Leviathan Falls
Chapters - James S. A. Corey
Prologue
Winston Duarte's mind is shattered by the attack that destroyed the Typhoon and Medina Station, but his protomolecule-altered body refuses to die. Over an extended period, fragments of awareness slowly reassemble, driven by his love for his daughter Teresa Duarte and his sense of purpose to save humanity from the forces beyond the ring gates. He eventually reconstitutes himself enough to resume his role as high consul, reviewing executive summaries of the empire's collapse during his absence. Duarte projects an apparition of himself to Admiral Anton Trejo in Sol system, telling him to stand down because they have been pursuing the wrong approach. A shaken Trejo immediately orders a maximum burn back to Laconia, recognising the urgent implications of Duarte's return.
POV: Winston Duarte·On page: Anton Trejo·Mentioned: Teresa Duarte, Paolo Cortazar, James Holden
Chapter 1: Jim
The Rocinante hides in Kronos system disguised as a freighter, evading the Laconian frigate Black Kite that is hunting for Teresa Duarte, Naomi Nagata, and James Holden. Jim struggles with lingering trauma from his imprisonment on Laconia, suffering nightmares and near-constant anxiety. When the Black Kite targets a different ship, the Perishable Harvest, the crew debates whether to make a run for the ring gate. Teresa offers to use her status as Winston Duarte's daughter to protect them, but Jim refuses to use her as a shield. Naomi ultimately decides they should wait and maintain their cover rather than risk drawing attention with a premature escape.
POV: James Holden·On page: Alex Kamal, Naomi Nagata, Teresa Duarte, Amos Burton, Muskrat·Mentioned: Winston Duarte
Chapter 2: Tanaka
Colonel Aliana Tanaka is introduced as a Laconian Marine officer who thrives on the danger of keeping secrets within an authoritarian regime, including her illicit relationship with a junior officer. She is summoned to the State Building where Admiral Milan briefs her on a consciousness-loss incident in Gedara system that also involved changes to the speed of light. After the briefing, Tanaka receives a recorded message from Admiral Anton Trejo revealing that High Consul Winston Duarte has been brain-damaged since the attack on the Typhoon, but recently appeared to Trejo as an apparition before physically walking off the State Building grounds and disappearing. Tanaka is given Omega status with unlimited authority and resources, tasked with finding Duarte and bringing him back at any cost.
POV: Aliana Tanaka·On page: Ochida·Mentioned: Anton Trejo, Winston Duarte, Teresa Duarte, Elvi Okoye
Chapter 3: Naomi
The Rocinante escapes Kronos system through the ring gate under a false transponder identity, passing into the ring space where Naomi Nagata retrieves an encrypted intelligence packet from one of her hidden message bottles. Naomi reflects on the strain of running the underground from a single ship - holding a scattered, self-governing network together while managing James Holden's lingering trauma. The chapter ends abruptly when Teresa Duarte calls for help: Amos Burton has collapsed into a violent seizure in the machine shop.
POV: Naomi Nagata·On page: Alex Kamal, James Holden, Amos Burton, Teresa Duarte, Muskrat·Mentioned: Bobbie Draper, Clarissa Mao, Joe Miller, Kit Kamal
Chapter 4: Elvi
Dr. Elvi Okoye conducts experiments aboard the Falcon in Adro system, using Cara, a protomolecule-altered girl, to interface with the BFE, a Jupiter-sized alien crystal believed to be a data repository of the ring builders' civilisation. The experiment shows promising but alarming progress as Cara syncs with the BFE without light delay, suggesting nonlocal information transfer that upends fundamental assumptions about protomolecule technology. Elvi's husband Fayez Sarkis notices this breakthrough while Elvi manages the dual pressures of understanding the alien species that built the gates and finding a way to stop the dark forces that destroyed them. The chapter ends with Elvi receiving a message from Winston Duarte's valet informing her of a change in the high consul's status, while she secretly feeds her research data to both Laconia and the underground.
POV: Elvi Okoye·On page: Cara, Xan, Fayez Sarkis·Mentioned: Paolo Cortazar, Winston Duarte, Ochida, Anton Trejo, Naomi Nagata
Chapter 5: Tanaka
Aliana Tanaka hunts for Winston Duarte on Laconia wearing a Stalker reconnaissance suit, tracking his chemical scent from the State Building into a network of caves that were once an alien installation. She discovers a large subterranean chamber with repair drones and pools of viscous fluid that appear to fix broken objects and organisms. The trail leads to an opening in the mountainside containing egg-shaped alien transport pods, one of which is missing from its cradle, with Duarte's scent leading directly to the empty slot. Dr. Ochida confirms these are likely inertialess transport vessels that cannot be tracked by radar or drive signature, vastly expanding Tanaka's search area. She pivots her strategy from hunting Duarte directly to using Teresa Duarte as bait, taking command of a mission targeting a boarding school on New Egypt where Duarte's daughter may be hidden.
POV: Aliana Tanaka·On page: Ochida·Mentioned: Winston Duarte, Teresa Duarte, Amos Burton, James Holden, Elvi Okoye, Anton Trejo, Mugabo
Chapter 6: Naomi
Naomi Nagata monitors Amos Burton after his seizure, struggling with uncertainty about whether he is still truly human after his protomolecule resurrection, while he insists the episode was a one-time glitch in his altered biology. She works through the underground's mounting diplomatic challenges in the ring space, trying to convince colony systems to accept transit protocols that would reduce the risk of ships going dutchman. Alex Kamal receives Kit Kamal's message about becoming a grandfather and is moved to tears. Naomi receives the confirmed message that Teresa Duarte's admission to the boarding school on New Egypt is approved, setting the next phase of their plan in motion.
POV: Naomi Nagata·On page: Amos Burton, Alex Kamal·Mentioned: James Holden, Elvi Okoye, Jillian Houston, Kit Kamal, Rohi
Chapter 7: Jim
James Holden tells Teresa Duarte about the plan to send her to Sohag Presbyterian Academy on New Egypt, where her mother's cousin Elizabeth Finley will watch over her, but Teresa resists the idea and manoeuvres him into giving her the choice rather than simply telling her. Jim privately grapples with a bleak conviction that humanity will not survive the threat from beyond the gates, finding Amos Burton the only person who shares his understanding. Alex Kamal calls a group meeting to ask if they can detour through Sol system so he can send a message to Kit Kamal about his new grandson. The crew agrees to pass through the Sol gate before heading to New Egypt, and as they depart the ring space, a fast Laconian transport ship enters behind them, narrowly missing them.
POV: James Holden·On page: Teresa Duarte, Amos Burton, Muskrat, Alex Kamal, Naomi Nagata·Mentioned: Kit Kamal
Section: Interlude: The Dreamer
Cara experiences a deep, dreamlike vision while interfacing with the BFE, perceiving the evolutionary origins of the ring builders as slow-living organisms in a lightless ocean between an icy shell above and volcanic heat below. She feels them reproducing, developing, and eventually sending parts of themselves into the hostile heat of deep vents, returning transformed with new biological innovations. The vision is narrated through the metaphor of grandmothers telling ancestral stories, conveying the earliest stirrings of life and desire in an alien biome resembling what scientists once sought on Europa.
POV: Cara·On page: Winston Duarte
Chapter 8: Elvi
Elvi Okoye and Fayez Sarkis analyse Cara's debriefing from her latest dive into the BFE, interpreting her dreamlike experiences as a narrative of the ring builders' evolutionary history, from slow-metabolising organisms in an icy ocean to creatures that harvested biological innovations from deep-vent ecosystems. Fayez challenges the practical value of understanding alien origins when the immediate threat is extinction, but Elvi sees it as essential groundwork for understanding their technology. Elvi decides to accelerate the session schedule despite concerns, and Cara eagerly agrees to more frequent dives. In the galley afterwards, Xan hangs back from the others, anxious in a way Fayez notices but does not yet have a chance to ask about.
POV: Elvi Okoye·On page: Fayez Sarkis, Cara, Xan·Mentioned: James Holden, Amos Burton
Chapter 9: Kit
Kit Kamal, Alex Kamal's adult son, watches his father's emotional message about becoming a grandfather while navigating the pressures of new parenthood with his wife Rohi on Mars. Over dinner, Rohi tearfully raises concerns about postponing their contract with Jacobin-Black Combined Capital on Nieuwestad to protect baby Bakari's development in proper gravity, revealing deeper fears about balancing family and career. Kit reassures her that they are partners and will face whatever comes together, drawing on lessons from his own parents' mistakes. After leaving Bakari with his grandmother Giselle for the evening, Kit records a loving reply to his father and the couple decide together to proceed with their plans for Nieuwestad.
POV: Kit Kamal·On page: Rohi, Bakari·Mentioned: Alex Kamal, Bobbie Draper
Chapter 10: Fayez
Fayez Sarkis navigates his role as informal intermediary between Elvi Okoye and the scientists of the Laconian Science Directorate, who are frustrated that Colonel Aliana Tanaka has been retasking their workgroups away from critical research. He brings these concerns to Elvi, who reveals she cannot override Tanaka's authority and refuses to stop sharing data with the underground despite the risk of being executed for treason. Elvi delivers a passionate accounting of the escalating threat: anomalous events including changes to lightspeed, electron mass, and gravity are occurring across multiple systems daily as the entities beyond the gates probe for ways to destroy humanity. Fayez later finds Xan alone, and the boy confides that each dive is changing Cara, warning that the BFE is not just teaching his sister but remaking her into something new.
POV: Fayez Sarkis·On page: Elvi Okoye, Cara, Xan·Mentioned: Ochida, Aliana Tanaka, Winston Duarte, Anton Trejo, James Holden, Naomi Nagata
Chapter 11: Teresa
The Rocinante approaches New Egypt to deliver Teresa Duarte to the boarding school, but tension rises when an unidentified ship enters the system on a hard burn for the planet. On the surface, James Holden, Amos Burton, and Teresa walk to the school only to find Colonel Aliana Tanaka waiting with a fire team in power armour, having anticipated their arrival. Tanaka demands Teresa come with her, claiming she needs the girl's help finding Winston Duarte, while Jim and Amos attempt to negotiate. The chapter ends with Amos stepping in front of Teresa and drawing his gun as the standoff comes to a head.
POV: Teresa Duarte·On page: James Holden, Amos Burton, Muskrat, Alex Kamal, Naomi Nagata, Aliana Tanaka·Mentioned: Winston Duarte
Chapter 12: Tanaka
The chapter replays the New Egypt confrontation from Aliana Tanaka's perspective, revealing her tactical calculations and the restraint she exercised to avoid harming Teresa Duarte, which ultimately cost her the advantage. When the Rocinante arrives and its PDCs destroy her entire fire team, Tanaka pursues on foot, ambushing James Holden at gunpoint. Amos Burton attacks her from behind, and they fight hand-to-hand before Jim shoots her three times in the chest, but her nanofibre armour catches the rounds. Playing dead, Tanaka then shoots Amos through the back with a high-explosive round. She lines up a headshot on Holden, but he fires first, hitting her in the face, and she loses consciousness as a second bullet strikes her.
POV: Aliana Tanaka·On page: Teresa Duarte, James Holden, Amos Burton, Muskrat, Mugabo·Mentioned: Winston Duarte
Section: Interlude: The Dreamer
Cara's dive into the BFE deepens as she experiences the ring builders developing a distributed mind, with the slow organisms in their icy ocean evolving sparking thoughts and a collective consciousness that pressed against the boundaries of their world. The vision reaches a pivotal moment as the alien mind cracks through its icy shell and encounters starlight for the first time, perceiving it as the voice of God. The dream is violently interrupted when Cara experiences what seems to be Amos Burton being shot, feeling the trauma through her connection to others who share her protomolecule-altered state, and she is wrenched out of the vision screaming.
POV: Cara·On page: Winston Duarte·Mentioned: Amos Burton
Chapter 13: Jim
James Holden carries Amos Burton' shattered body back to the Rocinante in a state of near-dissociation, his flight suit soaked in black blood from the massive exit wound. The crew escapes into orbit but finds the Sparrowhawk, a Laconian frigate, bearing down on them. Captain Mugabo attempts to negotiate Teresa Duarte's surrender while secretly lining up a torpedo attack, but Jim fires the rail gun first, crippling the Sparrowhawk. As the crew processes the apparent death of their friend and plots a course to Freehold for resupply and protection, Amos walks onto the ops deck alive, his fatal wound replaced by a circle of black alien material, hungry but otherwise functional. The crew is shaken by the revelation that Amos' ongoing transformation has made him effectively impossible to kill.
POV: James Holden·On page: Teresa Duarte, Amos Burton, Muskrat, Alex Kamal, Naomi Nagata, Mugabo
Chapter 14: Elvi
Cara's latest dive ends in crisis when she screams about being shot and loses consciousness, her brain activity spiking violently as she apparently experiences trauma through her connection to other protomolecule-altered beings. After recovering, Cara reports sensing other presences during her dives beyond just the alien memories and her link with Xan, and describes witnessing the ring builders seeing stars for the first time. Elvi Okoye reviews a physics presentation arguing that the ring space exists outside normal space-time and that ring gate technology violates entropy, while learning of two more anomalous events across human-settled systems. Exhausted and overwhelmed by the weight of saving humanity, Elvi confides in Fayez Sarkis about her growing understanding of the ring builders' origins and the terrifying gaps in her knowledge about the forces trying to destroy humanity.
POV: Elvi Okoye·On page: Cara, Xan, Fayez Sarkis·Mentioned: Amos Burton
Chapter 15: Teresa
Teresa Duarte turns sixteen aboard the Rocinante as the crew celebrates with a makeshift cake before their transit to Freehold system. She experiences a vivid vision of her father standing in her quarters, telling her everything will be all right and that he dreamed too small before, hinting at a grander plan. The crew shares stories about coming-of-age traditions from their different backgrounds, and Teresa reflects on her profound isolation, recognising that no one else in the universe shares her unique experience as the daughter of a god-emperor. As they transit into Freehold system, the tactical display reveals a Laconian Storm-class destroyer in orbit around the planet, but it is not the underground's stolen Gathering Storm, meaning Laconia has found one of the underground's key strongholds.
POV: Teresa Duarte·On page: Muskrat, Alex Kamal, James Holden, Amos Burton, Naomi Nagata, Winston Duarte·Mentioned: Kit Kamal, Bobbie Draper
Chapter 16: Tanaka
Aliana Tanaka recovers from being shot in the face by James Holden at the New Egypt school, losing teeth and suffering microfractures in her skull while her fire team lies buried in Abbassian soil. She reflects on her childhood, recalling how her aunt Akari taught her to channel grief and pain into anger after her parents' murder-suicide. Aboard the damaged Sparrowhawk, she sends out the Rocinante's disguised drive signature to Laconian forces across all systems and receives a message from Anton Trejo identifying a ship matching the Roci's profile that transited into Freehold system. Trejo suggests changing tactics and includes a mysterious datafile with a new strategy, noting that Holden and Nagata have been too smart and too lucky for conventional approaches, and Tanaka redirects the Sparrowhawk to rendezvous with the Derecho in Freehold.
POV: Aliana Tanaka·On page: Mugabo·Mentioned: Anton Trejo, James Holden, Teresa Duarte, Winston Duarte, Naomi Nagata
Chapter 17: Naomi
The Rocinante, disguised as a survey ship called the Sidpai, is resupplying at Draper Station in Freehold system while a Laconian destroyer threatens to bombard the planet's civilian population unless the Gathering Storm is surrendered. Naomi Nagata meets with Jillian Houston, commander of the Storm, who proposes abandoning the base and drawing the Derecho away. A second Laconian ship, the Sparrowhawk, arrives through the ring gate and broadcasts an open message from Admiral Anton Trejo proposing an alliance with Naomi, offering to enforce her transit protocols with Laconian ships in exchange for the return of Teresa Duarte.
POV: Naomi Nagata·On page: Alex Kamal, James Holden, Amos Burton, Teresa Duarte, Jillian Houston·Mentioned: Winston Duarte, Bobbie Draper, Saba, Anton Trejo