Bobbie attends a long diplomatic meeting between Martian and UN officials, but the session is consumed by introductions and agenda items about trade, pricing, and water rights. Bobbie grows restless and studies the room, noticing that the real power likely belongs to quiet figures, especially an elderly woman in a yellow sari who appears to influence others without speaking much.

During a break, Bobbie asks Thorsson why no one is discussing the monster that killed soldiers on Ganymede. Thorsson explains that politics moves slowly because careers are at stake, but the answer enrages Bobbie. Remembering her dead Marines and the creature in the vacuum, Bobbie decides that diplomatic caution is intolerable.

When the meeting resumes, Bobbie raises her hand and forces the room to acknowledge her. The yellow-sari woman stops the agenda reader and invites Bobbie to speak. Bobbie demands to know why the monster is not the subject of the meeting, then throws the agenda across the table and curses the diplomats for ignoring the real threat.

Thorsson removes Bobbie from the room, claims she is suffering from post-combat stress, and furiously blames both Bobbie and Captain Martens. Thorsson says Bobbie and Martens will be sent back to Mars to face a disciplinary board. Martens tries to engage Bobbie gently, but Bobbie, shaken and angry, leaves to get air.

Bobbie wanders through the massive UN complex and begins reassessing what she has been taught about Earth. When Bobbie finally steps outside, the open sky triggers severe panic, but a sympathetic guard named Chuck helps Bobbie try again by advising Bobbie to look down first and then toward the horizon. Bobbie succeeds on the second attempt and leaves the UN grounds, followed discreetly by security.

In the city, Bobbie is overwhelmed by Earth’s population, abundance, and social structure. At a coffee shop, a blue-haired server explains work credits, university access, and basic support, giving Bobbie a clearer view of Earth’s engaged and apathetic classes. Bobbie concludes that Mars could never defeat Earth on the ground and that Thorsson’s politics and Martian rivalry no longer matter; the only thing that matters is discovering who put the monster on Ganymede.