Back at Strigan’s house on Nilt, Breq takes care of Seivarden as the latter undergoes withdrawal from kef. Seivarden does not know where she is, how she got there, or who is taking care of her. Breq refuses to identify herself to Seivarden beyond naming herself as “Breq from the Gerentate” (a non-Radchaai state). Breq recalls the behavior that made her dislike Seivarden as an officer: As an arrogant teenager new to her post, Seivarden lost her temper with a group of doomed prisoners of war. Twenty years later, Seivarden ruined a young officer’s romance by insinuating that the officer’s suitor was only interested in moving up the social ladder through an alliance with someone from an older house. As Seivarden’s withdrawal symptoms fade, she becomes restless and her arrogance returns. After Seivarden attempts to escape, Breq reveals that she knows about Seivarden’s past, including the loss of Seivarden’s ship and her subsequent 1,000 years in suspended animation.

More than a week after Breq and Seivarden arrive at Strigan’s house, Breq awakens to the sounds of an intruder. The intruder, who Breq correctly identifies as Strigan, carries a gun and searches through Breq’s belongings. Strigan reveals that she has been watching Breq and Seivarden from a hiding place nearby: Strigan arranged the ambush on the tundra in the belief that Breq was a Radchaai “corpse soldier” sent to kill her.