Then, accompanied by a crackle of blue lightning that sent a horrified thrill down his spine, five ominous diamond-skinned spheres broke through Erphano’s high cloud deck—attack globes from a civilization no human could comprehend.

“Junna, go get your mother. Now!” The girl turned in panic. She suddenly looked very young. Berndt stood up from his command chair and gave Junna a push toward the ladder. “Get as many crew members aboard the scout ships as you can and launch away from the skymine.”

“You’re evacuating, sir?” asked the shift boss.

“Now!” he yelled. “Scatter while you can.”

The diamond globes rose toward the defenseless Erphano skymine. Alarms shrieked louder while the bridge crew scrambled. Announcements bellowed through the intercoms. Berndt Okiah damned himself for not foreseeing this specific situation, for not conducting more drills, but even so his people reacted quickly and efficiently, including Junna.

Berndt went to the communications console, shoving the technician aside and telling her to get a seat aboard one of the scout vessels. He broadcast an open frequency signal. “Alien ships, we mean you no harm. We are here in peace.” He waited, but no signals throbbed through the Erphano skymine. “We are no threat to you. Please communicate. Tell us what you want.”

Again, no reply.

Already, a flurry of tiny scout ships launched from the drifting facility, streaking off into the open clouds toward what they hoped was safety. But each of those ships could hold a maximum of three, maybe four people. Berndt couldn’t possibly get all of his crew away in time.

The five alien globes climbed to the level of the skymine, shimmering, hiding misty secrets inside their murky cores. Each curved vessel was immense, a diameter larger than six Roamer cloud mines. Berndt Okiah had seen these awful things on the images the EDF had captured from Oncier.

The pyramidal protrusions from the smooth hulls crackled with rising intensity. Blue lightning skittered from point to point, building up.

The skymine’s bridge deck was empty now, except for himself and two crew members who had stayed behind. “Maybe they want the ekti!” an old veteran shouted.

Alien pirates who also wanted to steal stardrive fuel? Berndt thought. No explanation made sense. His fingers danced over the controls, disengaging the transport container filled with the valuable hydrogen allotrope. He broadcast on all channels, “Take our cargo, but please don’t harm us. We have three hundred souls onboard—families, women and children.” The plea sounded foolish even as he spoke. How could an alien care about such things?

Cargo canisters of ekti dropped away, and Berndt moved the skymine across the sky, hauling the large facility away at its clumsy top speed. The expensive cargo tumbled into Erphano’s clouds like an offering … or a ransom. Berndt’s heart fell when the alien globes ignored the ekti and continued to close in on the skymine.