Arrival

“So this is how it happens?” Chloe asked, sounding almost excited about it. “You get actual transmissions into your brain?”

“I get hints of things,” Kevin said, “but the actual transmissions come through NASA’s radio telescopes. I’m just able to translate them.”

“That’s… amazing,” Chloe said.

It was easy to forget that there were people out there who hadn’t seen him doing this plenty of times before.

“It’s not something fun,” Luna said. “You can see what it does to Kevin. And all the trouble that’s come from it too… not just the aliens coming here. We’ve had people threaten us, try to kill us, people not believe Kevin. Do you know what it’s like, not being believed when you’re telling the truth? Being told that you’re crazy?”

Chloe had been looking increasingly angry as Luna spoke, but once she said that, Chloe went quiet.

“Yeah,” she said softly. “Yeah, I do.”

She went and sat down on the corner of one of the other beds, and Kevin saw her fingers drumming together as though there was a lot she wanted to say, but didn’t. Kevin might have asked her what was wrong, but Luna was speaking to him again.

“So this means that there’s another message waiting?” she asked. “Another transmission from the aliens?”

Kevin nodded. “Not the ones who invaded, though. This felt more like the way it did with the other ones. The ones who tried to warn us.”

“I guessed that,” Luna said. “I mean, what are the invaders going to say now? Surrender and be destroyed, puny humans? Resistance is futile? What kind of aliens gloat when they’ve already beaten you?”

“Everyone else does,” Chloe muttered, then stood up and walked out.

Luna made a face at her retreating back. “What’s her problem?”

Kevin shook his head. “I don’t know. I get the feeling that something pretty bad happened before she came here.”

“You mean worse than the world being invaded by aliens?” Luna asked. “Or worse than being grabbed by a guy with a gun at a press conference?”

“I don’t know,” Kevin repeated. He got the feeling that he should probably go after Chloe, but he didn’t feel strong enough to do it yet, and in any case, he also had the feeling that Luna wouldn’t be happy with him if he did.

“I figured she would have told you,” Luna said. “I mean, you looked to be having a nice talk when I showed up before.”

It sounded almost jealous, but why would Luna be jealous? She had to know that she and Kevin would always be best friends, and nothing would come between that, right? And as for anything else… well, that would imply that Luna was interested in being more than just his friend, and Kevin couldn’t really believe that would ever happen.

“She didn’t really say much,” Kevin said. “Just that she ran away.”

“Looks like she’s good at that,” Luna said, with another pointed look toward the door.

“Luna,” Kevin said. “Can you at least try to be nice to her? I mean, I don’t know why you’re even mad at her. I’d have thought you’d get along.”

“Because we’re both girls?” Luna said.

“No!” Kevin said hurriedly. “I mean, because you’re both…” He tried to think of the right words. Would tough be right? Chloe certainly looked it, while Luna didn’t, but Kevin knew from experience that she was.

“We’re nothing alike,” Luna said. “She called me a cheerleader.”

She made it sound like an insult.

“Well, you were on the—”

“That’s not the point,” Luna said, but then stopped. “Okay, though. I’ll be nice. I guess if we’re all stuck in a bunker together, we’ll have to get along. But I’m doing this for you, not for her.”

“Thanks,” Kevin said.

“Of course, if there’s some new signal, then we’re not going to be able to stay in the bunker, are we?” Luna said, sounding as though it was all pretty obvious. Maybe it was to her. Luna had always been good at coming up with plans for things. Quite often, they’d been plans for getting into more trouble.

Kevin hadn’t thought it through yet, but Luna was probably right. If there was a new signal, then they had to find out what it meant, and there was only one place they could do that.

“I think we have to go back to the research institute,” Kevin said.

“Even though we barely got out of there the first time?” Luna said. “And we don’t know what’s on the message, and we don’t know if it will do any good when the aliens have already taken our world. It could just be ‘sorry, we tried to warn you.’”

“What if it’s not, though?” Kevin countered. “I mean, do you really believe they’d send a message all the way across space for that?”

“No, I guess not,” Luna said, looking more serious now.

“What if they found a way to beat the aliens, or force them out of controlling people’s bodies?” Kevin said. “What if they give us some way to make this better? We have to go back. Well… I do. I mean, you might be safer if—”

“Finish that thought and I’ll punch you,” Luna said. “Of course I’m going to come.”

“But I thought that—”

“You thought you’d leave me behind while you had an adventure by yourself?” Luna demanded.

Kevin shook his head. “I thought that we’d finally gotten somewhere safe. I thought maybe you wouldn’t want to give that up. I have to be there to translate the message, but no one else—ow!”

He rubbed his arm where Luna’s fist had connected with it.

“I told you I would,” she said with a broad smile that suggested she wasn’t remotely sorry. “I’m coming with you, because someone has to keep you from getting grabbed by controlled people. Besides, if there’s anything there that will let us turn around and kick their asses for what they did, I want to know about it.”

That was part of what was so incredible about Luna. She didn’t give up, even when everything said that it was the sensible thing to do. She’d fight anything, up to and including an alien invasion.

“Did I ever tell you how amazing you are?” Kevin asked.

“You don’t need to tell me,” Luna said with another grin. “I just know. Frankly, you’re lucky you get to be my friend.”

“True,” Kevin said. He turned serious for a moment. “We need a plan if we’re going to go back.”

“We’ll need supplies,” Luna said, starting to check items off on her fingers. “We’ll need food, maybe tools to get inside, masks…”

“Chloe said that the vapor was gone,” Kevin pointed out.

“And how does she know?” Luna countered. “Okay, maybe, but I’d rather have one with me just in case. You can have the job of telling her that we’re going.”

“Maybe she’ll want to come with us,” Kevin said.

Luna made a face. “I guess it’s better than leaving her here and wondering if she’ll let us back in again. I’ll get started getting supplies together. You go and talk to her.”