Page 88 of Shades of Earth (Across the Universe 3)

Everyone grows more anxious as Elder gathers us all together and leads us away from the forest and past the lake. Once the compound is in sight, the nervous energy has made us all as combustible as the bombs that ripped apart the shuttle.

Chris stands outside the communication building. “What’s going on?” he asks Elder as we approach. He looks tired and dirty.

“I don’t know,” Elder says. “Didn’t Colonel Martin tell you?”

“He just said to meet you here. ”

Dad strides out of the forest then, followed by the men he took with him to the explosion. He doesn’t speak until he reaches Elder, Mom, and me. He looks a bit surprised to see Chris, but he doesn’t comment on it as he presses his thumb over the biometric lock. When it flashes HUMAN, the door unlocks. He motions for Elder to join him, but I walk right in behind him, looking at Dad defiantly and daring him to exclude me. When I go through the door, Mom follows, then Chris. Dad opens his mouth—to kick us out, I think, but with a look of defeat, he just closes the door.

“What is this, Bob?” Mom demands the minute the door locks behind us. Through the big glass windows, I can see Dad’s military directing people to the far side of the compound, just off the asphalt.

“Maria—” Dad starts.

Mom looks as if she would very much like to hit Dad. “This is the compound you told me about? Why didn’t you tell me it was so—so advanced?!”

“I had orders. ”

“Orders! Screw the orders! I’m your wife!”

Dad crosses the room and grabs hold of Mom’s hands. “Maria, let me explain. ”

She rips her hands out of his grasp and throws them in the air. “Fine! Explain!”

Dad heaves a sigh. “This compound was built by the first colony from Earth. ” Mom opens her mouth to shout something else, but Dad silences her with a look.

“The first colony encountered . . . problems. Aliens. Highly intelligent, aggressive aliens. They killed everyone in the original colony. And it’s clear that, since we’ve landed, they’re intent on doing the same to us. ”

Mom opens her mouth again, but Dad raises his hand to silence her. “We had trouble establishing contact with Earth, but last night my tech crew figured out how to amplify the signal. We were able to sen

d one message through, and we got one message back. ”

“You did?” It’s Chris who’s spoken this time, his voice shocked. Dad smiles at him, and I can’t help but wonder if the two of them, both military, know something that they’re not telling us.

“We were able to tell Earth that we had landed and were being attacked by the native population. And Earth sent back an answer. ”

Dad turns to the touch screen panel on the communication bay and swipes it to life. After scrolling through the menus, he brings a block of text up on the screen, then steps back. We all crowd around it to see.

Message received.

Aid deployed; estimated TOA five days.

Station contains life support for five hundred humans

and a weapon to eliminate threat.

We each notice a different thing. Chris asks Dad about the weapon that’s big enough to “eliminate threat. ” Mom asks about the station. Elder asks about what kind of aid is being sent.

But me? I’m stuck on the first line. Message received. Dad spoke to Earth . . . and Earth responded. I breathe a sigh of relief I didn’t know I’d been holding.

“Here’s all I know,” Dad says, stepping away from Chris, Elder, and Mom as they barrage him with questions. “There’s an auto-shuttle under the compound, and it’s designed to ship cargo—and people—to and from the space station over the planet. It isn’t large enough to hold all of us, but we’ll send the most at-risk, the weakest members of the colony, the ones who can’t fight. And a few of the military, arms specialists who can inspect whatever weapon the FRX has made at our disposal. ”

“What is this weapon?” Elder demands immediately. Chris watches us all silently, an unreadable look on his face.

“The message came with instructions on how to remotely detonate the weapon from the communication bay, but I don’t like how little information the FRX has given us. I’ll have my men tell us more after they inspect it. ”

The others all have more questions, mostly about the weapon, but I have just one.

“When?”