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ChapterOne
The night skyglowed with electricity, reminding Hannah of the stories her grandmother used to tell her about life in the old world, of its legendary storms.She halted on the crumbling stone sidewalk, a large basket of vegetables in her hands as she stared at the sky.But no rain fell, nor thunder boomed.It didn’t look like any kind of lightning Hannah had ever seen.It spread its neon-bright arms in concentric circles, crackling with life as it descended toward the ground.She blinked, sure she was hallucinating from lack of sleep, then looked back at the lightning.
Nope, it was definitely still there.And itdefinitelywasn’t lightning.A large saucer-shaped craft came into view, studded with hundreds of other tiny lights.
A spaceship?
Had the prayers of New Eden been answered?Had someone finally heard their distress call, launched so many weeks ago, pleading for help after being devastated by an earthquake?Despite the spaceship’s welcome appearance, Hannah still had to swallow the lump in her throat that formed whenever she thought of the disaster.Two years had since passed, although it felt like decades.The quake had killed half of New Eden’s population and decimated what was left of its struggling infrastructure.
Every light on the ship flared to life, a tremendous boom sounding in the air as it descended.The ground beneath her feet vibrated with the impact, reminding her of the quake.Her vegetable basket fell from her hands, scattering carrots on the dusty ground.
She forced herself to move, to run to the saviors who’d heard her call.The ship had landed in an untended field, far from the old makeshift launchpad the original colonists had constructed, but Hannah supposed it didn’t matter.What time hadn’t destroyed of the old launchpad, the earthquake did, and this ship looked to be too large for it, anyway.Besides, hadn’t she mentioned in her SOS that any rescuers could land in the field?
As she reached the ship, its exterior door yawned open, and a ramp extended from it.She froze a few meters away, a thousand thoughts tumbling through her mind.She wasn’t New Eden’s mayor—he had died in the earthquake.Not knowing where she should look, she glanced down at her feet.In the light offered by the twin moons overhead and the ship’s lights, she could see the poor condition of her sandals, the leather worn thin and cracking in spots.What a professional first impression she was about to make to the planet’s first visitors in, well,ever.
Light spilled out from the ship’s hatch, bright enough to make her squint.Just as quickly, it was blocked by a huge figure, who paused at the top of the ramp.She couldn’t make out their features, only a body that towered over hers.
Hannah’s stomach dropped, but she forced herself to walk closer to the ship.She waved her arms to catch their attention.“Hello!”
It worked.The figure walked down the ramp, heavy boots clanging off its surface.She swallowed.They sounded like they could do a lot of damage.“Hello,” she repeated.“Welcome to New Eden.I apologize for the lack of hospitality.Did you get my message?”Her mind flashed back to her weeks of secret work as she rebuilt a transmitter to broadcast her SOS.Months had passed without a response, so long that she had quietly despaired that she might have failed.
The figure strode off the ramp and across the grass, headed straight for her.Hannah didn’t move, although a small voice told her it might be a smart idea.
But what if the ship’s occupants were here to help?Had they heard the distress signal she’d broadcasted across her corner of the galaxy?It wouldn’t be polite to run back to New Eden’s ruined city if they were responding to her SOS.If they had the technology to build such a ship, they had the technology to help the planet’s survivors rebuild their lives.
The figure stopped a meter away from where Hannah stood.This close, she could see it was a man, wearing a black suit that better resembled armor than clothing.He’d strapped a weapon to his hip, although Hannah didn’t know enough about them to identify it.His hair and ears were covered by a helmet that hugged his scalp, leaving only his face visible.The twin moons and light offered by his ship highlighted his sharp cheekbones and dark eyes that fixed on Hannah.
She didn’t know what else to do after welcoming him to New Eden, so she gave him a small wave.
He regarded her coolly for a few seconds, but he didn’t draw the weapon at his hip.Maybe he didn’t think she was enough of a threat to do so.“Are you the leader of this place?”His voice was rough and deep.
The words were encouraging, even if the voice was a little intimidating.“Did you get our distress signal?We sent it out over, oh God, like two months ago, maybe?I’ve sort of lost track of time.”The words slipped out before she could better refine them.“Not that I don’t appreciate your arrival.We had a natural disaster and lost many of our people.Thank you for coming, all the same.I’m not sure where you want to help us start rebuilding, but we have a power grid that’s in desperate need of repair.Maybe we...”
He cut her off.“Are you Hannah Forsyth?Your voice is registering as the same one that sent a message that our ship intercepted.”
It took a few seconds for his words to register.The memory of the night she’d finally managed to repair the ancient broadcast system long enough to send out an SOS hit her full force.How she had cried when it broke down after she sent it.Excitement and hope welled in her.“Oh, my God!You received it!It worked!You’re here to rescue us!Thank you so much!”
His gaze was unflinching and steely with his reply.“Our colony was in the direct path of an ion storm.Everything has been lost.”
Her jubilation was tempered by that piece of news.Hannah felt sick.“Oh, my God.We lost everything in a major quake a couple of years ago.”She’d mentioned that in her SOS and immediately felt like an idiot.“But I guess you know that already.”
“We need a new home, and you need help to rebuild your infrastructure.”He looked over Hannah’s shoulder.When she followed his gaze, she found a small group of people lingering behind her, undoubtedly drawn there by the sound of this man’s ship.
“So, you want to trade resources?”Hannah asked slowly.
“Yes.We wish to reestablish our colony here, if you’ll have us.”He closed his eyes, as if in prayer.A moment later, more people in the same kind of suit he wore began to descend the ramp, boots echoing in near-perfect unison to their stomping.
Her hope quickly turned to ire.This wasn’t the kind of help she’d envisioned for New Eden.“Wait a damn minute!”
He opened his eyes.“What?”
“You can’t just take over a planet like that!”
“We will do no such thing.You said yourself that you’re in need of help.Your broadcast conveyed that your infrastructure has been decimated and your population has dwindled.We can aid in your reconstruction and, perhaps, improve on it.You can direct us to arable land on which we can rebuild our society, and we will share our technology with you.Is this not an ideal solution for both of our societies?”
Hannah wasn’t so sure she or anyone else on New Eden would want to make room for a group of...whatever the hell these people were.They lined up outside their spacecraft, their heavy flight suits molded to their bodies, and adorned with all manner of tech she had never even dreamed of, expressions blank underneath shiny black helmets.If Hannah closed her eyes and focused, she could probably hear them blink in unison.It wasn’t natural, although she wasn’t sure she could make that judgment based on her limited knowledge of pretty much everything in the universe.Uncanny valley, she decided.She’d read that phrase in a book with yellowing pages years ago.They seemed human, and yet not, somehow.
“Madam?”The man she’d been speaking to snapped her out of her musing.“I asked you if this is not an ideal solution to both of our societies.Will you answer?”
