[ WP ] A colony mission sent from Earth loses contact , discouraging further missions . Hundreds of years later , the colony has established a powerful interstellar frontier and has regained contact with Earth , pledging their allegiance to the world 's leaders .

Abraham Hua, President of California, blinked. 
 
 “ What? ” he said at last. 
 
 “ Thirty cruisers, sir. ” The General repeated, flicking between reconnaissance photographs on the table ’ s screen with a wave of his hand. “ No identification, unknown design, mission unknown. ” 
 
 “ No, no, wait. You came here to tell me that thirty mystery military ships have simply appeared in orbit above L.A.? ” 
 
 “ Not in orbit, Mister President. They ’ re geostationary. ” 
 
 President Hua looked over at Manuela, his Chief of Staff. She stood to the side, tense and scowling. 
 
 “ Geostationary. Ready for bombardment? ” she asked. 
 
 The General shook his head. “ Technically. But they ’ ve taken no action, so far. If they wanted to bombard us, they ’ ve already missed their best opportunity. ” 
 
 President Hua raised his hand, and the General fell silent. “ Forgive me, General, but why didn ’ t we have any advance warning of this? Last I checked the budget gave you almost a trillion dollars a year to keep this country safe. So why am I looking at pictures of a potential bombardment force above the capital? ” 
 
 “ Mister President, they did not fly there. There ’ s not a military on the planet which could launch that many ships without our noticing. The only reason we know that these are above us is that a civilian observatory picked up on them. ” 
 
 “ So the Indians or the Chinese are more sophisticated than you thought. Get me Delhi, get me Beijing, and above all get me into a bunker. Declare martial law, evacuate the city, scramble whatever we have. This is an invasion force. ” 
 
 “ There is no way whatsoever that those ships are Indian or Chinese. Sir. ” 
 
 “ There ’ s not a military on the planet, you said? ” Manuela asked softly. 
 
 “ Exactly. Sir, I think we might be looking at- ” 
 
 “ Jesus Christ. ” President Hua ’ s eyes opened. “ You don ’ t mean- ” 
 
 “ Yes, sir. Kepler has returned. ” 
 
 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - 
 
 Strawberry smoke. The cheapest, most industrial, mass-produced chemical-flavored fume in a bottle still legal to buy. Kyung-jae opened his mouth wide and let the pink smoke roll in. He gulped like a fish, eyes closing as he savoured the cool flow across his tongue and down his throat. He opened his eyes and glanced at Seoyeon. She was reclining on the sofa, pupils unfocused, gazing expectantly at the ceiling. She giggled. 
 
 “ Are you going to leave me some or not? ” Kyung-jae grinned. 
 
 “ I can see the stars, Kyung-jae! ” she said. “ They ’ re all right there. ” 
 
 She pointed at the ceiling, syringe still in her hand. She giggled again, and the arm flopped back onto the sofa. Kyung-jae opened his mouth again, this time extending his tongue to lap at the air. Quality is nice, but quantity is what keeps you coming back for more. 
 
 The lights in the tower block opposite were turning off, flat by flat. Kyung-jae paused, tongue still poking out. He stood and went to the window. Not just the tower opposite. The whole city was going dark a light at a time. 
 
 “ Seoyeon. ” 
 
 “ Shush. You ’ ll wake the stars! ” 
 
 “ Seoyeon, get up. We ’ ve got to go. ” 
 
 She sat up, and turned her unfocused gaze on him. 
 
 “ What ’ s wrong? ” 
 
 “ Listen. ” 
 
 They did. A thin whine reached them, from some speaker far below. 
 
 Seoyeon ’ s eyes desperately struggled to focus on Kyung-jae. 
 
 “ Bombardment. ” She whispered. 
 
 The flat ’ s door pounded. One, two, three. 
 
 “ Protective Services. The city of Seoul is under five-minute bombardment protocol. Make your way to the nearest shelter immediately. ” 
 
 Kyung-jae looked at the door, then at the city beyond the window, then at the syringe in Seoyeon ’ s hand. Five minutes. Bombardment. 
 
 He reached his hand out. “ Can you pass me some of that? ” he asked, his voice cracking only at the end. 
 
 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - 
 
 Abraham Hua looked squarely into the camera. 
 
 “ Are you sure they ’ ll receive this? ” he asked. 
 
 The techy young one in air force uniform standing behind the camera nodded. 
 
 “ If they ’ re listening, sir. ” 
 
 “ And are they listening? ” 
 
 “ Unknown, sir. ” 
 
 Manuela re-entered the room at a brisk stride. 
 
 “ China, Russia, and New England have already completed their evacuations, sir. They say they ’ re scrambling fighters as we speak, but prepping for orbit will take time. ” 
 
 “ And what about our evacuation? ” 
 
 “ L.A. twenty percent clear as of three minutes ago. The others between ten and forty. ” 
 
 “ Then we ’ d better hope this buys us some time. ” 
 
 “ Ready, sir. ” The one behind the camera said. “ Three. Two. One. ” 
 
 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
 
 The response came through almost instantly. 
 
 “ We ’ ve received a reply from the invaders, sir. ” The General said. 
 
 President Hua raised an eyebrow. “ Already? ” 
 
 The General waved his hand, and a face filled the table screen. 
 
 “ So that ’ s a Keplerian. ” Hua stared. “ It looks like my gym teacher. ” 
 
 “ Shall I play, sir? ” 
 
 “ Yes. Yes. ” 
 
 “ Good day, President Hua. ” The table-sized face spoke, lending an odd inflection to every word. “ I am Commander Adam of the Twelfth Squadron, First Interstellar Fleet. I have been assigned to the nation of California as envoy to negotiate terms of annexation. ” 
 
 Hua nodded. “ That explains why they don ’ t want to bomb us back to cavemen. ” 
 
 “ Therefore, I would like to open negotiations with our initial offer. ” Commander Adam ’ s face continued. “ We would like to offer the nation of California the land between fifty one point two degrees and thirty point five degrees latitude and thirty one point eight degrees and fifty six point two degrees longitude, in addition to the Spinoza peninsula from - ” 
 
 “ Rewind fifteen seconds. ” President Hua said. 
 
 “ Like to offer the nation of California the land between fifty one point two degrees and thirty point five degrees latitude and thirty one point eight degrees and fifty six point two degrees longitude, in addition to the Spinoza peninsula from fifty eight point zero to sixty three point nine degrees longitude. ” 
 
 “ Rewind fifteen seconds. ” 
 
 “ The land between fifty one point - ” 
 
 “ Rewind ten seconds. ” 
 
 “ We would like to offer the nation of California the land between - ” 
 
 “ Stop. ” President Hua stood and massaged his temples. “ What does he mean? ” 
 
 “ Mister President, I think he ’ s offering us Kepler. ” 
 
 President Hua studied the face of Commander Adam, the first Keplerian to be seen in two centuries, and wondered what the hell he was supposed to do now. He blinked.
