Only it hadn’t headed it off.
Miles glanced around. At least, not yet. They could be out there, too. Waiting and watching. And his people were flying right into it.
Harold stood in the center of the group, though no one stood near it. It was as if Harold were the bullseye in the center of the target. Miles shifted uneasily. He didn’t like it, but if he edged up to Harold, he risked exposure, possibly arrest, and that alien autopsy he was hoping to avoid.
And—any action he took now also put Lira and her father at more risk. The group was already seriously unhappy with Lira’s father for keeping all the alien goodness to himself.
He couldn’t help recalling Star Trek First Contact ending when the alien ship arrived and the people were just standing around like it was not that big of a deal. Zefram Cochrane had been a little freaked out, and he’d known they were coming. Of course, Zefram had also known they were peaceful incoming aliens. This bunch didn’t know that for sure.
It had been difficult to share too much information because he and Harold didn’t know exactly who was coming. What if it was the intimidating Doc? No way he could make her less scary.
He glanced at Lira, noticed T’Korrin’s beak just visible inside her suit. The cold was both bitter and intense and she was used to the bird riding inside her suit with her.
He’d almost suggested leaving T’Korrin behind, but he had managed to stop himself in time. He might be a dude, a geologist, and an alien, but he had heard about women and their pets. It made no sense to bring a pet into a possibly volatile situation, but it wasn’t his call to make, not if he wanted to ever kiss the girl again.
There was a murmur through the group—again, not a crowd—as a bright light burst into view in the sky. One of the group held some kind of tracking handheld and was studying it, then looking up and pointing.
So, they were here.
He looked at Lira. She looked at him. He wished they were anywhere else. Okay, not anywhere, but certainly somewhere more stable and private. Definitely somewhere warmer.
As if the ground beneath them shared the group’s growing excitement, tremors began to shudder through the icy surface.
It was geologically interesting that this location was also turbulent seismically. Miles was rather proud of the fact that he was able to ride the tremors like a native. He caught Lira giving him a quick smile before redirecting her attention toward the pinpoint of light that seemed to be closing in on their position.
Harold shifted from one foot to the other, distracting Miles from the sky view.
Shifting was never a good sign with the robot. What was the problem?
He felt his own feet shifting as he stopped himself from stepping up next to the robot.
Something was wrong. What could be wrong?
He was one hundred percent sure his people wouldn’t start firing on the waiting group. He wasn’t so sure about the group. He had noticed they were all armed. For their peaceful meeting with aliens. Apparently hypocrisy wasn’t just an Earth thing.
There was a sudden surge of light and then it was as if an ink bottle had been spilled in the sky. The dark mass spread quickly, shutting out the light from the stars and the southern moon. But the pinpoint of light continued to close on them. And then he realized it was hovering directly overhead.
Shouldn’t it be bigger? And more ship shaped?
He angled his head right. Then he angled it left. There was no discernible ship in the inky mass. so how—and what—had closed in on them?
A light appeared to one side of the pinpoint light, still small. Then another and another until a pattern of lights were overhead.
Miles felt his unease spike.
“We need to move,” he said, though hide is what he meant.
The pattern of lights grew brighter and then began to pulse.
“Move!” he yelled!
“Yes,” Harold said. It began to move, slowly at first, then rapidly.
The group began to widen the circle but they weren’t moving fast enough.
“We are peaceful people,” one of the men said.
Miles thought his name was Pollin.
