The wind coming through the window had calmed Maya enough to where she’d been able to fall asleep. She woke up on her own, unaware of how much time had passed. When her eyes adjusted, she looked outside and saw that the sun had shifted in the sky, signaling they had only a couple of hours before nightfall.

  And when the darkness came, the last place Maya wanted to be was on the highway.

  “Good morning,” Nick said.

  Reno poked his head between the seats. “We couldn’t believe you fell asleep.”

  “How far are we?” Maya asked. “From Cleveland, from the observatory.”

  “Not far.” Nick glanced into the rearview mirror. “Right, Reno?”

  Reno grabbed the unfolded map from the bench seat beside him. He looked at it, finding the place they were headed with a pen.

  “Nah, it shouldn’t be too much farther now.”

  “Are we going to get there before the sun goes down?” Maya asked. “I don’t want to—”

  “We’ll be fine,” Nick said, cutting her off.

  Maya wanted to believe that. So far, she’d managed to get by, but mostly with good luck. She didn’t want to have to depend on luck anymore.

  As she looked out the window, something about the surroundings seemed familiar. The surrounding land was flat and open. Dozens of vehicles had been abandoned, but beyond the clogged shoulder stood nothing but open fields and a long stretch of four-lane highway.

  It looks like the dream.

  Except for the vehicles, it looked exactly like that first dream she’d had of Gerald, just a couple of nights before. The one where her ex-husband had forced her to watch Reno and her kids as they’d stared into the sky at dozens of attacking aliens.

  Maya gasped.

  Reno stuck his head between the seats and put his hand on her shoulder. “Shit, are you okay?”

  Maya took a deep breath and nodded. She took hold of his hand and assured him that she was fine.

  “We’ll be somewhere safe soon,” Nick said, reassuring her. “I promise.”

  Reno pointed out the windshield. “I think that’s where we need to turn up there.”

  Maya looked to where Reno was pointing—a dirt road with nothing but a faded green sign to signal it was even there.

  Probably by habit more than anything else, Nick flicked on the turn signal and pressed the brakes. He turned the truck down the dirt road, slowing slightly. Dust kicked up, clouding the view outside of Maya’s window.

  “Let me know when I’ve gotta turn again,” Nick said, glancing into the mirror again.

  “There should only be one more turn,” Reno said. “And it’s like five miles up the road.”

  Like when they’d gone out to Peter and Robin’s place, they were out in the middle of nowhere. This was slightly different, though. While the journey to the hidden underground lab had taken them through Kentucky—the countryside with trees, bluegrass fields, and gravel roads—their trip to the observatory looked different… full of dirt roads and dead trees.

  The farther along they went, the more the scene reminded Maya of her dream. She had a brief moment of panic where she wondered if they would end up at the Warner and Swasey Observatory from her dream. She didn’t know if such an observatory even existed or if it was all in her mind.

  “There,” Reno said. “Turn there.”

  He’d given Nick more of a warning this time, and Nick spun the wheel so that the truck turned in a smooth, slow motion.

  A half-mile down the road, signs appeared on the sides of the road, reading No Trespassing and Do Not Enter, but there was no fence or barrier keeping them from moving forward.

  “We must be getting close,” Nick said.

  They went up and over a hill, and then the observatory came into view. A chain-link fence did surround the property, but the gate was open, either by mistake or because it was broken. Nick stopped the truck right outside of the open gate.

  Maya looked around. There were dozens of trees around. Most of the ground was covered with grass, not dirt. Glancing to her right and leaning up so she could see, she didn’t notice any sort of crater or trench in the ground. Then she shifted her gaze to the observatory itself.

  The building sat like an apocalyptic skeleton, a structure of thin bones without skin and muscle. The brick had been vandalized and tagged by graffiti artists while the dome had been hastily repaired with scraps of plywood and old sheet metal. Weeds sprouted from the rotten mortar and junk trees grew from the cracks in the sidewalk in front of the old observatory.

  But at least Gerald wasn’t there.

  Maya sighed in relief. All these were telling signs that her dreams had only been nightmares, and nothing more. It reassured her that she controlled her own fate.

  As Nick threw the truck into park, he looked over at Maya and then back at Reno. “You guys ready?”

  “It doesn’t look like anyone is in there,” Reno said. “There’s no car or anything.”

  Maya unbuckled her seatbelt. “Only one way to find out.” She opened the door and hopped out of the truck, slamming the door shut behind her.

  Reno caught up to her as she headed for the gate, Nick walking behind him.

  When they all reached the metal door, Maya knocked.

  Then they waited, but nobody answered.

  “Look at this.” Reno pointed to a white button near the door. He pressed it and a loud buzz went off inside the building.

  Maya looked up when she heard a crackle coming from the speaker mounted over the door. Feedback came through like a mic check gone wrong at a rock concert, and all three of them covered their ears.

  “Yeah?” a voice asked through the speaker.

  Maya’s ears rang, but she uncovered them and faced the speaker, almost as if she was looking at someone’s face and speaking to them directly.

  “Who are you and what do you want?” the man asked through the intercom.

  Nick stood up straight and talked to the speaker. “My name’s Nick. I’m a friend of Peter and Robin’s.”

  “Who are the other two? The other guy and the girl.”

  Maya tilted her head to the side. She looked around for a camera but didn’t see one.

  “My name’s Reno. And this is Maya. All three of us were sent here by your friends.”

  There was a short delay, and then the man said, “What if I don’t know who you’re talking about?”

  “Your name is Clark, right?” Maya asked. “Robin and Peter said you know a lot about the aliens. That you’ve been studying them from here. We have some information that we think you’ll be interested in. We want to talk to you for a few minutes.”

  There was yet another delay. Reno looked over at Maya and raised his hands as if this was a waste of time.

  “What kind of information?”

  Maya shrugged and smiled. “I guess you’re going to have to open this door to find out.”

  The speaker buzzed, and then shut off. Reno sighed.

  “This is a waste of time. Dude’s crazy.”

  “It’s not a waste of time,” Nick said. “If Robin and Peter said he would help us, then he’ll help us.”

  But they stood there for a few minutes and the door didn’t open. Clark didn’t return to the intercom. Reno waved at the door and then turned back toward the truck.

  “Where are you going?” Nick asked.

  “Dude ain’t coming out. So, I’ll wait in the truck for you two to figure that out.”

  Maya was about to stop Reno when the metal door made a noise. Locks unlatched from the other side, and the door creaked open.

  A face appeared in the crack of the doorway. At first, Maya thought he couldn’t be much older than Laura. Clark had curly, blond hair and peach fuzz that couldn’t quite make it all the way to stubble. He had on a black t-shirt and jeans, stood barefoot, and smelled like pizza and patchouli.

  Maya smiled. “You must be Clark.”

  Clark nodded, then leaned against the doorframe. “That’s right.”

  “Thanks,” Nick said. “Now, can we come inside and talk with you for a few minutes?”

  Clark stared Nick up and down, then looked back at Maya. “I’d like to know why you’re here.”

  “I told you,” Nick said. “My friends Peter and—”

  Waving Nick off, Clark said, “You told me that already. I want to know why this information you have is supposedly so valuable. I’m not going to waste my time sitting down with you, otherwise. In case you haven’t noticed, aliens are blowing up the fucking world.”

  Maya was about to say something when Reno spoke up from behind her.

  “We know how to drop the domes.” Reno stepped forward, now standing with Maya and Nick again. “And we think we can use that knowledge to bring down the ships.” He shrugged. “But nobody has been able to help, or willing to listen. We can’t outgun the aliens, though; so we need to outsmart them. And we’ve got a hack for that.”

  Clark looked around before his mouth turned into a crooked smile. He laughed, then opened the door the rest of the way.

  “Come on in. Let’s talk.”

  25

  Even though the outside of the observatory wasn’t exactly like the one in Maya’s dream, the inside looked eerily similar in many ways. No vines had grown through the walls, but it had the same simple layout with a set of stairs spiraling to the top where Clark did his work.

  The aroma of freshly ground coffee beans pulled Maya out of her thoughts and back into reality.

  “Can I get you a cup of coffee?” Clark asked.

  A coffee machine sat on a table across the room. Steam rose from it, and a bag of Italian Dark Roast sat next to it. Maya’s eyes lit up. She hadn’t had coffee in days, and the mere thought of the black gold hitting her lips made her stomach flutter.

  “Please,” Maya said, walking toward the table with the coffee pot.

  Nick and Reno accepted the offer, as well. Clark poured the first cup for Maya. She normally took cream and sugar in her coffee—she was ‘basic’ as Reno liked to say—but she didn’t this time. Maya wanted to savor the strong, bold taste of dark roast, and cherish it.

  “You’ve maintained power out here?” Nick asked.

  Clark nodded, taking his own sip of coffee. “I have enough generators and fuel to get me through for a while. I’ve planned for this, so I made all the necessary arrangements. I guess you could call me one of those preppers you read about in the dirt sheet news.”

  “Yeah, well, it turns out that you all were the smart ones,” Reno said. “I don’t think anyone is laughing at you now.”

  Clark took another sip of his coffee and then gestured toward the stairway. “How about we go upstairs and chat? That’s where I do all my best work.”

  “That sounds good,” Nick said.

  They followed Clark to the steps. Maya lingered, hardly paying attention to the others. She looked around, trying to remember what the observatory from the dream had looked like and if this could be the same one. As they climbed the stairs, she ran her hand along the wall. The brick felt cold and solid, the mortar tight. Maybe this had been the observatory in her dream, but several years in the future.

  As they reached the top, her heart skipped, and she felt a cold sensation on the back of her neck. Maya felt like she was in her dream again. She could almost see Gerald at the top of the steps.

  Maya’s hand shook, her eyes turning to the large telescope. It stretched up and pointed into the sky, gears and wheels on all sides. She guessed that it must be a manually operated one that had been here for many years, probably decades. It felt like someone whispered in her ear then, and she jumped, coffee spilling over the top of the cup and burning her hand.

  “Shit!”

  She’d dropped the cup. Coffee spilled down the steps, the cup rolling through the opening in one of the stairs and falling to the first level.

  Maya waved her hand and covered her face in embarrassment as Reno looked at her.

  “Are you alright?”

  She put her hand up, signaling that she was okay.

  “I’m fine. I haven’t had much coffee lately. I got a little lightheaded and lost my footing. Really, I’m okay.”

  “Want me to go get you another cup?” Clark asked.

  Maya shook her head. “No, thank you. I need a minute.” She’d looked up at Reno when she said this.

  Reno joined the others near a small table. They sat down, making small talk with one another as they waited for Maya to pull it together. She took several deep breaths with closed eyes.

  It’s okay. Your dreams aren’t real. This isn’t the same place. Gerald isn’t here. You’re safe.

  She stood up straight and took one last deep breath, exhaling before opening her eyes.

  She turned around to see Reno staring at her while the other two men talked. He shied away from her gaze, looking down at the table. She could tell he was worried about her, and Maya appreciated that, but this was something she had to deal with on her own.

  Maya made her way over to the table and sat down in an empty chair next to Reno. Clark pushed a bottle of water over to her.

  “Thanks.” She unscrewed the top and took a drink.

  Clark put his hands on the table and stared across it at Nick. “So, you said that you know Robin and Peter.”

  Nick nodded. “The group I’m with helped them obtain the alien cadavers they’ve been studying. It’s kind of a long story, but that’s how we met.”

  “I see.” Clark shifted his gaze to Maya and Reno. “And you’re part of his group?”

  “Kinda,” Reno said. “We met a few days ago. We started out in Nashville, but got out when the dome went down. I’m not sure if you heard, but…”

  “Ah, yes, I heard.” Clark looked over his shoulder to a stack of gray metal boxes with needles, gauges, and speakers. “I have managed to keep radio access here. The equipment is more high-tech than your average two-way radio.”

  Maya sat up and leaned toward Clark. “How far does it go? Could you communicate with the government? With Washington D.C.?”

  Clark laughed. “What government? I’d doubt there’s anyone left in Washington. Besides, one thing that it can’t do is penetrate the domes themselves. And from the information I’ve gathered, Washington is covered. I’d be surprised if the President or anyone around him is even alive. I know he was in the White House when this all went down.”

  “We have some very valuable information that we need to get into the right hands,” Reno said. “Robin and Peter suggested that you could help with that.”

  “They were right. I can help with that.”

  “How?” Maya asked.

  Clark raised his eyebrow. Then he stuck out his hand. Maya narrowed her eyes, staring at it.

  “What?”

  “This is my right hand.” Clark laughed so hard that he started coughing.

  Maya scrunched her face as she watched him laugh, and then she looked over at Reno. His nostrils flared as he stood up, nearly knocking his chair back onto the ground.

  “This situation is life and death. Stop with the bullshit.”

  Nick leaned back and smiled at Reno. “Easy, man. Take a deep breath and calm down.”

  “Man, fuck calming down,” Reno looked at Nick, but he pointed at Clark. “This bastard is playing with us. I should have known better than to think coming out here was going to do a damn bit of good. I know how we can take down those domes, and he wants to waste our fu—”

  “What did you say?” Clark stood up.

  Reno looked at him, his mouth twisted. He shoved his hands into his pockets.

  “We know how to destroy the domes,” Maya said. She put her hands on the table and leaned forward. “Do you think we came here to enjoy your company?”

  Clark stared at her, then glanced back over at Reno before he turned around and grabbed a manila folder from near the telescope. He looked around before tossing the folder into the middle of the table.

  When he did, some black and white 8x10 photos spilled out. Maya tilted her head to try to see what they were as she grabbed one. It was difficult to make out at first, but then she realized she was looking at some sort of aircraft. Nick picked one up off the table, as well, and Reno stared over his shoulder at it.

  “What is all this?” Reno asked.

  “That’s the alien mothership,” Clark said. He sat back and folded his arms across his chest. “It seems to be directing an entire fleet of smaller crafts.”

  “Directing them?” Nick asked. “Directing them where?”

  Clark took a sip of his coffee and then replied.

  “Cincinnati.”

  26

  Maya’s body went numb. She replayed Clark’s words over and over again in her mind.

  They’re gathering in Cincinnati? How does this punk know that?

  It was hard to tell if the ship in the picture was the same one from her dreams, but it didn’t matter. They didn’t have to look exactly the same. The observatory from her dream didn’t look exactly like the real one, but she believed it was the same. Her dreams had been premonitions. She knew that now.

  “Bullshit.”

  Nick shook his head at Reno and tossed his hands into the air. “Why would this kid lie? And why to us, now?”

  “Because he gets off on this. Spoiled hacker-type who doesn’t know how to deal with people who ain’t behind a screen.”

  “Whoa, Reno. Why you hating on me?”

  Maya took a deep breath and looked at Reno. “Give Clark a chance to explain. We don’t have many options.”

  Reno leaned back in his chair and shrugged. “Whatever.”

  Clark winked at her, and she didn’t like it. It hadn’t been flirtatious, but more manipulative—like this kid enjoyed the game.

  “Ever heard of A.R.M.?”

  “No,” Reno said, barking the word.

  “What’s A.R.M.?” Maya asked.

  Clark leaned forward, looking around the room as if it had been bugged by the F.B.I. “Alien. Resistance. Movement.”

  His exaggerated enunciation of each word annoyed Maya.

  “We’ve been tracking these ones for almost two years. Most of the people in the chat didn’t think they’d come to our solar system, but I did.”