Fleeing for their lives, Jess and Pavel make it to the Moon, narrowly avoiding the attack on Space Station 92-AE. They should be safe and happy, but they discover they are not alone on Tranquility Base. The stranger they encounter seems uniquely qualified to leak their presence to Chancellor Lucca Brezhnaya, especially when the Marsians contemplate airing Lucca's political dirty laundry. But Lucca has already shown she would destroy worlds rather than see her secrets exposed.