Chapter 24

The sky darkened, and Maz watched from the dome window in his chamber. He had extinguished the lights. Maybe now they wouldn’t see him. Little by little, the darkness broke as each new ship descended. A few landed in the square. Others descended in the distance.

Each ship had a section in one side that unsealed. Creatures clad in black jumpsuits planted their feet on the ground, assault weapons in hand. Nessa gulped. They colored the square. Their skin was purple, blue, or green.

“My kind,” she muttered.

The creatures dispersed.

“Go into the domiciles,” one commanded into his implant. “Kill only if they resist.”

Maz scurried under his sleeping pod. Nessa glanced at Jamison through the corner of her eye.

“Where did we come from?” She asked. “My kind. Where did we come from?”

Jamison gave an initial response of a shrug, then added, “No one knows - just you were not, and then you were.”