Cibola Burn (Expanse, #4)

by James S.A. Corey

It was astounding, Bobbie thought, how quickly humanity could go from What unimaginable intelligence fashioned these soul-wrenching wonders? to Well, since they’re not here, can I have their stuff?

“High burn’ll get us on the ground in ’bout seventy-three days.” “Seventy-three days,” Holden said. “Well, seventy-two point eight.” “Space,” Holden said, trading his grin for a sigh, “is too damn big.”

About five hours before—when Havelock had been halfway through his ten-hour shift—a man dressed in an orange-and-purple suit so ugly it approached violence sat down on a couch in a video studio on Mars.

The mechanic had laid out two suits of their Martian-made light combat armor, a number of rifles and shotguns, and stacks of ammunition and explosives. “What,” Holden said, “is all this?” “You said to gear up for the drop.” “I meant, like, underwear and toothbrushes.” “Captain,” Amos said, almost hiding his impatience. “They’re killing each other down there. Half a dozen RCE security vanished into thin air, and a heavy lift shuttle got blown up.” “Yes, and our job is not to escalate that. Put all this shit away. Sidearms only. Bring clothes and sundries for us, any spare medical supplies for the colony. But that’s it.” “Later,” Amos said, “when you’re wishing we had this stuff, I am going to be merciless in my mockery. And then we’ll die.”

“Don’t do it,” Fayez said. “Don’t do what?” “Fall in love with Holden.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she snapped. “In that case, really don’t do it,” Fayez said with a cynical laugh, and turned away.

Too late for most of us

In the north was Crescent City, a massive network of alien ruins that sort of looked like a cartoon moon.

CROSSOVER?! (jk)

“Everyone loses eventually,” Murtry said. “Words to live by.”

You can order the sun to come up if you time it right.

“Because real monsters don’t go away when you close your eyes.

Then tomorrow I’m going to figure out how to get my first officer back from the RCE maniac holding her hostage, so that I can go find the scary alien bullet fragment embedded in the planet.” Amos nodded as if that all made sense. “Nothing in the afternoon, then.”

“How’s the captain doing?” Alex asked. “Not great. And once again he stopped me from doing the obvious thing.” “Shooting the RCE chief in the face?” “Awww,” Amos said. “Warms my heart how well you know me.”

I love these characters 😂

“Nice that you can do something to protect her,” Basia said, and meant to stop, but the words pressed out past his teeth. “My daughter is on the Barbapiccola. My wife and son are down on Ilus. I can’t do anything to help them or protect them.” Basia waited for the empty words of reassurance. “Yeah,” Alex said. “You really fucked that one up, didn’t you?”

“A person can fail the people they love just by being who they are. I’m who I am, and it wasn’t what my wife wanted me to be, and somethin’ had to break.

“The usual state of nature is recovering from the last disaster,”

“Still. Maybe some good can come out of it.” “I admire your psychotic optimism.”

It was less fun being the chosen one and prophet when the gods were violent and capricious and their spokesman was insane and powerless.

“Sorry to interrupt, but that cute scientist is looking for you.” It took Holden a moment. “The biologist?” “Well, the geologist ain’t bad, I guess, but he’s not my preferred flavor.” “What does she want?” “To make more puppy dog eyes at you?” Amos said. “How the fuck should I know?”

“Miller,” he said, rounding on him suddenly. “I am so far from giving a shit about your needs I can’t even see it from here.”

Havelock didn’t know if it was the sense of action that brought them or the need for exhaustion, the drive to wear themselves down so far that even the fact that they were flying dead over an empty planet and the nearest help was over a year away.

I don’t think this is a complete sentence

“Tu carry caba a oksel, schwist,” he said, and Naomi laughed. “Shikata ga fucking nai, sa sa?” she said.

Damn I thought I was getting pretty good at Belter slang but I can’t read this

She put her fingers through the grate and he pinched her fingertip gently between his thumb and forefinger. For a long moment, they floated there together: prisoner and guard, Belter and Earther, corporate employee and government saboteur. None of it seemed to matter as much as it used to.

“Know what they’ll be talking about?” “That?” “Yeah. ‘Boo hoo, I ain’t got no food, I’m going blind, holy shit there’s poison slugs.’ I don’t do group therapy. Couple minutes of bitching and moaning, I’m gonna start knocking people out just to get some peace.”

But listening to people bitch? Yeah, that’s sorta your job. It’s why you make the big money.” “We make the same money.” “Then I guess you’re doing it for the fame and glory.” “I hate you,” Holden said.

“We need to get you inside,” Elvi replied, throwing his left arm around her shoulders and guiding him to the door. “I think you’ve been awake for something like four days.” “It’s okay,” Holden said. “I took a lot of speed.

“Okay. Murtry’s pissed about the rescue.” “Yeah, but fuck him.” “I also,” Holden continued, “may have shoved him down and stolen his hand terminal.” “Stop making me fall in love with you, Cap, we both know it can’t go anywhere.”

But it did seem to be a microcosm of everything in life. No one lived forever. But you fought for every minute you could get.

All of nature was a record of crisis and destruction and adaptation and flourishing and being knocked back down again.

A pair of red lines drew themselves across his HUD and the words DANGER CLOSE flashed there briefly. He wasn’t up on all his military jargon, but he could guess what that phrase meant.

Murtry laughed. “You’re a funny—” Holden shot him.

FINALLY

“No, what I want is Ceres Station or Earth or Mars. You know what they have in New York? All-night diners with greasy food and crap coffee. I want to live on a world with all-night diners. And racetracks. And instant-delivery Thai food made from something I haven’t already eaten seven times in the last month.”