The force inherent in a moving body is proportional to the square of the velocity.

SYNOPSIS

The Death Cloud: a thousand mansion-sized rocks, rammed up to near-light speed, on course for Earth. The Scyphons failed in their first attempt to destroy us, and are back to finish the job. Even if humanity’s last and greatest fleet is able to intercept and destroy the Cloud, no one has any illusions that the Scyphons will quit. Evacuation is the only sane option.

Vinny has never known anything but the war, and the desperation of a world where all human activity is driven by a single goal: escape. The great ships are under construction, and Vinny is but one cog in the machinery. But working the ships isn’t enough. The only way he and his family will get a real chance at the lottery - and a seat on the evacuation ships - is to join the Global Armed Forces.

Sent to the far-flung fledgling colonies, he will be pitted against a nightmare foe, with a simple mission: buy time by any means possible. On the planet Kenya, Vinny enters a world grappling with its own imminent destruction. As he fights tooth and claw against an implacable enemy, he will be tested by the Scyphons - and humanity itself - in ways he cannot imagine.

ABOUT

This story arose from a question - what if you were fighting a foe that had no art, no culture, no history, reared no young, and with whom you could not communicate? A foe that knew everything about you, but about whom you knew nothing? A truly unfathomable enemy?

This is a story rooted in real science - handwaving only as needed. There are no hyperdrives. There are no teleporters. Interstellar travel takes a long time. It’s hard (and potentially dangerous) to talk faster than light. If that kind of thing interests you, then do read on!