by Scott Sigler
No one speaks. The blue dot blinks softly.
I couldn’t have possibly anticipated this. No one could have. We earned peace. An uneasy peace, certainly, but humans and Springers are working together, trying to build bridges that will lead to us sharing this planet. Not as one people, perhaps, but as cooperative neighbors. We’ve fought for that, and now a tiny point of blue light tells me it might all be for nothing.
“How long?” I say. “How long until it arrives?”
Gaston scratches his beard. “About two hundred days.”
We don’t know what it is. We don’t know what’s in it. We don’t know if it is friend or enemy.
Spingate clears her throat. “It’s likely they detected our radio wave, so they know that we know they’re coming. We’re trying to figure out how to send a communication, but we’re not sure how to do that, or if they would even understand. Should we—”
The room speaks, cutting her off.
“Grandmaster Spingate,” Ometeotl says. “Contact Gamma-One detected.”
Farther out from Omeyocan, past the blue dot and in yet another direction, a yellow dot appears.
Spingate and Gaston say nothing.
“Is that the sun?” I ask. “One of the two moons?”
Spingate slowly shakes her head. “The Xolotl is labeled Alpha-One. That was the first thing the radio wave detected. Then it detected the blue dot, which we labeled Beta-One. The wave keeps expanding, continues to detect things that are farther out.” Her hands rub absently at her swollen belly.
Gaston turns quickly to another pedestal. He calls up glowing symbols, grabs them, moves them, turns them.
The yellow dot grows a line: it points out into yet another area of space.
“A third ship,” he says, his voice flat, stunned. “Estimated time to orbit, two hundred eighty-one days. Maybe it’s a ghost image or something, or an asteroid, or—”
“Grandmaster Spingate, contact Delta-One detected.”
A green dot appears. This time I don’t have to ask what it is—it’s all too clear.
Gaston works the controls.
“Getting the estimated time to orbit,” he says. “Roughly…three hundred thirty-two days.”
Three ships, out there in the blackness of space. They are all coming from different directions.
They are all coming here.
Our fight for Omeyocan is long from over.
To my nieces, Riley and Sydney. May you grow to be strong and wise in all things. I love you.
Scott would like to thank the following people for their research expertise:
Dr. Joseph A. Albietz III, M.D.
Maria D’souza
Dr. Nicole Gugliucci, Ph.D.
A Kovacs
Dr. Phil Plait, Ph.D.
Chris Grall
MSG, U.S. Army Special Forces (Ret.)
John Vizcarra
And these lovely people for story feedback:
Abby Parrill-Baker, Ph.D.
Daniel Baker, Ph.D.
Lindsey Baker
Jody Sigler
BY SCOTT SIGLER
THE GENERATIONS TRILOGY
Alive
Alight
Alone (coming soon)
NOVELS
Infected (Infected Trilogy Book I)
Contagious (Infected Trilogy Book II)
Ancestor
Nocturnal
Pandemic (Infected Trilogy Book III)
GALACTIC FOOTBALL LEAGUE SERIES
The Rookie
The Starter
The All-Pro
The MVP
The Champion
GFL NOVELLAS
The Reporter
The Detective
Title Fight
SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS
Blood Is Red
Bones Are White
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New York Times bestselling author Scott Sigler is the author of fifteen novels, six novellas, and dozens of short stories. He is also the co-founder of Empty Set Entertainment, which publishes his YA Galactic Football League series. He lives in San Diego.
@scottsigler
scottsigler.com
Facebook.com/scottsigler
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