“Metaphorically speaking,” said Toni. “I know how many of you come from around here. I even know where most of you are. I lost track of three kids when their parents moved them across the country before they were eighteen. My PIs found two of them, but the third is still a mystery. I think he’s somewhere in Utah, if he’s still alive. That’s always the big question.”

“What are you talking about?” Jeff looked at me. “What is she talking about?”

“Toni met one of the seeding flowers when she was a kid,” I said. “It tried to absorb her. It didn’t succeed.”

“I was too tough to eat,” said Toni, smiling sweetly. “Now you vegetable motherfuckers get to deal with your worst fear: a scientist who knows where the weed killer is.”

“And we got her out of the observatory because why, exactly?” asked Jeff.

“Because she’s the one who recorded and released the signal,” I said. “She can help us learn more about it.”

“Or she can lie to us about its composition and make sure we’re not properly prepared to do what comes next,” snapped Jeff.

“Do you know what that is?” The question came from an unexpected source: Graham. We turned slowly toward him, my heart sinking as I realized I had all but forgotten he was there in my focus on Jeff and Toni’s debate. He was my boyfriend and I loved him. I was ready to defend him from the coming invasion, no matter what that defense entailed … and I had already forgotten he was there.

Jeff frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Do you know what comes next?” Graham moved closer to me, putting a hand on my shoulder, making it impossible to forget him again. I leaned into it, feeling grateful and sick to my stomach at the same time. Everything was shifting so fast.

My elbow still itched. The memory of green tugged at the edges of my awareness, refusing to be ignored, and I was afraid.

“No.” Jeff shook his head, frustration clear in his expression. “I don’t have a damn clue what comes next. I didn’t even know the invasion was coming until I heard that signal.”

“Maybe I faked it,” said Toni tauntingly.

“You didn’t fake it,” I said, before I could think better. Everyone turned to look at me. I didn’t squirm. I stood a little straighter, lifting my chin, and said, “I don’t know what it says, but I understand it. There’s no way you could have done that good a job faking something you’ve never heard before. It’s real. They’re coming.”

“And the police have taken the observatory,” said David bleakly. “What do we do now?”