The three from THE conferred; two of them exited.

“This is the thing people never seem to realize,” Xavier said. “And when I say people, I mean humans, because maybe Sentries are better about this.

“Nothing gets done without logistics. You can’t fight wars without bullets, you can’t build machines without materials or factories, and you sure as shit can’t get any of that done unless you’ve got people in the right place . . .” And here he smiled and patted his ample middle. “And they’ve been fed.”

“Sentries have no experience with logistics, as you describe it,” Zeds told Xavier. “My connate once compared us to humans who live in tropical zones. We would essentially be subsistence fisherpeople willing to spend our days in or near the water, eating and breeding and little else. Perhaps occasional fights.”

“Add some music, and you’ve got New Orleans.” Zeds knew little of Earth geography but had learned that his friend Xavier had grown up in this near-tropical American city. “But, come on, you built spacecraft! Adventure was so durable we were able to fly it, more or less, after it had been sitting for several hundred years!”

“Vacuum preserves,” Zeds said. “And there have always been a fraction of my people who are more ambitious and active. Or we would never have left the sea.” Or before that, the land.

“That’s true of humans, too. And I am proud to say that I would happily be one of those subsistence fisherpeople you mentioned. That’s one of my problems with life on Keanu . . . it’s just too fucking hard.” He smiled again as the two THE officers approached carrying cups and trays of food. “And that was before we decided to turn the NEO into a warship.”

It was all human food, of course. Before Zeds could say anything, Xavier snapped to the agents, “Did you happen to notice the fact that he’s an alien? With different dietary needs?”

One of them looked chagrined. Again, Xavier spoke: “Show me where you got this stuff and let me pick something I know he can consume. Jesus.”

So Xavier went off with the pair that gathered food, leaving Zeds even more alone in the Site A factory, except for a lone THE counselor and the guards, all of them off at a distance.

He decided to investigate the pool. Careful to keep himself within view of the guards—though they must have known there was no possible escape for him—he systematically investigated each door. Naturally, upon reaching the last one, he was finally able to see to a loading dock, and beyond that, a glistening pool of water—not salty in a way he recognized, but still wet and likely restorative. It appeared that the pool existed for equipment of some kind, but that wouldn’t bother Zeds . . . as long as there was room enough for his body.

He hoped he would have a chance to test it.

As he turned, he was surprised to see a single Reiver Aggregate, anteater variety, standing in his way.

Anticipating attack, he raised his two upper arms. The Reiver made no motion; it seemed frozen, staring with its blank, faceted eyes. The sight and smell of the creature was so overpowering that Zeds wanted nothing more than to grab the nearest portable object and smash the Reiver into its component units.

Then squash each one.

But he could not attack without some provocation, however slight. And none had been offered. So he said, “What do you want?”

To his amazement, the Reiver spoke. “I am Aggregate Carbon-143 and I have important information for you.”

“You what?” Xavier said. “With who?”

It was ten minutes later. Zeds was back on the factory floor, the Reiver Aggregate having departed, Xavier having returned with some sort of vegetable stew that might have been Sentry-friendly if cold rather than cooked.

Nevertheless, Zeds ate as he waited for the Reivers to return to their machines. And more importantly, for those machines to rev up and create a sound curtain.

Only then did he recount, in general terms, the bizarre contact with a Reiver Aggregate and her apparent linkage to a human operator in the Site A hierarchy who would be standing by to perform certain actions. “I am to relay this information to Rachel immediately,” Zeds said.

“This thing mentioned Rachel?”

“No. She said our ‘human decision maker,’ but the implication was clear.”

“What kind of actions?”

“There was considerable detail. In general, it had to do with the activation of the Ring, a change in its size, orientation, and duration of operation. Also that we should make plans to be away from this facility before that activation.”

“I hope you remember it all.” He looked around. “We need to get Rachel or Pav down here fast.”

“I have an idea,” Zeds said.

He stood up to his full height . . . and fell over backward.

The suit cushioned the impact, but the floor was still hard.

Xavier seemed genuinely upset. “Jesus, Zeds! Hey!” he called, and bent over him. “What’s the idea?” he whispered.

But there was no time to explain. Zeds could hear and feel footsteps as THE officers and guards ran toward him.

He began stripping off his environment suit.

“Whoa, big buddy! What do you think you’re doing?”

“I have reached the limits of life support,” Zeds announced.

De la Vega had returned, too, joining the throng around Zeds. “What does he mean?” he asked Xavier.

“Ask him, for Christ’s sake. He speaks English.”

The human leader turned to Zeds. “What’s wrong?”

“I have been in this suit for days. Its support has expired and needs renewal.” He made a noise that in Sentry language indicated the looming moment of fusion, creating a connate, which to human ears sounded like a horrifying death rattle—or so Rachel had once told him.

Xavier and de la Vega seemed equally alarmed. “I need medical attention,” Zeds said.

“What kind of doctor could help him?” de la Vega said.

“Not me,” Xavier said.

Then Zeds croaked, “The only human capable of diagnosing me is Yahvi Stewart-Radhakrishnan.”

“We’ll get her,” de la Vega said.

“That’s the girl,” Xavier said. “Make sure her mother comes, too.”

De la Vega was giving orders. Zeds made another horrible noise. “What can we do?”

“I require immersion in water,” Zeds said.

Day Eleven

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2040

KEANU APPROACHES!

No one in government will confirm, but Keanu is maneuvering! Approximately 28 hours ago several eruptions were visible on its surface, consistent with the NEO’s original departure from Earth orbit in 2019.

But instead of shrinking in size and luminosity as it did then, Keanu is GROWING.

It is coming CLOSER TO EARTH!

And observers in South America noted a launch of some kind from Keanu shortly after it maneuvered.

Are we being invaded?

Or bombarded?

KETTERING GROUP,

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2040

WHIT

“How much longer?”

Whit Murray had been speaking into his headset, and thence into the entire Ring control system, for the past two hours, and was getting tired of hearing himself.

He sat in the same mission control as the day of First Light, but now in the center and front. The screens in front of him were different; there were more of them, they showed more data. And in the upper right was a special window all his own . . . a simple purple rectangle with an OVERRIDE icon that had not yet been activated but would be at the minus-fifteen-minute point.