Page 227 of Star Bringer
“Pre-extinction harvest.” I repeat what we read in the locked room.
“But what’s going on?” Rain asks, pointing at the heptosphere. “We’ve had that thing following us for days, and that room never unlocked before.”
“Kali must have connected them,” Max suggests. “When she did that thing on Delta V47 with the heptosphere and theStarlight.”
“You think that’s what did this?” I ask, horrified. “You think I somehow activated the countdown?”
“Do you have a better suggestion?” He raises a brow at me.
I don’t, but before I can say that, the heptosphere changes yet again. The words disappear in an array of colored lights, leaving only the countdown running across the middle of the sphere and a pulsing light that appears at the poles of the orb.
“What do you think those lights are for?” I whisper, though I’m afraid I already know.
“It looks like a beacon,” Merrick answers, confirming my worst fears.
“So, let me get this straight.” Ian runs a hand down his face. “Not only have we somehow communicated to something out there that we’re ready to be harvested, but we’ve also given them a fucking lodestar to help them on the journey?”
“That’s not terrifying at all,” Milla drawls.
“That’s not even the most terrifying part,” I tell her.
“What is?” She looks more curious than horrified, which makes one of us.
Rain answers for me. “What out there is so advanced that they think of us as nothing more than plants to harvest?”
“Exactly,” I agree, reaching for Ian’s hand as a chill runs through me. “And what are they planning to do with us once the harvest is complete?”
