Medina Station

Story so far

Medina Station is the Free Navy-held human habitation drum in the slow zone, layered with workers, civilians, security personnel, agricultural systems, and the command structure that directs the rail guns on Ring Station. Its early defense against Giambattista's swarm proves successful at the drum itself, but the swarm masks the attack that disables the artillery on the alien sphere.

With the guns down, the Roci and Giambattista pass through the Ring and launch a second wave of OPA landing craft toward Medina. Captain Christina Huang Samuels accepts James Holden's demand for surrender rather than provoke a destructive boarding action. The fall takes twenty hours from the first dockings to the last Free Navy operative being locked away. The small brig holds command staff, security personnel, agents, and department heads; technicians and maintenance workers are confined in their quarters by the station system.

Holden establishes a command post in the central security office, while Bobbie becomes acting head of security and Naomi works through station logs with an OPA engineer. The occupation reopens access to the colony worlds and is publicly hailed as liberation, but its defenses are shattered rather than captured. Medina now holds a coalition flag with no adequate artillery to keep it if Marco or Laconia can bring a serious counterattack first.

Appearance

A vast converted generation ship with a permanent-noon rotating drum, farms, service passages, a central security office, command and religious rooms on the float, locked residential quarters, and the close presence of armed occupation boats.

Role

Medina is the reopened gateway whose peaceful surrender proves the coalition can take territory without massacre, while its vulnerability turns the victory into a race for reinforcement.

Relationships

Earlier in this series

Also appears in books you've already read — spoiler-safe to their endings:

• Cibola BurnBook 4
• Nemesis GamesBook 5