Distant Signals

Thirty-five years after humanity's desperate exodus from dying colony worlds, the survivors on Kepler-442b have built something worth protecting. The revolution that stole the last evacuation ship—saving 240,000 while abandoning 99 million—is fading into history. The cost of that choice haunts Vera Kane, last survivor of those who made the impossible decision. Now a new generation faces their own impossible choice. Young astronomer Amara discovers an alien signal buried in decades-old data. Despite Vera's warnings about curiosity's price, Amara's team investigates the ancient station orbiting Kepler-442c. What they find changes everything: a warning from the Architects, an advanced civilization fleeing across the galaxy. The Harvesters are coming. Autonomous war machines that have exterminated 3,742 civilizations in 10,000 years. No species has ever defeated them. No warning has ever been enough. And humanity has been broadcasting their location for thirty-five years. The colony has 30 days to prepare for extinction. With primitive weapons, improvised defenses, and the stubborn refusal to accept the inevitable, humanity faces an enemy that has never lost. Vera knows the mathematics of impossible choices. Amara believes survival is negotiable. Between them, 241,000 colonists will discover whether human stubbornness is strength or suicide. Book 2 of the Shattered Skies series. Can be read as a standalone, but reading Book 1 (SHATTERED SKIES) enhances the experience. Perfect for fans of The Expanse, Mass Effect, and hard science fiction that asks: What price curiosity? What cost survival?