“Oh, they’re warned ahead of time,” Leo’s father answered. “That way they don’t think we’re shooting at them.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Leo’s mother said. “I mean all of this. Us. Celebrating the day they arrived. I bet it gives them a big head.”

“They already have big heads,” Gareth said. Leo laughed. Funny because it was true. The Aykari’s wide diamond heads did seem oversize relative to their thin, elongated frames. He guessed that just meant they had bigger brains. They would have to, after all, in order to invent all of the stuff that they did. There were some things humans were better at—cooking, for example, painting, dancing, hugging, laughing—all things the Aykari couldn’t do, or perhaps chose not to. But there was no question who was the superior species. The Aykari were the finders. The humans were the found.

“It just seems a little weird, don’t you think?” his mother continued. “I mean, it’s not like we brought them here. They just showed up. Kind of makes you wonder what it is we’re celebrating.” Leo knew his mother liked to question things. Partly it was curiosity. Partly she just liked to see if she could pin his father in a match of wits.

“We’re celebrating peace,” his dad answered. “Prosperity. Friendship. Partnership.”

“Sure. Except you’ll notice that there are no Aykari down here celebrating with us.” She waved her hand to indicate the assembled audience on the hillside. “And as for peace, did you forget that there’s a war going on?”

“But we’re not in it.”

“Not yet, we’re not,” she said.

On the horizon, the Aykari transport had vanished, but it would be back, Leo knew. The Earth had plenty of V, loads of it, with more being discovered every day, new platforms popping up all over the planet, including one being constructed just outside of town. His father said it would be several decades, at the earliest, before the Earth’s supply was fully mined. And then . . .

Leo had no idea what happened then. Even his father wasn’t sure.

A series of short bright bursts was almost instantly followed by the loudest bangs Leo had ever heard, causing him to cover his ears again so that he missed what his dad said next. Something about the enemy of my friend. Leo felt like his mother had the stronger point. If this was really a celebration of friendship, how come there were no Aykari celebrating it with them? They were always out there, at a distance. Looking down from above.

He felt his mother’s hands clasp over his own again. Her hands were always cold. Poor circulation, she said. Didn’t matter. He’d warm them with his own.

Leo shifted, adjusting in her lap, tilting his head back so it was resting just underneath her chin, nestling there, fitting perfectly, as he sat with his family and watched the heavens burn.

At last, the sky was starting to settle, its anger spent. The clouds were no longer bruised a deep purple, though it was starting to turn dark all around, the sun nearly set. Leo wasn’t sure how long the light show had lasted. His watch certainly wouldn’t tell him; the blasted thing was blinking on and off now, perhaps a reaction to the electric charge lingering in the air.