Story so far
Peter grew up in the mids, the son of a hydroponics plumber and Rebecca, a nursery worker. He worked in Justice and shadowed a judge before becoming a candidate for sheriff. Although Bernard Holland said Peter had accepted that position, Peter instead began as Juliette’s deputy. He soon carried out orders to arrest her, charged her with conspiracy, and took her to prepare for cleaning, wearing the sheriff’s badge after her removal. During the rebellion, he defended IT’s gate and fell clutching his shoulder after an attacker fired toward it.
As sheriff, Peter delivered meals to Lukas and initially expected the rebellion to be crushed. But while escorting Lukas toward death, he began questioning events as he overheard Juliette’s argument with Bernard. He listened to Lukas when Juliette’s voice came over the radio, found her in the airlock, called for help, and visited her during recovery. He hoped she would become mayor while urging her to delay rash action. Later, he and Lukas opposed her proposal to reveal the other silos; he also handled complaints about digging, tried to calm a public disturbance, and monitored her decontamination.
When the airlock doors opened without his intervention, Peter refused to shoot the people crowding into the sheriff’s office. He tentatively compared the vapor to the argon used during Juliette’s cleaning, then reported people reaching the outside, behaving erratically, and collapsing. Sheltering in the galley, he said he was having trouble breathing. Juliette subsequently believed him lost in her silo’s destruction and continues to count him among the people she has lost.
Role
Peter is the sheriff whose final reports describe the uncontrolled opening of the airlock and people collapsing. His death is Juliette’s belief rather than a directly witnessed outcome in these facts.
Relationships
Juliette — Peter arrested Juliette under orders, but later helped rescue her and supported her becoming mayor; she now believes him lost.
Lukas — Peter brought Lukas meals and later listened to him during the crisis over Juliette’s return.
Sources — 70 recorded facts, by chapter
Chapter 8
- Peter Billings is among the candidates being considered for sheriff.
- Jahns remembers Peter Billings working in Judicial as either a clerk or a judge’s apprentice.
Chapter 10
- Peter Billings currently shadows Judge Wilson.
- Peter Billings is third on Jahns’s list of sheriff candidates.
- Bernard says Peter Billings has accepted the sheriff position.
- Bernard says Peter Billings already lives in the up top.
Chapter 14
- A prepared contract for Peter Billings lies among Jahns’s paperwork.
Chapter 16
- Jahns worries about Peter Billings’s disappointment over the sheriff appointment.
- Jahns considers the possibility that Peter Billings might someday preside over hearings as a judge.
Chapter 23
- Peter Billings has just been sworn in as Juliette’s new deputy.
- Bernard says Peter Billings was a candidate for Juliette’s position.
- Peter Billings previously shadowed a silo judge.
- Juliette gives Peter Billings a list of apartments and merchants to visit the following day.
Chapter 25
- Peter is serving as Juliette’s new deputy.
- Peter worked as a court assistant in Justice.
- Peter previously shadowed in the mids’ deputy office but could not obtain a vacancy there.
- Peter grew up in the mids.
- Peter’s father was a hydroponics plumber who died a few years earlier.
- Peter’s mother Rebecca works in the nursery.
- Peter believes server operation and maintenance explain the cost of sending wires.
- Peter tells Juliette that he has orders to take her into custody.
Chapter 26
- Bernard says Peter has removed Juliette’s computer for evidence.
- Peter escorts Juliette to the stairs wearing her sheriff’s badge.
Chapter 29
- Peter Billings charges Juliette with conspiracy.
- Peter takes Juliette from her cell to the yellow door for her cleaning preparations.
Chapter 30
- Peter remains inside the sheriff’s office rather than joining Bernard to watch the cleaning.
Chapter 36
- In her confusion, Juliette looks for Peter Billings at his desk beyond the other silo’s airlock.
Chapter 51
- Peter Billings, the new sheriff, takes a position at IT’s security gate with a small gun.
- Peter Billings falls clutching his shoulder after a large attacker fires toward the security station.
Chapter 52
- Peter Billings rouses Bernard after the blast.
- Peter reports three men dead and several wounded on their side.
- Peter reports that the opposing force suffered much heavier losses.
Chapter 57
- Bernard says he will send Peter to collect Lukas’s dishes later.
Chapter 60
- Peter Billings brings Lukas dinner at the server-room door.
- Peter presses Lukas to eat with him and asks what he does in the server room.
- Peter says he is considering joining the planned assault on Mechanical.
- Peter predicts that the rebellion will be over within a few days after Sims blasts the barricade.
- Peter says Bernard has been acting strangely and attributes it to stress.
Chapter 67
- Sheriff Billings is assigned to escort Mrs. Kyle out after her visit.
Chapter 70
- Lukas remembers Sheriff Billings inspecting his gun during Lukas’s mother’s visit.
Chapter 76
- Sheriff Billings answers Bernard’s radio call as Bernard reports that Lukas wants out.
Chapter 78
- Peter escorts Lukas up the stairs by holding his elbow.
- Peter begins to doubt the march toward Lukas’s death while overhearing Juliette and Bernard’s argument.
Chapter 81
- Peter Billings finds Juliette in the airlock and calls for help.
- Peter visits Juliette frequently during her recovery.
- Peter listens to Lukas after Juliette’s voice is heard on his radio.
- Peter points out that IT security is a hundred levels away and only his gun is up top.
Chapter 82
- Peter hopes Juliette will accept the mayoralty.
- Lukas says Peter has held his post longer than the other current leaders.
- Peter asks Juliette to postpone rash action until their next meeting.
Chapter 197
- Lukas reports that Billings has received a dozen complaints about the possible consequences of digging.
Chapter 201
- Peter Billings is the new sheriff.
Chapter 203
- Peter and Lukas opposed Juliette’s proposal to tell everyone that their silo was not alone.
Chapter 208
- Sheriff Peter Billings tries to calm the shouting crowd.
- Peter directs Juliette into the judge’s chambers during the disturbance.
Chapter 213
- Peter Billings watches decontamination from the sheriff’s office.
- Peter confirms a perfect vacuum over the office radio.
- Peter tells Juliette that the dig broke through about half an hour earlier.
Chapter 217
- Peter Billings seals all the airlocks after Juliette removes her suit.
Chapter 226
- Peter reports that the yellow inner airlock door has opened without his intervention.
- Peter reports that the outer airlock door is also open.
- Peter refuses to shoot people who have crowded into the office.
- Peter tentatively agrees that the vapor resembles the argon he saw during Juliette’s cleaning.
Chapter 227
- Peter reports that people are getting through to the outside.
- Peter reports difficulty breathing while sheltering in the galley.
- Peter reports that the people streaming upward are acting erratically and collapsing.
Chapter 228
- Juliette recalls Peter’s report that the airlock was open and people were collapsing.
Chapter 233
- Juliette believes Peter has been lost in the destruction of her silo.
Chapter 234
- Juliette reports that Peter saw the outside after the silo doors opened and people began dying.
Chapter 240
- Juliette counts Peter among the people she has lost.