It’s hard to look directly at the craft. That’s enough of a hint in itself. But as the glossy, shimmering vessel draws closer, it becomes even more obvious that the ship isn’t of human origin. The sight of it brings back a flash of the ship buried beneath the ice on Titan—but this vessel is even stranger, and much, much larger.

The spaceship is huge enough that it would dwarf even the Red Baron, which is already a much bigger ship than Fortuna was. Rather than metal, it’s made of an iridescent black material that seems to ripple as the ship descends. Its shape is nothing like the hard angles and logical proportions of every other ship I’ve seen. Instead, it is bulbous and softly rounded, its shape nonsensical for flight. And, perhaps most disconcerting of all, the ship is completely silent as it lands in the water before the dock.

Once again my mind returns to the buried ship—and the pulsing, glowing power source at the heart of it. I remember Altair placing it on the table to trade for the bio-weapon—a false deal set up by Leonis—and the Red Baron returning to Titan after the destruction to retrieve something for her. All of it led up to this moment.

There is clear hesitation before one of the council members gestures, and the peacekeeper boats drift out to help secure the ship to the dock, tying metal chains around whatever protuberances they can find. At each touch, the spaceship’s surface shivers like the flesh of some living thing, and many of the peacekeepers reel back in terror.

A lackluster wave of smaller ships trickles in behind the huge alien vessel. Small merchant vessels and luxury ships, many of them so clunky and outdated it’s clear they were designed long before the borders closed down, drift down to land in Nibiru’s ocean. The Gaians must have sent everything they had in order to transport as many people as possible, though even so, it’s not nearly enough. This is the first of at least three waves that will arrive. At the very least, Leonis had enough sense not to send any ships with weapons—though that alien spaceship is surely even more offensive to the Nibirans.

I realize, after a moment, that Scorpia is gripping my arm hard enough that her nails dig into my skin. She lets go and looks at me.

“What the hell are they thinking?” she asks, voice trembling.

“I was wondering how the Gaians could possibly have enough ships to transport their citizens,” I murmur, troubled. “Hopefully the council approved it.”