#noldengifs

Can I ask you a favor? Of course. What? The Barkeith. Is that a ship? Yeah. One of the rogue Martians. It might’ve been involved with Fred’s stolen protomolecule. I came across some UNN surveillance video of the Barkeith leaving the Ring Space, and I asked Bobbie if the UN had any record of incidents of ships that went missing after Ring transits. And she came through but there’s a ton of data.

James Holden, President of the I Love My Wife Transport Union

Jim. I’m not going with you. What? If the protomolecule was here, it could be in 50 other places by now too. Then we’re just gonna have to find all of them. We have to do good where we can, when we can. I’m going back to make sure the Somnambulist is up and running, and I’m going to help Melissa get as many people off this station as we can before it dies. If we don’t catch that thing out there, a lot more people will die. People die every day. I wanted to believe we could stop this. But we can’t. Take Amos with you. [...] You’ll need an escort out of the no-fly zone. Call when you’re ready to launch.

Sol System’s #1 Power Couple

“He was aware of a deep and oceanic cavern of want in his belly. Something that was like hunger or thirst, exhaustion or lust, but that wouldn’t be satisfied. He didn’t have words for it, except that it left him quick to anger and despair. Lingering behind it all, the fear that he wouldn’t ever have his crew back on his ship made him feel gut-punched.

And then the word for it came. He was homesick, and the Rocinante, wonderful as she was, wasn’t home unless Alex, Amos, and Naomi were in her. He wondered how long the feeling would last if they never came back. How long he’d wait for them, even once he knew they wouldn’t return.

- Chapter 28: Holden, Nemesis Games