WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for The Expanse Season 5, Episode 9, "Winnipesaukee," available now on Amazon Prime Video.
The hits just keep coming for Camina Drummer. At the end of Season 4 of The Expanse she lost her friend and mentor, Klaes Ashford, when he was executed by Marco Inaros. Then Fred Johnson was assassinated on Marco's orders, taking another friend from her. Drummer is now aligned with Marco by necessity as his attacks on Earth painted a target on military and civilian Belters alike. However, Marco's demands have become increasingly disagreeable for Drummer, and his latest order is even worse: to intercept and engage the Rocinante, which is burning to the Chetzemoka to save Naomi.
Marco seems to have been trying his best to get under Drummer's skin ever since she pledged her allegiance to the Free Navy. He demanded they trade crew members, which involved one of her polyamorous family going to work on board Marco's ship, the Pella, and Karal, Marco's loyal soldier, being stationed on Drummer's ship. Karal then told Drummer that Naomi died escaping the Pella and that the distress message coming from the Chetzemoka is a fake meant to draw the Rocinante, which is only half true. Karal has also firmly expressed her belief that taking out the Rocinante is merely meant to get rid of a symbol of Inner/Belter cooperation, but Drummer isn't convinced.
Karal's influence continues to chip away at the unity of the PolyAm Belter Fam, with Oksana even undermining Drummer's authority by taking her sidearm to stop her from straight-up shooting Karal. It's important to note, though, that Drummer found another gun in Ashford's secret stash and she might still turn it on Karal to take back full control of her ship. Karal is a constant reminder that they are on Marco's leash, with the threat of death looming if they defy his orders. Especially since without Karal on board, Drummer would likely have instantly ordered them to burn hard for the Chetzemoka and investigate Naomi's message, resulting in them allying with the Rocinante instead of attacking it.
The order to go after the Rocinante also seems like a death sentence, since it's probably the most famous and effective gunship in the solar system. Martian gunships are the best on the market, but with the Roci family's special modifications -- including its keel-mounted rail gun -- it's likely that the order to go after the ship is just an execution by another name. Karal, however, seems to be fully willing to go ahead with the fight despite being put on a ship that is ultimately doomed to fail.
An adaptation of the novel series of the same name by James S.A. Corey, The Expanse stars Steven Strait, Cas Anvar, Dominique Tipper, Wes Chatham, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Frankie Adams. New episodes of Season 5 premiere Wednesdays on Amazon Prime Video.