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[marineris]

"This is Bobbie Draper. I'll get back to you."

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[marineris]

We dealt with those ensigns trying to take over the ship, and then we were headed to Io. We hadn't gotten there yet.

[donkeyballs]

[ Oh right. The ones that beat the shit out of him. He made a bit of a face, but it was mild. ]

Christ, alright. There's a lot to go over. [ As he just - starts eating the food with his fingers right off the tray. He's hungry. ]

Maybe we should go somewhere a little more comfortable, 'cause this is gonna be a long story.

[marineris]

[Bobbie can't help but grin when he starts eating. Ridiculous.]

Alright. Do you want to finish cramming that food in your mouth first?

[donkeyballs]

I can eat on the way.

[ Which he proves, by shoving some of it in his mouth as he heads out into the hallway. ]

Well, first good news is that we found Mei. And stopped the war. And saved Mars from a hybrid launch.

And I wish I could say that was the most eventful part of this story.

[marineris]

Jesus.

[This is going to be a lot, she can already tell.]

What hybrid launch? How did that happen?

[donkeyballs]

From Io.

Turned out that one of the Earth Admirals got the launch codes for - hell, must've been nearly two dozen pods - and during a battle above Io, launched 'em all for Mars. I got a few with PDC rounds, but we ended up havin' to go to the Agatha King and get the launch codes. Naomi and me, I mean. We -

No, I'm tellin' this story all wrong, I'm gonna jump the hell around, like this. Okay.

We let the kids go back to the Martian Navy with a message from Chrisjen, then we headed for Io...

[ And he proceeded to tell the story of the first half of the third Season of the Expanse while they walked. ]

[marineris]

[Bobbie just listens, and when he finishes, she's quiet for a long moment, processing.]

...The MMC took me back?

[donkeyballs]

They'd've been idiots not to. [ He managed to finish the story just as they reached the sixth floor, and he frowned for a second as he tried to remember where he was supposed to be - and then headed for 6.25. ]

It was an illegal war, Gunny, and you and Chrisjen basically saved the whole damn system. She ended up UN Secretary General - the least they could do was let you be a Marine again.

Us - uh - we didn't get as warm a reception. Ended up gettin' sued by Mars over the ownership of the Roci.

[marineris]

[That's certainly mood whiplash. Bobbie lets out a breath. It makes sense, though—fair or not, she wouldn't have expected Mars to do anything else.]

What did you do?

[donkeyballs]

Stayed the hell away from Mars. Which suited us fine. Well - most of us. Obviously it meant I couldn't go home, but. [ He gave an awkward shrug as he hit the console pad for the room and the door slid open. ]

You did, though. It was really kind of you, actually. You checked in on 'em, for me. Told me Melas was a cute kid. [ He smiled, a little, before walking over to one of the matresses on theother side of the room and sliding down the wall with the nearly-empty food tray on his lap.]

Then you got shipped out to the Ring, right about the same time a journalist ended up chartering us to take her out there, too. Did a documentary on us and the Roci, and in return paid the legal fees for the fight with Mars.

[marineris]

Wait, I met your family?

[She can't imagine meeting Talissa as anything other than horrifically awkward.]

And what the hell is the Ring?

[donkeyballs]

[ Sorry Bobbie, he's getting ahead of himself again. ]

Yeah. You went on my behalf, since I couldn't. It meant a lot. Didn't change anythin' regarding divorce procedures, though, but I think Melas appreciated it.

[marineris]

[She sighs, scrubbing a hand over her face.]

I wish I remembered that.

[donkeyballs]

[ He offered her a sympathetic smile. ]

Hey, not remembering that's at least better than you not rememberin' me at all.

[marineris]

You remember me now, right? The rest doesn't matter.

[donkeyballs]

Yeah. [ The smile softened, as he set the tray aside and patted the mattress next to him. ]

I'd be hard pressed not to. Though I almost thought I lost you, twice, but- come on, lemme finish the rest of the story.

[marineris]

[Bobbie takes the invitation and sits down beside him, leaning her shoulder into his.]

Lost me how?

[donkeyballs]

I'll get there, but that's skippin' to the end a bit, and I gotta figure out how the hell to even tell the beginning.

[ He paused, leaning his head back against the wall with a hum. ]

So, we were headin' back to Ganymede, with you and Chrisjen and all the kids when it happened. The protoshit, on Venus, had been workin' away that whole damn time, and like a damn Krakken from the deeps, it rose outta the cloud bank like a giant ship.

Swore I nearly had a heart attack, when I saw the news feed.

[marineris]

A ship. It made a ship.

[donkeyballs]

Yeah. You remember the one it sort of exploded on Venus? Well, guess it was takin' notes, because it wanted to go to space itself.

Whole thing looked like some kinda messed up jellyfish, or a squid. Anyway, of course, everyone was damn near terrified, but the thing didn't head for Earth, or even Mars. Flew itself right out past the belt and out past Uranus.

And then it made itself into a giant Ring. And I'm talkin' giant.

[marineris]

What the fuck was it for? Did anyone figure that out?

[donkeyballs]

Yeah. Yeah, we figured it out. [ He wet his lips, a little quiet. It was jumping to the end, but -- ]

It was a door. Got accidentally activated when a rock hopper kid sling shotted like a bullet through it. Me an' the Cap an' Amos were already on our way there, after Naomi left, along with a whole fleet from the UN and from Mars. Hell, even the Belt came - they outfitted the Nauvoo and renamed it the Behemoth - first Belt Nation warship, if you'd believe it. You were there too - not on the Roci, but on the Xuesen. We uh - we used to video call, a bit, but that's not really the point. Anyway, so we were on our way there, right? Then this kid activates it and the ring fills with this weird blue haze shit, only no one can really tell what's on the other side of it, right?

So everyone is gearin' up to try to poke at it gently, but -

[ He frowned. ]

Somethin' happened. An explosion, on a UN ship. And at the same moment, the Roci locked us out of our comms and weapon controls - while broadcasting a message from Holden about how we'd gone and blown the damn thing up on behalf of the OPA. We hadn't, of course. Someone had hacked our systems and made that video of Holden with some fancy tech, but - suddenly we had target locks from nearly every damn ship in the AO, including the Behemoth.

They fired first. The Belt. Made sense, since to them it looked like we were tryin' to get them all killed in another shootin' war out in the damn edges of the solar system. Only we didn't have PDCs or anythin', so I had to gun it. Only here comes Holden, actin' fuckin' nuts, I'll be honest- tellin' us that we had to go through the ring, real slow.

Now I didn't mention it before, but, that kid that turn the thing on? Turned to liquid paste. The ring stopped it so fast that the sudden deceleration just obliterated him. So I wasn't too keen on goin' into it, for obvious reason, but it ain't like I can outfly a missile with a target lock.

[marineris]

[This sounds like a mess, but the fact that she was on an MCRN ship, still enlisted, is such a rush of relief.]

So what happened? You said something about the Roci decelerating before. Is that when it did?

[donkeyballs]

Nah, we got through. I slowed way the hell down before we went in, so we slid into the ring like a knife through butter - though I think I passed out during the deceleration anyway. We were strapped in and on juice, so we all made it out okay.

But the missile? Stopped dead in the goddamn water, floatin' maybe a half second's flight away from us.

Inside the Ring...

Gunny, I don't think I could describe it. It wasn't Space. It was somewhere else. The whole thing like this weird blue bubble, only you could fit a small solar system in it. In the center was this - weird orb. Like a mini moon, only it was definitely constructed by the protomolecule. It was pretty damn far from being natural.

Once we went through, others started comin' too, only we still had our comms shut down. So I saw when your ship came through, Gunny, but there wasn't a way to reach you - any of you - and 'cause of the speed limit, ya'll couldn't catch up to us. The Belt came through, one of the big UN ships - it was a party, in slow motion.

We sent the reporters to go talk to Mars on our behalf by pushin' 'em out the airlock in the direction of the Xuesen, but - next thing I know, Holden's takin' off for the sphere an' not lettin' me or Amos go with 'im. He uh - he sort of had contact, with the thing, which is how he knew to go in real slow.

Kept appearin' to him like Miller. Like a goddamn ghost.

[marineris]

Wait, wait... The protomolecule looked like Miller?