missing.Īboard the Donnager, the ship's captain denies any knowledge of MCRN involvement in the attack on the Canterbury, and instead suspects that one or more of the survivors from the shuttle may have bombed the Cant as an act of OPA terrorism. On Ceres Station, Belter detective Josephus 'Joe' Miller of Star Helix Security, the Earth-based private security firm responsible for policing the station, is contracted to locate Julie Mao, daughter of wealthy magnate Jules-Pierre Mao, and send her back to her family on Luna against her will. As the shuttle makes its way to the rendezvous, they are pursued by a group of unknown ships. Johnson had been a highly-decorated commander in the UNN when he was ordered to brutally quell a Belter uprising, for which he was nicknamed the 'Butcher of Anderson Station.' Guilt-stricken, he had resigned his commission and become an advocate for the rights of Belters. En route, they receive a message from Fred Johnson, chief of Tycho Station, an engineering outpost and construction platform, offering his support. In response, the shuttle is ordered to rendezvous with the MCRN battleship Donnager, flagship of Mars' Jupiter Fleet. With the shuttle damaged by the debris field, lacking the necessary fuel or supplies to reach a port, and fearful that should they put out a distress signal of their own the attackers may return, Holden broadcasts a message out to the entire system implicating Mars in the destruction of the Cant, hoping to negate any attempt to kill them as part of a cover-up. Based on the highly advanced technology of the warship and the discovery that the beacon from the Scopuli is of Martian origin, the survivors suspect the MCRN of being behind the attack. Holden sends an angry message to the attacking ship, but it ignores him and departs.

Before they can make it, an unknown stealth warship arrives and, without warning, destroys the Cant with a nuclear weapon. Suspecting that the ship may be a trap set by pirates, they take the beacon and begin returning to the Cant. They find no trace of the ship's crew, but they do discover the beacon transmitting the distress signal. They discover an abandoned transport vessel called the Scopuli. Five members of the Cant 's crew are dispatched in a shuttle to investigate: executive officer James 'Jim' Holden, a former officer in the UN Navy (UNN) chief engineer Naomi Nagata, a Belter pilot Alex Kamal, a veteran of the Martian navy (MCRN) engineer Amos Burton and medic Shed Garvey.

The ice hauling ship Canterbury (nicknamed the Cant by Belters) is en route from Saturn's Rings to Ceres Station when it encounters a distress signal.

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