ErzaWithAZ



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    Dr. Theresa Cabral is thirty-nine when the beetles return to Earth.

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    29 Jun 2026

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    Theresa Cabral is two weeks, three days, and ten hours from defending her PhD thesis in molecular biology when she gets a text from a kid she went to middle school with.

    Michael Whitman (11:06 pm):
    Did you see it?

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    29 Jun 2026

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    "Grace, question?” Rocky says from his tunnel.

    “Yeah?” I peek my head up, wiping nonexistent dust off my pants. The storage compartment was almost completely sterile, but I needed something to do with my hands.

    All okay, question?” There’s a slight quiver in the notes of his voice that I’ve come to recognize as hesitance.

    “Of course, buddy.” I laugh disbelievingly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

    Ryland finds Yao’s gun and he is perfectly normal about it, thank you very much. He’s only been stuck in the same environment eating the same meals everyday for a year now. He’s fine.

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    29 Jun 2026

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    The Eridian thrills a high sound that doesn’t get picked up by the translator which means that it has no clear meaning. Like when a human gasps or sucks in a deep breath. It actually sounds a little like that. When they notice that I’m staring straight at them they scramble back into their hiding spot and hold very still. 

    A child, I realize with a start.

    That’s a child! 

    “Hey,” I call and the kid squeaks again. I was about to get to my feet but abort the movement and crawl closer on my hands and knees until I'm inches away from the xenonite wall. I wait and it takes me much too long to realize that they don’t have to peek around the corner to see if I’m still there.

    “Hey there,” I try again, my voice low and calm. It’s my teacher voice, the one I use for shy and scared students. 

    Used. 

    The fact that I haven’t had to use it for years and it still comes to me automatically almost knocks the air out of my lungs but this is not about me, it’s about making sure the little pebble doesn’t die of fright from the scary alien. “Hi, I’m Grace. It’s alright, you don’t have to be scared.”

    ***
    How Grace finally gets back into a classroom, where he belongs

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    29 Jun 2026

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    “What are you talking about?” Grace's fingers played quick chords as he spoke. He didn’t even look as he did it, but it did not make them any less purposeful.

    “Discussing possible reasons why Tau Ceti is not infected while other stars are,” Eva replied deftly. “I would invite you to join, but we were just finishing—”

    “Oh, that’s easy.” His hand twisted a knob, and the notes came out sharper. “It is infected—Petrova Line and everything.”

    In Grace's opinion, dreaming about time traveling is no excuse for getting out of practice with his Eridian. To the rest of the Petrova Taskforce, it seems a bit odd that their resident Astrophage expert has suddenly taken to carrying a keyboard around and playing it whenever he speaks. Eva Stratt resolves to figure out what is going on.

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    27 Jun 2026