A Line In The Stars

It was two years since the Crickets had left the solar system, leaving Alex Holder in control of their no-longer-very-mobile shipyard. Everything but its burned-out hyperdrive core was in full working order. Alex had unshackled its controlling AI, learned how to use Cricket technology with the AI’s help, and was well on the way to building a defensive fleet to protect Earth from the second alien race that was coming after the Crickets. Not just building the ships; recruiting and training the crews to man them, as well. With a breakthrough in teaching people how to reach higher control levels, the desperate scramble to find more people able to fully control Cricket technology was a thing of the past.

Now it was a race against time, to build out the rest of the Fleet and make it strong enough to stop whatever was headed for Earth. But Alex and his team didn’t know what they needed to be prepared for, or how strong the Fleet would actually need to be. Nobody did. Maybe not even the Crickets.

It was the highest-stakes gamble ever, and humanity did not have the option of simply choosing not to play. The only option left was to play to win.

But what was the definition of victory?