view zoomed in.
“Fifty-seven years ago,” Coach said, “the human race was doing its best to destroy itself in World War Four.”
Dots of lightning appeared in the clouds over the Earth, then cooled into red mushrooms of fire. Huge swaths of the Amazon rain forest smoldered. Lasers made a web around the globe and popped satellites.
“Just when it looked hopeless,” Coach whispered, “
they
came.”
THE HOLOGRAPHIC EARTH SHRANK AND Ethan saw the moon. A planetoid one-eighth the size of the moon emerged from its shadow.
Only this planetoid was artificial, with spikes and warts, vast plains of hexagonal patterns like part of a giant insect eye, and swarms of smaller satellites that circled it.
Ethan felt awe at the size of this spaceship … and every instinct he had made him scoot as far back as he could in the metal chair.
“They stopped the war,” Coach told him. “Do you know how?”
“They conquered us?”
Coach laughed. “No. The only thing they did was let us speak to each other for the first time in history. Men and women, those from the east and the west, the north andthe south, all races, all colors, all religions—we finally
understood
one another.”
Coach Norman leaned in so close, his face glowed from the holographic moonlight. “In an instant, all the misunderstanding and hatred melted away. We became brothers and sisters.”
He waved his hands in frustration, trying to explain something that Ethan guessed couldn’t be explained but could only be experienced.
That had to be the Ch’zar Collective mind control.
Hadn’t Madison said it gave them all some sort of telepathy, too?
“
What
are they?” Ethan whispered, his curiosity temporarily winning out over how weird and scary this situation was. “The Ch’zar, I mean. Are they giant insects?”
Coach chuckled. “No human has seen them. They live in the mothership in orbit.” He tapped the side of his head. “Only if you join can you see them and understand what they are.”
So … Coach must no longer think he was human. That was creepy.
“But it’s not mental domination,” Coach said. “I bet that’s what the Resisters told you. Almost everyone on the planet
willingly
joined and worked together for the common good.”
“I’ve seen what ‘working together for the common good’ looks like,” Ethan said. “Building-sized robots strip-mining the planet!”
“You saw one of our most productive titanium fields. A necessary operation.”
On Coach’s desk appeared holographic forests and fields of wildflowers in full bloom.
“But the Collective has also restored the rain forests,” Coach told him, “neutralized radiation across the world, and made the Sahara Desert a lush grassland preserve.”
Ethan was confused now.
He knew what he’d seen on the mountaintop with Felix and Madison … but that didn’t mean this other side of the Ch’zar story couldn’t be true too.
“We’ve built things humanity could never have done alone,” Coach said. “Elevators that reach orbit altitude and spaceship probes that we’ve sent to explore the nearby stars.”
The holographic images morphed into the alien mothership. Also in orbit about the moon were three other, incomplete copies of that original ship.
“And soon we’ll all go to the stars,” Coach explained. “The Ch’zar Collective has fourteen other alien species who joined before they found us. We work together for the good of each other in harmony—for peaceful purposes.”
“So you’re all about peace?” Ethan asked, and crossed his arms over his chest. “Then why were you trying to
kill us
on top of that mountain?”
Coach waved his hands as if to brush Ethan’s argument aside. “Even though the Resisters have caused untold damage and threaten everything we’ve built … we’re justtrying to capture them. All life is precious to us. Even our enemies’ lives.”
“You were shooting stingers at us the size of my arm!” Ethan
“Fifty-seven years ago,” Coach said, “the human race was doing its best to destroy itself in World War Four.”
Dots of lightning appeared in the clouds over the Earth, then cooled into red mushrooms of fire. Huge swaths of the Amazon rain forest smoldered. Lasers made a web around the globe and popped satellites.
“Just when it looked hopeless,” Coach whispered, “
they
came.”
THE HOLOGRAPHIC EARTH SHRANK AND Ethan saw the moon. A planetoid one-eighth the size of the moon emerged from its shadow.
Only this planetoid was artificial, with spikes and warts, vast plains of hexagonal patterns like part of a giant insect eye, and swarms of smaller satellites that circled it.
Ethan felt awe at the size of this spaceship … and every instinct he had made him scoot as far back as he could in the metal chair.
“They stopped the war,” Coach told him. “Do you know how?”
“They conquered us?”
Coach laughed. “No. The only thing they did was let us speak to each other for the first time in history. Men and women, those from the east and the west, the north andthe south, all races, all colors, all religions—we finally
understood
one another.”
Coach Norman leaned in so close, his face glowed from the holographic moonlight. “In an instant, all the misunderstanding and hatred melted away. We became brothers and sisters.”
He waved his hands in frustration, trying to explain something that Ethan guessed couldn’t be explained but could only be experienced.
That had to be the Ch’zar Collective mind control.
Hadn’t Madison said it gave them all some sort of telepathy, too?
“
What
are they?” Ethan whispered, his curiosity temporarily winning out over how weird and scary this situation was. “The Ch’zar, I mean. Are they giant insects?”
Coach chuckled. “No human has seen them. They live in the mothership in orbit.” He tapped the side of his head. “Only if you join can you see them and understand what they are.”
So … Coach must no longer think he was human. That was creepy.
“But it’s not mental domination,” Coach said. “I bet that’s what the Resisters told you. Almost everyone on the planet
willingly
joined and worked together for the common good.”
“I’ve seen what ‘working together for the common good’ looks like,” Ethan said. “Building-sized robots strip-mining the planet!”
“You saw one of our most productive titanium fields. A necessary operation.”
On Coach’s desk appeared holographic forests and fields of wildflowers in full bloom.
“But the Collective has also restored the rain forests,” Coach told him, “neutralized radiation across the world, and made the Sahara Desert a lush grassland preserve.”
Ethan was confused now.
He knew what he’d seen on the mountaintop with Felix and Madison … but that didn’t mean this other side of the Ch’zar story couldn’t be true too.
“We’ve built things humanity could never have done alone,” Coach said. “Elevators that reach orbit altitude and spaceship probes that we’ve sent to explore the nearby stars.”
The holographic images morphed into the alien mothership. Also in orbit about the moon were three other, incomplete copies of that original ship.
“And soon we’ll all go to the stars,” Coach explained. “The Ch’zar Collective has fourteen other alien species who joined before they found us. We work together for the good of each other in harmony—for peaceful purposes.”
“So you’re all about peace?” Ethan asked, and crossed his arms over his chest. “Then why were you trying to
kill us
on top of that mountain?”
Coach waved his hands as if to brush Ethan’s argument aside. “Even though the Resisters have caused untold damage and threaten everything we’ve built … we’re justtrying to capture them. All life is precious to us. Even our enemies’ lives.”
“You were shooting stingers at us the size of my arm!” Ethan
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