Winter World (The Long Winter #1)(49)

I want Emma to hear everything.

I hold a hand up. “Let’s take it from the top—and record it for posterity.”

Everyone sits a little straighter as Harry activates the bubble’s camera. Grigory even runs a hand through the rat’s nest on his head, to no avail.

Harry goes into his official voice. He has a very good official voice. “The crew of the Pax is happy to report that on mission day ninety-two we have made contact with Beta, the second artifact identified in our solar system. The alien construct is currently transiting the system, destination unknown, but on an intercept course with the Sun. As the mission log states, we launched a fleet of drones, Janus, to search for the first artifact, Alpha. They were unsuccessful. A second fleet of drones, Icarus, located Beta, and the Janus fleet was re-routed to it. Janus contains two scout drones and three specialized drones: observation, communication, and intervention.”

I can’t help but smile at the term “intervention.” Sounds better than “rail gun drone” or “battle drone.” Harry doesn’t miss a beat.

“The observation drone performed a successful fly-by, taking visual and other passive non-emissive readings. That drone will rendezvous with us in approximately twenty hours. We’ll reach the artifact in twelve days. And we’ll link up with the Fornax in four days. With that said, I’ll turn it over to Charlotte Lewis, the mission’s first contact specialist.”

Charlotte’s Australian accent seems a bit more pronounced than before. I’m sure we’re all thinking that this video could be shown around the world—and even watched for generations to come. Assuming there are future generations.

“Our first contact protocol was to issue a series of simple mathematical challenges in a variety of wave forms: microwave, radio wave, and light, for example. Our first mathematical sequence was the Fibonacci numbers. Zero, one, one, two, three, five, eight, and so on.” She inhales. “I’m happy to report that after the communications drone issued the forty-sixth number in the Fibonacci sequence, the artifact responded with the forty-seventh. For the first time in the history of the human race, we have made contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence.”

This feels like a good place to cut the video. Charlotte’s enthusiasm oozes through, and whoever is watching, wherever they are, whenever they are, will feel what we’re feeling right now.

Excitement.

Hope.

I give Harry a quick hand motion, and he taps his tablet.

“Recording ended.”

“Okay,” I begin. “The plan has always been to comm-brick major updates to home. I say we send one right now and include this video.”

The group agrees, and we break and reconvene when the brick is on its way to Earth. It’s the first communication we’ve sent. I can’t help feeling a little pride that it carries good news—and ahead of schedule.

Min opens the meeting.

“Well, let’s discuss.”

“I wish I were there,” Charlotte says.

“Depending on what it does to that drone, you may not,” says Grigory.

“Meaning?” she shoots back.

Grigory shrugs. “Meaning is clear. Drone could be in pieces by now.”

I hold up a hand. “We need to talk about whether our plans should change.”

Emma speaks first. “I for one am optimistic. Maybe it’s because I want to believe, but I tend to think this could be a break. Alpha summarily destroyed or disabled the probe—”

“A probe that spied on it without permission,” Charlotte says.

Grigory scoffs. “Spying is always without permission.”

“My point,” Emma says, cutting off Charlotte’s retort, “is that this is clearly a change in behavior. Granted, the drone acted differently than the probe, but the fact remains: upon learning of the drone, Beta didn’t react aggressively. What does that mean? Maybe this artifact is at war with the other.”

The idea hangs in the air a long moment. If true, it complicates matters. And gives us a potential ally. And a chance of ending the Long Winter.

“Maybe,” Harry says, “whatever is happening in our system is related to that war? One side needs solar output somehow or is compromising it? Or maybe we’re linked to one side in ways we don’t understand.”

I’m surprised when Lina speaks. “Maybe we’re a descendant race—one side’s offspring. Or biological drones.”

Interesting theories. You never know what someone’s thinking, especially the quiet ones.

Min speaks next.

“Or we could be simply caught in the middle. One side wants to protect us for moral reasons.”

“The question,” Harry says, “is whether we should alter our plans based on this information.”

“Of course,” Charlotte says. “We need to increase our speed and get to Beta as quickly as possible.”

“Reason?” Grigory asks.

“The reason is obvious,” Charlotte snaps. “We need to be there to communicate. Adapt our approach. This is the most important event in human history, and we’re taking our sweet time getting there.”

“We are not taking sweet time,” Grigory says. “We are flying through space at a significant fraction of speed of light. We are going fast.”