The Expanse, #3
Abaddon's Gate
by James S. A. Corey
Contents
Chapter Twenty-Three: Melba
Overview
After Cohen’s leak is misread as proof of Julie Mao’s return, Melba adapts her disguise and shifts focus to destroying evidence clearing Holden. A sudden shipwide catastrophe devastates the Thomas Prince, forcing Melba into emergency repair work. Amid the chaos, she steals a dead officer’s credentials to advance her plan to infiltrate and destroy the Rocinante.
Summary
Melba reflects that Julie Mao has saved her again: Cohen’s stolen image of Julie is public, and everyone, primed by fear of the protomolecule, misreads it. Melba subtly alters her appearance and retreats to maintenance spaces, planning how to reach the Rocinante and erase evidence of Holden’s innocence by boarding and destroying the ship.
She assembles options: exploit an old Rocinante airlock software glitch with a short-range transmitter, or breach a weakened cargo door using a half-suit exoskeleton and cutting torch. Her plan is simple and terminal—board, kill the crew, overload the reactor, and, if necessary, die in the attempt—while waiting for news from the station.
A brutal, unexplained catastrophe strikes while Melba sleeps. She awakens to alarms, blood in the air, and widespread carnage aboard the Thomas Prince. Corpses and the grievously injured float through corridors; ad hoc teams secure bodies and clear blood. Redirected to environmental, Melba confronts shattered systems and a gravely injured officer, Nikos, who drafts her to help rebuild a destroyed primary atmosphere processor as backups tick down.
In engineering, Melba helps extract a corpse jammed through the processor housing, then secures it to a bulkhead. The dead man’s ID reveals him as Lieutenant Commander Stepan Arsenau. Recognizing an opportunity within the chaos, Melba pockets his card, realizing it could grant access to EVA gear essential for reaching the Rocinante.
When teammates ask for tools to drill a sheared bolt, Melba lies, promising to fetch equipment, but instead resolves to use the stolen credentials to slip away and advance her plan to infiltrate and destroy the Rocinante.
Who Appears
- Melba Koh (Clarissa Mao)Adapts her disguise after Cohen’s leak; plans to destroy the Rocinante; survives shipwide catastrophe; assists with repairs; steals a dead officer’s ID.
- NikosInjured officer in environmental/engineering; commandeers Melba to rebuild a destroyed atmosphere processor despite severe injuries.
- Lieutenant Commander Stepan ArsenauDead officer lodged in the air processor; his ID is stolen by Melba to aid her infiltration plan.
- Older woman in naval uniformHelps coordinate extraction of the corpse from the processor; works alongside Melba during emergency repairs.
- Young environmental techClears blood from the air; assists with damaged processor; illustrates the crew’s shock and improvisation.