Ellie said, “Something has happened.”

Monica responded, “No shit.”

The hundreds of alien machines tamed by Deaver City were no longer responding. Instead they sat or floated in formation, pointed at the Ring.

“What happened?” asked the Mayor.

Hutch shrugged. “No idea. One minute everything was fine. Then they just lined up like that.”

Luiz added, “We got a spike on the radio. Some kind of signal.”

Ellie saw the question rise in Monica’s face and said, “Unknown. The signal registered as just noise.”

“But it wasn’t just noise,” said Monica. She looked up at the sky. “It was them.”

Chapter 54

Chapter 56