diff --git a/.github/workflows/dep-check.yml b/.github/workflows/dep-check.yml
index a3f09a0..7c5edca 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/dep-check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/dep-check.yml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ on:
           TOOL is a semver artifact, so a behaviour change is a version bump somebody reviewed.
           The pin lives here rather than in eleven callers.
         type: string
-        default: '0.8.0'
+        default: '0.9.0'
       run-floor-check:
         description: |
           Also run the suite against the BOTTOM of every declared sibling range, not only
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9bf1ef8..5ac1b42 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,22 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [dep-check 0.9.0] - 2026-08-27
+
+### Fixed
+
+- Check C distinguishes a range that is **ahead** of the registry from one that is behind it. Both
+  miss `latest`, and they are opposite problems: behind means the range stopped at an older major,
+  ahead means its floor is above everything published, so the package installs nowhere. The second
+  was reported as `0 majors behind` — a reader scanning the column saw a number that reads as
+  "roughly up to date" for a package no consumer can install (#24)
+
+  It has a name of its own now, `unpublished`, and sorts above `contract`: a range the registry
+  cannot satisfy at all is worse than a stale one. It is the expected state mid-way through a
+  two-release change — a satellite declaring the floor it will need before the sibling publishes —
+  and a defect if it outlives one, which is exactly the distinction the label has to carry.
+
+
 ## [dep-check 0.8.0] - 2026-08-27
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/packages/dep-check/index.mjs b/packages/dep-check/index.mjs
index 739476d..c71f9ea 100755
--- a/packages/dep-check/index.mjs
+++ b/packages/dep-check/index.mjs
@@ -172,16 +172,24 @@ async function commandRegistry(root) {
   const findings = [];
   for (const ref of refs) {
     const drift = ceilingDrift({ range: ref.range, latest: latest.get(ref.dep) });
-    if (drift) findings.push({ ...ref, ...drift, severity: ref.field === "peerDependencies" ? "contract" : "behind" });
+    if (!drift) continue;
+    // `ahead` outranks the peer/dependency distinction: a range the registry cannot satisfy at
+    // all means the package installs nowhere, which is worse than a stale contract.
+    const severity = drift.direction === "ahead" ? "unpublished" : ref.field === "peerDependencies" ? "contract" : "behind";
+    findings.push({ ...ref, ...drift, severity });
   }
   // A stale peer is a broken install contract for every consumer; a stale dependency
   // is just being a version behind, which is ordinary and what Renovate is for.
-  findings.sort((a, b) => (a.severity === b.severity ? 0 : a.severity === "contract" ? -1 : 1));
+  const rank = { unpublished: 0, contract: 1, behind: 2 };
+  findings.sort((a, b) => rank[a.severity] - rank[b.severity]);
   report({
     title: "C) declared range vs published latest",
     findings,
-    note: "  `contract` = a peer range that no longer admits latest: consumers cannot install this combination.\n  `behind`   = an ordinary dependency one or more versions back.",
-    columns: (f) => `[${f.severity}] ${f.pkg.padEnd(26)} ${f.dep.padEnd(22)} ${f.range.padEnd(18)} latest ${f.latest} (${f.majorsBehind} major${f.majorsBehind === 1 ? "" : "s"} behind)`,
+    note: "  `unpublished` = the range's floor is ABOVE latest: no published version satisfies it, so this\n                  package installs nowhere until the sibling publishes. Expected mid-way through a\n                  two-release change, and a defect if it outlives one.\n  `contract`    = a peer range that no longer admits latest: consumers cannot install this combination.\n  `behind`      = an ordinary dependency one or more versions back.",
+    columns: (f) =>
+      f.direction === "ahead"
+        ? `[${f.severity}] ${f.pkg.padEnd(26)} ${f.dep.padEnd(22)} ${f.range.padEnd(18)} latest ${f.latest} (nothing published satisfies this yet)`
+        : `[${f.severity}] ${f.pkg.padEnd(26)} ${f.dep.padEnd(22)} ${f.range.padEnd(18)} latest ${f.latest} (${f.majorsBehind} major${f.majorsBehind === 1 ? "" : "s"} behind)`,
   });
   return 0; // never blocks — see the header
 }
diff --git a/packages/dep-check/package-lock.json b/packages/dep-check/package-lock.json
index 312920a..b4b2b56 100644
--- a/packages/dep-check/package-lock.json
+++ b/packages/dep-check/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "@theokit/dep-check",
-  "version": "0.8.0",
+  "version": "0.9.0",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "@theokit/dep-check",
-      "version": "0.8.0",
+      "version": "0.9.0",
       "license": "Apache-2.0",
       "dependencies": {
         "semver": "^7.7.2"
diff --git a/packages/dep-check/package.json b/packages/dep-check/package.json
index acb52e8..e0774c7 100644
--- a/packages/dep-check/package.json
+++ b/packages/dep-check/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@theokit/dep-check",
-  "version": "0.8.0",
+  "version": "0.9.0",
   "description": "The ecosystem dependency gate: does a package's declared range still describe the sibling it ships against? Four checks, kept apart by what they need to answer and therefore by whether they may fail a build.",
   "type": "module",
   "engines": {
diff --git a/packages/dep-check/src/checks.mjs b/packages/dep-check/src/checks.mjs
index a59b488..828b9de 100644
--- a/packages/dep-check/src/checks.mjs
+++ b/packages/dep-check/src/checks.mjs
@@ -55,7 +55,18 @@ export function ceilingDrift({ range, latest }) {
   // pull request against every consumer.
   if (semver.prerelease(latest)) return null;
   if (semver.satisfies(latest, range)) return null;
-  return { range, latest, majorsBehind: majorsBetween(range, latest) };
+  // A range can miss `latest` from either side, and the two are opposite problems.
+  //
+  // BEHIND is the ordinary one: the range stopped at an older major and the world moved on.
+  // AHEAD happens during a two-release change — a satellite declares the floor it will need
+  // before the version exists, so nobody can install it until the other package publishes.
+  // Reporting that as `0 majors behind` describes its mirror image: a reader scanning the
+  // column sees a number that reads as "roughly up to date" for a package that installs nowhere.
+  const floor = semver.minVersion(range);
+  if (floor && semver.gt(floor, latest)) {
+    return { range, latest, direction: "ahead" };
+  }
+  return { range, latest, direction: "behind", majorsBehind: majorsBetween(range, latest) };
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/packages/dep-check/test/checks.test.mjs b/packages/dep-check/test/checks.test.mjs
index 0ff097e..795ea7c 100644
--- a/packages/dep-check/test/checks.test.mjs
+++ b/packages/dep-check/test/checks.test.mjs
@@ -195,6 +195,38 @@ describe("groupUntestedFloors — the extra runs needed to exercise what the int
   });
 });
 
+describe("ceilingDrift — a range ahead of the registry is not a range behind it", () => {
+  // A two-release change declares the new floor before the version exists: the satellite says
+  // `>=4.60.0` while the registry is at `4.59.0`. That is a real, temporary state — the package
+  // cannot be installed by anyone until the SDK publishes — and the gate should say so.
+  //
+  // It did say something, and it said the opposite: `0 majors behind`, for a range that is ahead.
+  // The measurement was right and the label described its mirror image.
+
+  it("test_reports_a_range_the_registry_cannot_satisfy_yet_as_ahead", () => {
+    const drift = ceilingDrift({ range: ">=4.60.0", latest: "4.59.0" });
+    expect(drift).toBeTruthy();
+    expect(drift.direction).toBe("ahead");
+  });
+
+  it("test_still_reports_an_ordinary_stale_range_as_behind", () => {
+    const drift = ceilingDrift({ range: "^3.0.0", latest: "4.59.0" });
+    expect(drift.direction).toBe("behind");
+    expect(drift.majorsBehind).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  it("test_says_nothing_when_the_range_admits_latest", () => {
+    expect(ceilingDrift({ range: ">=4.0.0", latest: "4.59.0" })).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it("test_an_ahead_range_does_not_claim_a_majors_behind_count", () => {
+    // `0 majors behind` on a range that is ahead is the label that made this worth fixing:
+    // a reader scanning the column sees a number that says "up to date, roughly".
+    const drift = ceilingDrift({ range: ">=4.60.0", latest: "4.59.0" });
+    expect(drift.majorsBehind).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+});
+
 describe("unpublishedSiblings — what check D cannot get from the registry yet", () => {
   // A version pull request bumps a package and a sibling it depends on in the same cut.
   // `pnpm pack` rewrites `workspace:^` to the NEW local version, correctly, and the registry